Israeli forces raid East Jerusalem bookshop for second time, arrest Palestinian owner

Israel Police raided the Educational Bookshop in occupied East Jerusalem for the second time this year, arresting one of its owners, Imad Muna.

The raid occurred around 11:30am today, when officers seized books they claimed were “inciting publications”. Muna, 61, was detained while the police confiscated various books and items from the family-run shop.

Following his arrest, a group of diplomats and supporters gathered outside the store. Imad Muna was released hours later without charge, although some of the books were not returned.

Imad’s son, Ahmed Muna said police aggressively took books, including works by Ilan Pappe, Noam Chomsky and others, without showing any legal documentation. “They did not show any arrest or search warrants. They didn’t provide any documentation for the books they confiscated. Everything was done in the dark,” Ahmed said.

This was the second raid on the bookstore in a month, following a similar incident on 9 February. At that time Ahmed and his uncle, Mahmud Muna, were detained and around 300 books were confiscated. Despite selling internationally recognised, legal books, the shop faces ongoing pressure. Ahmed condemned the raids as an attack on freedom of expression, calling the actions “Orwellian” and “inhumane”.

The shopowners were detained on suspicion that “the books sold there constituted incitement.” However, the charges were later changed from “incitement to violence” to “disturbing public order.”

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