Israeli Authorities Enter Bookstore And Confiscate Literature, Including A Newspaper Critical Of The Israeli Government. Israel’s Hardliners Want To Censor Criticism Of Netanyahu’s Government
Israeli authorities entered a Palestinian owned bookstore in East Jerusalem and confiscated books, including a copy of the Haaretz newspaper, which is a Jewish ran publication that is critical of the Israeli government. These pieces of literature, including Haaretz, were deemed as “incitement to terrorism.” Whats next, book burning? As we read in Haaretz:
On Sunday afternoon, Mahmoud and Ahmed Muna were, as usual, selling books at their shop on one of the main roads of East Jerusalem.
Twenty-four hours later, they would be shackled by their hands and feet in the Jerusalem District Court, only 250 meters from their store.
The Educational Bookshop, opened in 1984, is the most well-known bookstore in East Jerusalem. Specializing in Arabic and English books on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the history of Jerusalem, it has become a rare and iconic meeting place for researchers, diplomats, journalists and tourists from all sides. The owners proudly present it as a place where Palestinians and Israelis can mingle and talk: “A space for everyone. We have room for anyone’s opinion, and we don’t always agree, but we can talk about it.”
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Murad, the brother of the shop’s owner who also works there, told Haaretz that Israeli police, accompanied by a Shin Bet officer, left books and postcards scattered on the floor, labeling them – along with a copy of Sunday’s Haaretz newspaper, featuring a headline on the previous day’s hostage release – as incitement to terrorism.
Israel’s hardliners have been wanting to shut down Haaretz for a long time. Back in February of 2024, Netanyahu and his ilk approved a proposal to impose sanctions on Haaretz, deeming the paper as left-wing subversion. As we read in an article by Jonathan Lis:
Israel’s government approved on Sunday a proposal by Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi that mandates any government-funded body refrain from communicating with Haaretz or placing advertisements in the paper. The proposal was approved by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The decision, according to the government’s explanation, is a reaction to “many editorials that have hurt the legitimacy of the state of Israel and its right to self defense, and particularly the remarks made in London by Haaretz publisher, Amos Schocken, that support terrorism and call for imposing sanctions on the government.”
This move clearly had behind it a motive of censorship against the publication. As Lis noted, “The resolution was presented to ministers during the discussion without any legal opinion.” The motivation is clear: censor newspapers that are critical of the right-wing Israeli government.
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