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What It Really Means to Be the ‘People of the Book’
The room full of Torah scrolls in Miami. Photo: Pini Dunner.
This week, Jewish communities worldwide will read Parshat Yitro, which recounts one of the most defining moments in Jewish history — God’s giving of the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai. These directives weren’t just words; they were the first written texts of Jewish tradition, forming the foundation of the Five Books of Moses, known as the Torah — the cornerstone of the Jewish faith. It was this moment that earned the Jews the title “People of the Book.”
But what does being “the People of the Book” really mean? It’s a title we’ve embraced for centuries, and it carries more than one meaning. We’re the people who received the book — the Torah, a divine blueprint for life. We’re also the people whose story is told in the book — the Bible is our collective narrative.
And perhaps most importantly, we’re the ones who’ve placed books at the center of our culture and identity — studying them, teaching from them, and passing their wisdom down through generations. Books aren’t just tools for us — they’re at the heart of what it means to be Jewish.
Clearly, books have always been at the core of Jewish life, tools to uplift and guide. But this week, books hit the headlines for a very different reason. In East Jerusalem, two booksellers, Mahmoud Muna and Munir Muna, were arrested at their widely known bookselling establishment, Educational Bookshop.
Israeli police claim the shop was selling books containing incitement and support for terrorism, and the two owners are being held on charges of disrupting public order. Cue the predictable global outrage: protests, op-eds, and online campaigns demanding the release of these “innocent booksellers.” The shop, after all, is described by its supporters as a “place of coexistence” and “a cultural hub.” But, as it turns out, that is not quite the whole story.
A post by my friend Saul Sadka on X (formerly Twitter) really made me stop and think. Saul met Mahmoud Muna five years ago when he joined a delegation from a center-left American Jewish group visiting the bookstore. The goal of the visit was dialogue, to create an atmosphere of understanding by “hearing the other side.”
But what Saul experienced was something else entirely. Instead of a pleasant bridge-building conversation, he and the group got an hour-long lecture dripping with thinly veiled antisemitism. Mahmoud sneered at the group’s efforts at coexistence and peppered his talk with tropes about Jewish power and “oblique references to their lack of connection to the land.”
Most of the delegation nodded along, possibly because they didn’t detect the malice in the subtext. But Saul and a few others left feeling sick to their stomachs.
“It wasn’t just antisemitic,” Saul wrote. “It reeked of genuine animus. He really enjoyed watching the Jews nodding along, completely unaware they were being mocked.” What struck me most was not only that this wasn’t dialogue but that it was derision disguised as intellectualism — because it took place in a bookshop and was delivered by a supposedly well-educated bookshop proprietor.
And this brings us to the heart of the matter. For Jews, books are sacred not simply because they exist, but because of what they contain and how they’re used. From the moment we received the Torah at Mount Sinai, books have been tools to build a better world — guiding us to live with purpose and integrity.
Contrast that with people like the Munas, who use books to spread hate, justify violence, and incite division. In their hands, books become weapons. That’s what the police claim was happening at the Educational Bookshop, and Saul’s experience suggests those claims are far from baseless. It makes you wonder — not just about the books they were selling but also about the books they chose not to sell.
Of course, the world’s reaction has been as predictable as ever. Mahmoud and Munir Muna have been cast as martyrs of free speech, celebrated as cultural icons targeted by an oppressive regime. No one seems to care about the content of the books they’re accused of selling. No one considers the harm such incitement can cause. The narrative is already fixed: Israel is the villain, and the booksellers are the victims.
But here’s the thing: not all books are created equal. And not everyone who champions books is a true “person of the book.” Being “people of the book” isn’t about celebrating any book just because it has words on a page. Like anything good, books can also be misused for bad.
The Torah, given at Sinai, is the original good book. It’s not just a collection of opinions or ideas — it’s a guide for living, a set of timeless truths meant to ground us and elevate us. That’s why Jews have spent millennia studying it, debating it, and teaching it — not to tear others down, but to build ourselves and the world up.
But when books are turned into tools of destruction — when they’re filled with hate and used to justify violence — even the staunchest advocates of free speech have the right to stand up and say, “Not on our watch.” And that’s exactly what’s happening here.
The Educational Bookshop, far from being a “center of coexistence,” appears to have been a hub for something far more sinister. Mahmoud and Munir Muna are not champions of free speech; they seem to be peddlers of incitement, hiding in plain sight behind the veneer of intellectualism.
The story of receiving the Torah at Mount Sinai reminds us that being “people of the book” is a mission, not merely a title. It’s about holding the written word to the highest standard — using it to enlighten, not to inflame.
Each year, as we read the Ten Commandments in synagogues around the world, we are reminded of our sacred duty to recommit to that mission. We must stand against those who twist the power of books, making it clear that the book is not a prop for the basest human instincts. Books are tools — and how we choose to use them defines who we are.
