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FEBRUARY 10, 2025 — The Publishers for Palestine coalition condemns the arrest, detention, and persecution of publisher-bookseller Mahmoud Muna and Ahmed Muna and demands their immediate release. Yesterday, Israeli police kidnapped owner Mahmoud Muna and his nephew Ahmed Muna from the important cultural fixture The Educational Bookshop in East Jerusalem, and further ransacked the bookstore and seized books. The attack on the Munas and the store, an important centre that has promoted Palestinian culture and books in Arabic for forty years, is part of Israel’s practice of cultural erasure and its larger genocidal project against Palestinians.
A court hearing is currently underway and the police have asked for eight days of detention for Mahmoud and Ahmed Muna on false charges.
Our member publisher Saqi Books added further context to the arrest.
“We are alarmed and shocked by the arrest and detainment of our author and colleague Mahmoud Muna, along with his nephew Ahmad Muna, owners and booksellers of Jerusalem’s Educational Bookshop.
“Mahmoud and Ahmad were accosted by undercover Israeli police in the bookshop around 3pm on 9 February 2025. They were arrested and led away in handcuffs to prison. Dozens of books have been confiscated. ‘They used Google Translate on the books, and anything they didn’t like, they took,’ said Murad Muna, Mahmoud’s brother. ‘They even found a Haaretz newspaper with a picture of the hostages and asked what it was, saying it was incitement. They took every book with a Palestinian flag on it.’
“The charge against Mahmoud and Ahmad was initially ‘inciting and supporting terrorism’. Attorney Nasser Odeh, who represents the booksellers, said that they were told the charge had changed to ‘disturbing the public order’ during the course of their interrogation. ‘To open an incitement investigation, the police need approval from the public prosecution. It seems they realised they had no chance of getting that approval, so they switched the charge to the more generic “disturbing public order” offense. I have never encountered a case where someone is held in custody overnight for suspicion of disturbing public order,’ said Odeh.
“We understand that after a hearing this morning, their detention has been extended for another 24 hours. Mahmoud and Ahmad will then be placed under house arrest for seven days, according to reports.
“The Educational Bookshop was founded by Mahmoud’s father, Ahmad Muna, in 1984. The bookshop has three locations in East Jerusalem on Salah al-Din Street and in the American Colony Hotel complex, and is well-known to researchers, diplomats, journalists and tourists. The chain specialises in Arabic and English language books on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the history of Jerusalem. All books sold in the bookshop are imported into Israel, mostly via Ashdod port, and pass inspection by Israeli authorities.
“This would include Daybreak In Gaza: Stories of Palestinian Lives and Culture (Saqi Books, 2024), which Mahmoud Muna co-edited with Matthew Teller. Mahmoud also manages various cultural initiatives across Palestine and published the first Arabic edition of Granta magazine. Ahmad has been a bookseller at the Educational Bookshop for more than a decade. He also works with Leaves of Canaan, a Palestinian company embodying a rich tradition of craftsmanship and cultural heritage.
“The arrests of Mahmoud and Ahmad is a stark reminder of the ongoing campaign to stifle free speech and information that challenges Israel’s occupation of Palestine. Freedom of expression is a cornerstone of all just societies. There is no genuine security without the freedom to read, and no freedom to read without booksellers being able to carry out their work safely and freely.
“Lynn Gaspard, publisher of Saqi Books said: ‘I was at university with Mahmoud Muna and I know him to be a thoughtful and generous reader, a man who cares passionately about freedom of speech and literature. His bookshops are a beacon of freedom in a bleak environment. It is a grim moment for culture and freedom when people are arrested for selling books and their books are sieved. The parallels are obvious and horrible’.
“As publishers and freedom of expression organisations, our commitment is to advocate for the right to read, to curiosity and to the free flow of information. We stand firm in support of Mahmoud and Ahmad Muna – indeed all booksellers, editors and writers everywhere – and call on our colleagues and partners in the publishing industry, the book trade and beyond, to join us in demanding their immediate release and their unfettered freedom to promote literature and to sell books.”
Publishers for Palestine 