Israeli police have attacked a pair of Palestinian bookstores in East Jerusalem, arresting two of their homeowners and confiscation books, a transfer that got here when Israel tightens its restrictions on free speech and cultural actions for Palestinians throughout the nation.
Police on Monday confirmed the arrests of two brothers, Mahmoud Muna and Ahmed Muna, after the assaults on Sunday, saying that books in help of terrorism are being bought of their shops, together with a kids’s coloring ebook entitled “From Jordan to the Sea.”
Slogan “From the river to the sea” It has lengthy been a rally for Palestinian nationalism and is often accepted by Israelis as a denial of their nation’s proper to exist.
It was not clear instantly which different books have been focused by the assault.
Murad Muna, the brother of the 2 retailer homeowners, has denied that books are bought in shops that promote violence. The raid is a part of a “political persecution aimed toward silencing our voice within the public sphere,” he mentioned.
German ambassador to Israel Stefen Saybert wrote to X that he is aware of Munas, the homeowners of the tutorial bookstore who run the 2 shops that have been attacked as “peace -loving, proud Palestinian Jerusalem, open to dialogue and mental change. “
Following the assault led by Hamas in opposition to Israel on October 7, 2023, Israeli police have more and more Palestinian Israeli’s residents, on costs of inciting terror on social media and have closed movie screenings vital of Israeli army or authorities in Haifa and Jafa.
The academic bookstore merchants are in East Jerusalem, a part of the town that Israel seized from Jordan in 1967 and later utilized. Israel believes that the entire Jerusalem is its inseparable capital, however most residents of Jap Jerusalem are Palestinians, and the United Nations group believes it’s occupied territory.
On Monday morning, protesters gathered in a courtroom in Jerusalem who mentioned the detention of the 2 males.
The brothers’ lawyer, Nasar Odai, mentioned the 2 males would keep in detainee till Tuesday morning, after which they’d be beneath home arrest for 5 days, ready for an investigation.
Might Muna, the spouse of Mahmoud Muna, mentioned the police had entered the bookstores on the principle business route in East Jerusalem round 3:00 pm on Sunday.
“They began throwing books from the cabinets,” G -Ja Muna mentioned in a cellphone interview on Monday whereas ready on the Court docket of Justice for her husband’s listening to. “They did not communicate English – they have been searching for one thing with a Palestinian flag.”
The 2 shops and a café for many years have been a cornerstone of the Palestinian Cultural and Academic Life in East Jerusalem, serving each the locals and the individuals from overseas and hosts of conversations and screenings of movies.
