Israeli police have raided a long-established Palestinian-owned bookstore in east Jerusalem, detaining the owners and confiscating books about the decades-long conflict.

Israeli police raided two Palestinian bookstores in occupied east Jerusalem on Sunday, confiscating books and arresting one of the owners and his nephew, according to their family members.

Israeli police raided the Educational Bookshop on Sunday and arrested its owners on charges of “disturbing public order,” a move met with outcry by diplomats.

“The raid on Jerusalem’s THE EDUCATIONAL BOOKSHOP and the arrest of Mahmoud Muna and Ahmad Muna is a dangerous error of judgment by the Israel Police which should be reversed immediately,” Matti Friedman, the Jerusalem-based author and journalist, wrote on Facebook Monday.

An Israeli police raid on a well-known chain of Palestinian bookshops in occupied East Jerusalem and the detention of their owners has shocked many people in the city's cultural, journalistic and diplomatic communities,

The police said the stores were selling books that supported terrorism and that two members of the family who owned the business had been arrested. A lawyer said their detention was “political” rather than legal.

The leading Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem was among those voicing outrage Monday in response to an Israeli police raid on a pair of renowned Palestinian-owned bookstores in illegally occupied East Jerusalem over the weekend.

Israeli police have raided a well-known Palestinian bookshop in East Jerusalem, accusing its owners of selling books that incited terrorism, including a children's colouring book entitled "From the Jordan to the Sea".