Israeli forces again storm prominent Palestinian bookshop in Jerusalem
Israeli forces stormed the Educational Bookshop near the Old City in occupied East Jerusalem on Tuesday.
Local reports said they detained Imad Muna, the Palestinian owner of the library situated in Salahuddin Street, close to Al-Aqsa Mosque, and took him for questioning.
Nasser Awda, a lawyer representing Muna, told the Arab48 news outlet that Israeli forces caused significant damage to the library's contents, seized several books, took the premises' keys and shut the place down without any judicial order or legal justification.
“They also removed people who had gathered in front of the library after the raid," he said.
This assault comes a month after the Israeli police's previous storming of two of the three branches of the Educational Bookshop, on 10 February.
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During that raid, two of the shops' owners, Mahmoud Muna and his nephew Ahmed, were arrested on charges of "selling inciting books"
The court released them the following day, though the prosecution requested an extension of their detention for eight more days.
At the time, the raid was condemned by the Palestinian National Library as a “dangerous escalation targeting the Palestinian cultural and intellectual landscape”.
The Educational Bookshop has been a significant cultural centre for almost 40 years, catering to diplomats, journalists, tourists and researchers alike.
In 2011, it was recognised as the best library in Palestine.
The Palestinian National Library said in February that the assault on the bookshop was “part of a systematic policy aimed at destroying the Palestinian cultural and educational infrastructure in Jerusalem,” according to official news agency Wafa.
The statement also highlighted that the Israeli aim was to enforce censorship on Palestinian intellectual output by criminalising the possession of books that represent Palestinian national identity, including children's books and historical references.
“It is an assault on the Palestinian right to knowledge and education,” said the statement.
Several foreign governments also condemend the raid and arrests.
The European Union delegation "expressed deep concern at the Israeli police raid [...] and the arrests" in a statement on X, while the French consulate in Jerusalem denounced "a blatant attack [...] against basic democratic values".
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