#BooksellingIsNotACrime: Solidarity day Sat 22nd Feb

"This is a bookshop. Crossroads of civilisation, refuge of all the arts against the ravages of time, armoury of fearless truth against whispering rumour, incessant trumpet of trade. From this place words may fly abroad, not to vary with the writer's hand, nor to perish on the waves of sound, but fixed in time, verified by proof. Friend, you stand on sacred ground."

Here are 10 books from over 10,000 on our shelves, which offer a glimpse of who we are as a bookshop and as booksellers.

In solidarity with the booksellers of Jerusalem's Educational Bookshop , arrested and criminalised by the Israeli state, we're here today to say loud and clear: Bookselling Is Not A Crime.

This holds true for a radical bookshop in Edinburgh, a queer bookshop in Hungary, a feminist bookshop in Italy, and romance bookshops in the US, for Ukrainian booksellers and Kashmiri booksellers and Palestinian booksellers. We stand together with our bookselling friends and comrades the world over again the censorship and persecution of booksellers.

To echo the MD of the UK's Bookseller Association: "We condemn any persecution of any bookseller who is simply doing what their vocation requires of them - creating safe spaces, facilitating respectful conversations and representing different perspectives."

On 22 February 2025, under the banner #BooksellingIsNotACrime bookshops around the world will celebrate the right to read, in solidarity with the Educational Bookshop in Jerusalem. We are proud to be a part of this campaign, spearheaded by fellow book workers at Saqi and Pluto Presses - join us.

More here about the story that sparked the campaign, and to contribute to a solidarity fundraiser for Mahmoud & Ahmed Muna's bookshop.