Books Are Dangerous?  The Raid on the Educational Bookshop

I was shocked to hear that the Israeli police raided the Educational Bookshop in East Jerusalem, claiming that it was “disturbing the peace”!  As someone who has visited the bookshop many times, it is the most peaceful place possible. And Mahmoud Muna, who is currently being detained along with his nephew, is a most peace loving and friendly man.

I was recently looking for the 2024 Pulitzer Prize winning book “A Day in the Life of Abed Salama: Anatomy of a Jerusalem Tragedy” by Nathan Thrall. Despite the fact that the Jewish author lives in Jerusalem, the book was not available in the stores of the two main Israeli bookstore chains, Steimatzky and Tsomet Sefarim. I found it at the Educational Bookshop.

“Dangerous Books” by two non-violent activists

When I was there two weeks ago, I bought the new memoir by Palestinian human rights lawyer Jonathan Kuttab, one of the leaders of Nonviolence International, “The Truth Shall Set You Free”.  The subtitle notes that the book is “The Story of a Palestinian Human Rights Lawyer Working for Peace & Justice in Palestine/Israel.  Of course it’s not available in the two Israeli chains.  The previous book I bought at the Educational Bookshop a few months ago was written by Kuttab’s colleague lawyer Raja Shedhadeh, “What Does Israel Fear from Palestine?:”, a National Book Award Finalist.

And the question really is what do the Israeli police fear from books about Palestine and Israel? Even though the racist Itamar Ben-Gvir is no longer (meanwhile?) the Minister of National Security in charge of the police, his spirit still seems to guide their actions.

Flags and watermelons

They confiscated every book that had a Palestinian flag on it.  Despite the fact that it is not illegal to fly the flag.  When Ehud Olmert was Prime Minister he flew the flag over the prime minister’s residence on Balfour Street when he hosted Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas for one of their 36 meetings.  What’s next?  Will the police confiscate all of the watermelons this summer because they contain the Red, Green, White and Black colors of the Palestinian flag?

When I met Mahmoud Muna a few weeks ago, I asked him if they had a copy of Yahya Sinwar’s novel “The Thorn and the Carnation”.   He said it was sensitive. The book is actually available as a pdf in English translation on-line. I plan to read it,  and I think  every Israeli should be curious to understand the mind and thoughts of the vicious Hamas leader, who went out of his way while a prisoner to learn Hebrew and to try to understand Israeli society.

Dangerous Signs

Back in 2016 on Holocaust Memorial Day then IDF Deputy Chief of Staff Yair Golan now chair of The Democrats Party said: “If there’s something that frightens me about Holocaust remembrance it’s the recognition of the revolting processes that occurred in Europe in general, and particularly in Germany, back then – 70,80 and 90 years ago – and finding signs of them here among us today in 2016.”

Well, in 2025, the signs are growing.

It was heartening to see that diplomatic representatives from many countries, alongside peace-loving Israelis, declared their support for the owners of the bookshops. German Ambassador to Israel Steffen Seibert wrote that “I, like many diplomats, enjoy browsing for books at Educational Bookshop. I know its owners, the Muna family, to be peace-loving proud Palestinian Jerusalemites, open for discussion and intellectual exchange.”

All of us peace-loving Israelis, who believe in a free exchange of ideas, know that we cannot remain silent or passive in the face of this travesty.