U.K.-based independent presses Pluto Press and Saqi Books have partnered with a coalition of booksellers, authors, industry professionals, and activists to designate Saturday, February 22 as #BooksellingIsNotACrime Day. The day of action aims to raise awareness of, and show support for, the Educational Bookshop in East Jerusalem, which was raided by Israeli police on February 9.
Following the raid, police confiscated some of the store’s inventory of books relating to Palestine and arrested the store’s co-owners, Mahmoud Muna and his nephew, Ahmad Muna, who are Palestinian. The two booksellers were initially charged with selling books that incite and support terrorism, but the charges were amended to “behavior that may endanger public safety.” After two days in prison, the two were released but placed under house arrest, where they will remain for the rest of this month.
Pluto and Saqi emphasized, in a release, that “all booksellers and book workers are invited to participate,” stating that “solidarity can take myriad forms under the banner #BooksellingIsNotACrime.” Bookstores, the presses suggested, can organize events, hold readings, create book displays of Palestinian literature, add book lists on their bookshop.org pages, and/or donate a portion of the day’s profits to a GoFundMe fundraiser benefiting the store organized by Saqi, which specializes in publishing books about the Middle East.
“Access to books is a fundamental need, a need which cannot be met if booksellers are being detained and bookshops being ransacked,” said Sophie Rierdan, Pluto Press’s head of sales. “The path to peace, security and a brighter future for all is not littered with the ashes of burned pages and ripped spines. This is why everyone who values books needs to stand with Ahmad and Mahmoud Muna, and the Educational Bookshop. Bookselling is not a crime, and nor should it ever be.”
Saqi publisher Lynn Gaspard, noting that she had attended the University of Sussex with Mahmoud, said that she “knows 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 seized. The parallels are obvious and horrible.”
Participating bookstores will be provided with final campaign copy and assets, and all participants will be listed on the Saqi Books website. Booksellers wanting to participate in this action may contact campaigns@saqibooks.com.