Mahmoud and Munir Muna may run a bookstore, but that doesn’t make them “people of the book.” For them, books appear to have become weapons — tools to ensnare others in pseudo-intellectual justifications for hatred and violence.
We can never accept such a betrayal of the written word. For us Jews, books are sacred tools to enhance life, uplift society, and bring light to the world. And that’ s a difference worth standing up for — and fighting for.
The post What It Really Means to Be the ‘People of the Book’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Norwegian Hotel Refuses Israeli Traveler Amid Boycott Against Israel
A demonstration of the group Europe Palestine to demand the boycott of Israel, in Paris, France on May 15, 2022. Photo: Xose Bouzas / Hans Lucas via Reuters Connect
A Norwegian hotel has refused to accommodate an Israeli traveler, citing a nationwide boycott against the Jewish state launched last week by the country’s powerful trade union, the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO).
Upon receiving the request, the hotel — located in the village of Geiranger in western Norway, one of Scandinavia’s top tourist destinations — indicated it would need to consult with the trade union to determine whether hosting the Israeli traveler would be permitted under the new boycott guidelines.
“The Norwegian Labor Organization (LO) will soon enforce a boycott that will affect Israeli tourists and Israeli goods due to the catastrophic situation in Gaza,” read the response to the Israeli traveler’s booking request.
“We need to inform you that our staff is organized in LO unions, and they will not break the boycott. I will need to consult with the employers’ organization as I see this as a force majeure situation,” the hotel told the Israeli traveler.
BREAKING:
Norwegian hotels to boycott Israeli tourists.Source: @StoppNRK
See: https://t.co/0tr55jwvFl pic.twitter.com/Mhy2pICn1n— On Elpeleg
(@onelpeleg) May 12, 2025
According to the hotel management, the organization’s boycott qualifies as a “force majeure” event, an unforeseen circumstance that prevents parties from meeting their contractual obligations and shields them from liability when exceptional situations disrupt normal expectations.
The hotel’s response was shared in a Facebook group, sparking outrage and widespread condemnation among its members.
“As a Jew who has been fighting antisemitism for 40 years, I have never experienced something so shocking. It’s like traveling back in time 85 years to 1940, to the period when Norway sent its Jews to Auschwitz,” one of the group’s members wrote in a comment.
“I am simply in shock – Norway was the last country in Europe to allow Jews to enter, and now it’s closing its doors again,” he continued.
Last week, Norway’s LO trade union voted in favor of a full economic boycott of Israel, while also urging the government to direct the Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG) to divest from Israeli companies, similar to how it mandated the divestment from Russian companies after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The GPFG, also known as the Norwegian Oil Fund, is a sovereign wealth fund owned by the Norwegian government and managed by its central bank, created to manage surplus revenue from oil and gas exports, with investments in a diverse array of global assets and companies.
Despite its close ties to the LO union, Norway’s Labour-led government said it would not push for divestment from Israeli companies, arguing that it is best to allow the fund’s ethics watchdog, the Council on Ethics, to operate in accordance with the ethical guidelines approved by parliament.
“We don’t plan to change our strategy,” Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere told Reuters on Friday after the LO vote.
“But I hope Israel is reading that this [the boycott] is an expression of a significant part of public opinion,” the Norwegian leader said.
Based on government guidelines, the GPFG follows an ethical investment strategy that includes avoiding companies involved in human rights violations, environmental harm, or other unethical practices, and has the authority to divest from such companies or sectors when necessary.
The Palestinian terrorist group Hamas praised the LO’s decision to boycott “the Zionist occupation and ban trade and investment with its companies,” calling the move “a courageous step that embodies a clear alignment with truth and justice, and advocates for the rights of the Palestinian people.”
On Sunday, the GPFG — which is one of the largest funds in the world — announced that it had divested from Israel’s Paz Oil Company, citing its ownership and operation of infrastructure that supplies fuel to “Israeli settlements in the West Bank.”
“By operating infrastructure for the supply of fuel to the Israeli settlements on the West Bank, Paz is contributing to their perpetuation,” the fund’s Council on Ethics watchdog said in its recommendation to divest. “The settlements have been established in violation of international law, and their perpetuation constitutes an ongoing violation thereof.”
This is the latest move by a European financial entity to sever ties with Israeli companies, amid growing pressure in Norway for the GPFG to fully divest from Israeli businesses following the outbreak of the Gaza war.
Overall, the Council on Ethics reviewed approximately 65 companies in the fund’s holdings across sectors such as energy supply, infrastructure, travel and tourism, and banking, but has not yet disclosed whether it made additional recommendations for divestment.
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Israel’s Eurovision Participation Under Scrutiny as Singer Yuval Raphael Faces Threats
Yuval Raphael in the music video for her new song “New Day Will Rise.” Photo: YouTube screenshot
Organizers of the Eurovision Song Contest have agreed to have a broader discussion about Israel’s participation in the contest after receiving a formal request by Ireland’s public broadcaster, RTÉ, and following threats made to Israeli singer Yuval Raphael for competing in the competition.
