Israel raids bookstores in east Jerusalem to seize books about Gaza war – World News – News

Israeli police raided a respected Palestinian-owned bookstore in east Jerusalem and arrested its owners, accusing them of selling books which “incited violence.”

Police raided The Education Bookshop on Sunday and confiscated books about the decades-long conflict.

The bookstore, opened 40 years ago, offers a plethora of books about the Israeli-Arab conflict and Palestinian identity primarily in Arabic and English, including by Jewish and Israeli authors. It is known to hosts cultural events that are particularly popular among academic researchers, journalists and foreign diplomats.

It marks the second known Israeli police raid of a Palestinian bookstore in the Old City within the last week.

Since the Gaza ceasefire, settler violence has erupted in the West Bank after U.S. President Donald Trump lifted sanctions meant to curb such outbreaks.

Its owners, Ahmed and Mahmoud Muna, were detained after authorities took hundreds of books connected to the conflict and forced it to shut down, according to Mahmoud’s wife, May Muna.

She added that soldiers targeted titles with Palestinian paraphernalia, using Google Translate in some cases, before discarding them into plastic bags.

Israeli police said in a statement that the shop owners were arrested on suspicion of “selling books containing incitement and support for terrorism.”

Israeli authorities cited an example of an English-language children’s coloring book titled, “From the River to the Sea,” a rallying cry for Palestinian freedom from the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea that is considered controversial to many Israelis.

The shop is located in east Jerusalem, which Israel seized during the 1967 Mideast war, and established as part of its capital, though the international community widely does not recognize the move.

East Jerusalem is home to the largest Palestinian community in historic Palestine, and Palestinians seek to designate it as its capital for a future state.