Arrest of booksellers sparks international condemnation

Mahmoud Muna and Ahmad Muna, the Palestinian uncle and nephew co-owners of the Educational Bookshop in East Jerusalem, were released by police on Tuesday, 11 February, but remain under a five-day house arrest and have been ‘ordered not to set foot in their bookstore for 20 days’, reports Publishers Weekly (PW).

After a raid on their bookstore on 9 February, the booksellers ‘were initially cited by police for selling books that contain “incitement and support for terrorism,” but that charge was later changed to “behaviour that might endanger public safety,”’ according to PW. ‘Educational Bookshop, founded in 1984 by Mahmoud Muna’s father, specialises in English-language and Arabic books on the conflict between Israel and Palestine and books on the history of Jerusalem.’

The detention drew condemnation from the American Booksellers Association (ABA) via the American Booksellers for Free Expression (ABFE), publishers Interlink Publishing and Saqi Books, the German and British ambassadors to Israel, and Pulitzer-winning author Nathan Thrall, who was among a protest outside the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court during a hearing to extend the booksellers’ detention, according to the Times of Israel. The Publishers for Palestine coalition also released a statement, condemning the arrests.

Category: International news