Israeli police raid East Jerusalem bookstore, arresting Palestinian owners
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The shuttered Educational Bookshop is seen after Israeli police raided the long-established Palestinian-owned bookstore in east Jerusalem, detaining its owners and confiscating books about the decades-long conflict saying the books incited violence, Feb. 10, 2025.
Mahmoud and Ahmed Muna, owners of East Jerusalem bookstore, Educational Bookshop, were detained by Israeli police on suspicion of violating public order. The World’s Host Marco Werman speaks with Pulitzer Prize winning author Nathan Thrall who had celebrated the launch of his latest book, A Day in the Life of Abed Salama, at Educational Bookshop.
Marco Werman: Over the weekend, Israeli police raided a well-known bookstore in East Jerusalem. It’s an intellectual hub called the Educational Bookshop. The owners, Mahmoud Muna and his nephew Ahmed, were arrested on suspicion of violating public order.
They appeared in a Jerusalem court today while outside people gathered to show support for the two men. That included Jerusalem based writer Nathan Thrall. His book, A Day in the Life of Abed Salama, won a Pulitzer Prize for its gripping descriptions of life in the West Bank. When the book was published, Thrall told us today, he had a launch party at the Educational Bookshop.
They appeared in a Jerusalem court today while outside people gathered to show support for the two men. That included Jerusalem based writer Nathan Thrall. His book, A Day in the Life of Abed Salama, won a Pulitzer Prize for its gripping descriptions of life in the West Bank. When the book was published, Thrall told us today, he had a launch party at the Educational Bookshop.
Nathan Thrall: It’s a place that diplomats, journalists and all kinds of people from all over the world go to. They know Mahmoud Muna and Ahmed. This was a blow against two of the most prominent figures in East Jerusalem that really sent a message to all Palestinians that if these two can be arrested for simply selling books that have the word Palestine in them, then nobody is safe.
You had your publication lift off at the Educational Bookshop. Why was it important for you to do it there? What does that say?
It’s a place I love. It’s a wonderful bookstore. Mahmoud and Ahmed are wonderful people. For many years, my wife would always force me to get rid of books. I buy too many, and she forces me to cull them every now and again. I would give them to Mahmoud and Ahmed, to the Educational Bookstore, and they would then donate them to a library in Gaza. It’s a leading cultural institution in East Jerusalem, so it was fitting that I did the launch of the book with them.
I tried with Mahmoud to get a permit for the protagonist, the title character of my nonfiction book, Ahmed Salama, who grew up in Jerusalem. He lives on the other side of the wall, ten minutes from the launch event for the book, and all of the requests for him to get a permit to come and speak to this audience were denied. So instead, I read a statement from him about how he was prevented from coming to the city that he was raised in to speak to a large crowd of Jews and Palestinians and internationals about his own life and how the very fact that he was deprived of coming ten minutes away on the other side of the wall to this room was exactly what this book is about.
I tried with Mahmoud to get a permit for the protagonist, the title character of my nonfiction book, Ahmed Salama, who grew up in Jerusalem. He lives on the other side of the wall, ten minutes from the launch event for the book, and all of the requests for him to get a permit to come and speak to this audience were denied. So instead, I read a statement from him about how he was prevented from coming to the city that he was raised in to speak to a large crowd of Jews and Palestinians and internationals about his own life and how the very fact that he was deprived of coming ten minutes away on the other side of the wall to this room was exactly what this book is about.
The owners were arrested on charges of disrupting public order. Critics are saying that they’ve really been arrested for amplifying Palestinian culture. What is your take on what’s happened and why?
There is no plausibility to the claim that the bookstore was disturbing public order. This is a bookstore that has existed for many, many years and all they were doing was selling books, as they have always done. The Israeli police, when they put out a press release about the arrest, showed a coloring book in English that said “from the river to the sea” on it and this government of Israel, its guidelines explicitly state that there shall only be Jewish sovereignty “from the river to the sea.” So, to claim that these people are disturbing the peace by selling books that they have always sold is absurd.
I mean, “from the river to the sea,” as listeners will remember, has become kind of a controversial statement for both sides.
But, only controversial when Palestinians say it. Because, as I say, it’s the policy of the Israeli government and it’s never controversial when they say there shall only be a single Jewish sovereign “from the river to the sea.”
I’m also wondering what it says about just free expression in general for people in Israel, even with this authoritarian wall that the prime minister has built around his power. There’s a sense, at least, that there’s free expression still. What’s your take on that?
Yes, there is a feeling that there is free expression for Israeli Jews, even Palestinian citizens of Israel. They face a different standard. And they have been arrested for Facebook posts and Facebook and Instagram likes over the last 15 months.
It is telling that among the supporters of the bookstore are both Arabs and Jews in Jerusalem. If the shop were to be closed permanently, what would that mean for efforts at coexistence?
The closure of the bookshop would be one of many travesties in East Jerusalem. I think before we think about coexistence, we need to think about Palestinian existence. That’s what’s really under threat here.
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