Israeli-owned Berlin bookstore shuttered after far-left protests

A bookshop owned by two Israelis in Berlin closes its doors amid speculation that its shuttering is the result of threats and pressures by far-left activists.

The store, described by its owners as a “conceptual English bookshop” was situated at the Neukölln district.

Co-owner Doron Hamburger writes in a statement on Facebook this week that the “the real reason for closing [is] first and foremost financial.”

But a columnist for the Zeit newspaper, Armin Langer, who has looked into the matter, wrote in an article published Tuesday that the store “has to close because of threats.”

But he also says the decision is connected to an anti-fascist protest against a planned event at the shop last March that was to focus on the philosophy of fascist Italian Julius Evola, who today is considered an inspiration to the alt-right movement in the United States. The event was cancelled. Hamburger refers to the protest as the last straw that led to closure.

Langer says the discussion about Evola was not scheduled to celebrate his views, but rather to deconstruct or mock them.

— JTA