The Educational Bookshop is a not just a bookstore in East Jerusalem. It is a neighborhood institution that for many years has served as a rich and diverse cultural center where laypeople, intellectuals, literary figures, and diplomats gather to read and discuss ideas. On February 9, 2025, the Israeli police raided the bookstore, damaged and confiscated books and newspapers related to the study of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and arrested the store owners. From the information we have been able to gather, it appears that while the search warrant included suspicions of incitement offenses, the request for extended detention was based on a suspicion of disturbing the public peace.
The day after the raid, ACRI appealed to the State Attorney and the Police Legal Advisor, requesting that the store’s owners, Mahmood Muna and Ahmed Muna, be released. We also requested to clarify to the police that any investigation concerning potential expression offenses is subject to the approval of the prosecution, and that general offenses for disturbing the peace and public order do not constitute grounds for investigating potential expression offenses.
In the appeal, Attorney Hagar Shechter argued that the police raid on the store and the arrest of its owners is another-in this case particularly extreme-example of the misuse and illegal application of enforcement powers to restrict freedom of expression, creating a widespread chilling effect on legitimate and legal expressions. There is no justification for using incitement laws to raid bookstores in an attempt to fish for inciting content among thousands of books. Furthermore, marking books as subversive or inciting should only be done in the most extreme cases, where the incitement is unequivocally clear and not open to any other interpretation.
We also argued that the arrest and investigation of the bookstore’s owners cannot be separated from the unprecedented number of investigations and arrests of Palestinians for expression offenses, and the overall trend of silencing government criticism in general, and when it comes to Palestinian voices in particular. As the appeal states: "A police raid on a bookstore and the arrest of its owners are reminiscent of dark periods in history. The police and prosecution erred in exercising their authority, severely violating freedom and freedom of expression in general, and the freedom of expression of Palestinian residents and citizens in particular. This is a continuation of the policy of silencing the public, and of the government's overall attack on freedom of expression and democratic values."
In a subsequent response to our appeal, the Deputy State Attorney's Office clarified that the police acted without the approval of the Attorney General's Office, counter to instructions, and that a discussion was held with police command officials, with the aim of ensuring that similar events do not occur.
ACRI’s appeal, February 11, 2025 (Hebrew)
Response from the Deputy State Attorney's Office, February 24, 2025 (Hebrew)