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Rabat – Israeli police raided a popular chain of Palestinian bookshops in occupied East Jerusalem Sunday, arresting its owners in a move that has elicited broad denunciations from cultural, journalistic, and diplomatic circles.
Mahmoud Muna and his nephew Ahmad, who run Educational Bookshop, are in custody and charged with “disturbing public order”.
BBC reports their lawyer, Nasser Odeh, as saying they spent the night in freezing conditions.
The bookshop is popular with tourists, journalists, and diplomats and specializes in literature on the Israeli genocide of Palestinians, as well as general history and culture of the Middle East.
The three-store chain offers hundreds of publications in multiple languages and is a cultural hub in East Jerusalem.
The families of the men said the shops, all located on Salah ad-Din Street, had been raided without warning, by plainclothes officers.
Using translation software on the scene, they pulled out books whose titles contain the words “Palestine” or “Palestinian,” and also seized publications displaying the red, green and white flag of Palestine.
Seized items included books about the genocide on Gaza, pieces by artist Banksy and a children’s coloring book on the Israeli occupation.
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The Israeli police statement accused the bookshop owners of selling material that promotes violence and terrorism.
Authorities added they would “continue efforts to thwart incitement and support for terrorism, as well as apprehend those involved in offenses that threaten the security of Israel’s citizens.”
The arrests and raid on the bookstore have been a source of outrage among sympathizers, who view the act as part of a bigger line of repression against Palestinian cultural centers.
The raid on the bookshop is more than an attack on a business, it is an assault on knowledge itself, as books shape understanding, challenge narratives, and give power to those who seek the truth.
Through censorship and detaining those who distribute it, authorities are not just targeting individuals but the very idea that knowledge can empower. If power comes from knowledge, then restricting access to it becomes a deliberate act of control, ensuring that only certain voices are heard while others are silenced within this dystopia.
Is Jerusalem witnessing Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 all over again?
