Israeli police have confiscated books and arrested the owners of a Palestinian-run bookshop in east Jerusalem.
The raid on The Educational Bookshop happened on Sunday and hundreds of titles relating to the ongoing conflict in the region were bagged up and taken away.
Owners Ahmed and Mahmoud Muna appeared in court on Monday as police sought to extend their detention.
A small group of protesters gathered outside holding signs such as “coward confiscate books” and “Palestinian books matter”.
Mahmoud’s wife, May Muna, said police had taken books with Palestinian flags or titles “without knowing what any of them meant” and used Google Translate in some cases.
Israeli police said the men were arrested on suspicion of “selling books containing incitement and support for terrorism” and posted a picture on X of a colouring book titled From The River To The Sea.
The phrase is a reference to territory between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea – an area that today includes all of Israel.
It’s interpreted by many Israelis as an antisemitic statement calling for the elimination of the country, but Palestinian activists say it’s an aspirational call for human rights and peaceful co-existence.
The Educational Bookshop was established in 1984 and both of its stores on Salah Eddin Street were reportedly raided.
It sells a range of books in Arabic and English about the conflict and the wider Middle East, including titles by Israeli authors, and is popular with foreign diplomats, journalists and researchers.
Police also raided another Palestinian-owned bookstore in east Jerusalem last week.
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Most of Jerusalem‘s Palestinians live in the east of the city. The area was captured by Israel in 1967 – a move not recognised internationally – and Palestinians want it as the capital of a future state.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opposes a two-state solution and has significant backing from Donald Trump.
The US president last week suggested moving Palestinians out of Gaza so the US can “own” and rebuild it following the devastation caused by the Gaza war.
The idea has been dismissed and derided by the vast majority of the international community.
