Israeli police searched well -known Palestinian bookstores in Eastern Jerusalem

Israeli police searched well -known Palestinian bookstores in Eastern Jerusalem

The Israeli police have two Palestinian bookstores in searched for the occupied east-jerusalem , confiscated books and one of the owners, such as family members reported.

Details of the raid

surveillance camera information, which were shared by the owners - four brothers of the Munich family - show how police officers put books in garbage bags. This happened in one of the branches of the Educational Bookshop, an institution with Arabic and English-speaking departments for decades.

damage and arrest

The owner of the bookstore, Iyad Muna, told CNN: "You have thrown some books on the floor, but the greatest material damage was carried out in Arab business." Photos that Muna shared from the Arab -language bookstore show books, note sheets and writing material scattered on the floor.

An Israeli court extended the two men - Mahmoud and Ahmed Muna - by 24 hours, followed by five days of house arrest. The police had originally applied for an extension of the detention by eight days, while the investigation continued.

international reactions and legal aspects

representatives of diplomatic missions of the European Union, several EU member states, the United Kingdom and Brazil, were present in the court during the hearing.

The Israeli police said in a message that the two people were arrested because of the suspicion of “selling books that stimulate violence and support terrorism.” According to an explanation of the police spokesman, the investigators met numerous books with "collected material with nationalist Palestinian topics" in the business.

controversial content in the bookstores

Among the confiscated books was also a coloring book for children entitled "From River to Meer." This expression is politically controversial in Israel. Some Palestinians use the term to support a home between the Jordan river and the Mediterranean, while many Jews regard it as a call to the destruction of Israel.

The importance of the educational bookstore

The Educational Bookshop was founded in 1984 in the centrally located Salah El Your street in East Jerusalem. The original branch sells Arabic books, while the English -language bookstore opened by Palestinians, Israelis and foreigners.

The group "The time has come", which is committed to peace between Jews and Palestinians, said that the bookstore and its employees are "an important part of the future that we imagine for Jerusalem. The arrest and confiscation not only harm the right to freedom of expression and freedom of information, but also bring the future of the city to the brim."

international solidarity required

Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur for the Palestinian areas, commented "shocked about the raid" in the bookstores, which she describes as "an intellectual lighthouse and a family-run jewel that resisted the Palestinian outsourcing under apartheid".

Albanese also asked the international community in Jerusalem to “stand together, to support the Munich family and to protect this important center.”

This article has been updated with further developments. The group "The time has come" incorrectly described a previous version as "ad kan." These two groups are different organizations, and the comments in this article come from "Time has come."

Michael Schwartz from CNN contributed to this report.