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which organizes the Eurovision Song Contest, has been facing growing pressure from former contestants and public broadcasters around the world to ban Israel from this year’s competition. Critics are citing opposition to Israel’s military actions in the Gaza Strip, during its war against Hamas-led terrorists from Gaza who orchestrated the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre in southern Israel. Following Monday’s release of Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander, Hamas is still holding 58 Israeli hostages in Gaza whom they abducted during the Oct. 7 attack.
The EBU has repeatedly insisted that despite criticism against Israel, the Israeli public broadcaster Kan meets all criteria to participate in the 2025 Eurovision contest, held this year in Basel, Switzerland. Yuval Raphael — a survivor of the Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel — will represent the Jewish state in this year’s competition.
Most recently, RTÉ Director-General Kevin Bakhurst called for the EBU to review Israel’s inclusion in the Eurovision. Bakhurst confirmed that he, along with RTÉ’s Director of Video Steve Carson, had a meeting on Friday with the EBU about the Irish broadcaster’s concerns. In response, the EBU committed to having “a wider discussion amongst members in due course” about Israel’s participation, RTE said in a released statement on Friday.
“I am appalled by the ongoing events in the Middle East and by the horrific impact on civilians in Gaza, and the fate of Israeli hostages,” Bakhurst said last week. “Notwithstanding the fact that the criterion for participating in the Eurovision Song Contest is membership of the European Broadcasting Union, RTÉ has nonetheless asked the EBU for a discussion on Israel’s inclusion in the contest. In doing this, we are mindful of RTÉ’s obligations as an independent, impartial public service news and current affairs provider, and of the need to maintain RTÉ’s objectivity in covering the war in Gaza. We are also very mindful of the severe political pressure on Israel’s public service broadcaster, Kan, from the Israeli government.”
Public broadcasters in Iceland, Slovenia, and Spain have also raised concerns about Israel’s inclusion in the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest.
On Sunday, the Israeli delegation to the Eurovision was participating in a parade in Basel for the competition when a man made a threatening hand gesture toward the delegation, including Raphael, that showed him slitting a throat, the Israeli publication Ynet reported. The man was also carrying a Palestinian flag and wore a black T-shirt that called for a boycott of Israel, as seen in footage shared by Ynet from the incident. Kan said it made a complaint to local police about the threatening gesture, and members of the Israeli delegation told Ynet the gesture was a clear indication of a threat to commit murder and should be taken seriously.
Several anti-Israel protesters attended Sunday’s parade carrying Palestinians flags, as well as signs that accused Israel of apartheid and criticized its participation in the 2025 Eurovision amid the war in Gaza. Raphael appeared in the parade waving an Israeli flag as her Eurovision song, “New Day Will Rise,” played in the background. She walked on stage during a segment of the event and was accompanied by a bodyguard who kept an eye on the crowd, as part of increased security measures for the Israeli delegation due to criticism surrounding Israel’s participation in the contest.
“New Day Will Rise” is a ballad written by singer and songwriter Keren Peles. The song is mostly in English but features some French and Hebrew lyrics. Raphael will perform the song in the second semi-final of the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest on May 15 and if she advances, she will compete in the grand final two days later on May 17.
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Flemish Culture Minister Assembles Expert Committee to Help Tackle Claims of Nazi-Looted Art
Flemish Minister for Welfare and Culture Caroline Gennez pictured during a plenary session of the Flemish Parliament in Brussels, Wednesday 02 April 2025. Photo: BELGA via Reuters Connect
Caroline Gennez — the Flemish minister of welfare and poverty reduction, culture, and equal opportunities — is assembling a group of experts who will develop the framework for a permanent committee that will settle claims related to artwork stolen by Nazis from Jews during the Holocaust.
The six-person expert group will include specialists in law, history, and art history. It will be chaired by Bruno De Wever, a historian and emeritus professor of history specializing in World War II who is also the brother of Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever. The group will focus on establishing a permanent restitution commission to advise on claims.
The move marks the first official step by the Flemish government, which governs the northern region of Belgium, to tackle claims of Nazi-looted art from World War II. “Unlike other occupied countries such as the Netherlands or France, we have remained passive for too long,” Gennez said. “We have to catch up. Art that has been stolen or sold under duress must be returned to its rightful owners.”
The World Jewish Restitution Organization (WJRO), which addresses the restitution of Jewish property stolen during World War II, welcomed Gennez’s announcement. “This is a long-overdue and meaningful step toward justice for victims of the Holocaust and their families,” said WJRP President Gideon Taylor and WJRO COO Mark Weitzman in a joint statement on Sunday. “We commend Minister Gennez for her leadership and call on Belgium’s federal and regional governments to work together to ensure that looted cultural property is returned, and history is acknowledged. Justice delayed must not be justice denied.”
Roughly 66,000 Jews lived in Belgium before the Holocaust, but the Jewish community in the country now stands at around 29,000, with most Jews living in Brussels and Antwerp, according to the WJRO.
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