Couple ‘Indefinitely’ Checks Out Children’s Books They Deem Anti-Israel From Local Library

A New York City couple say they have indefinitely checked out five children's books that are pro-Palestine from their local library in an effort to keep them from being used for "indoctrination" into anti-Israel ideology.

The titles were featured in a display at the New York Public Library branch for "Read Palestine Week" and were included among several books on "indigenous peoples," including Native Americans, the New York Post reported.

“It’s pretty easy to understand what they’re doing," Asaf Eyal, whose wife checked out the books with no immediate plans to return them on Dec. 3, told the Post.

"They are trying to connect between these two identities, and make Israel and Jews look as if we are colonizers and not indigenous to our land."

“Placing these books next to the Native American books is a very obvious move. The library manager created this display very purposely,” Eyal, 47, added.

Books included in the display were geared for children as young as 3 years old, according to the Post.

The titles included "What the Kite Saw," by Anne Laurel Carter; "Homeland: My Father Dreams of Palestine," by Hannah Moushabeck; "These Olive Trees: A Palestinian Family's Story," by Aya Ghanameh; and "We're in This Together," by activist Linda Sarsour, among others, the outlet reported.

“An international organization called the United Nations decided that Jewish people from Europe, many of whom had experienced the horrors and tragedies of the Holocaust, needed a safe place to live,” Sarsour wrote in her book, according to the Post.

“But there was one big problem: Palestinians had lived on that land for centuries."

“Of course, if someone took your land, you would do everything in your power to get it back. So, ever since their displacement, Palestinians and other people of Arab descent have been fighting back against this injustice,” reads Sarsour's book.

“This is called intifada — the uprising against the Israeli Occupation of places where Palestinians have historically lived.”

In "These Olive Trees," Ghanameh writes about a Palestinian girl who is pushed off her land by war.

"To this day, Palestinians are being forcibly removed from their homes, as the occupying state slowly swallows the land in its entirety,” Ghanameh wrote.

When Eyal's wife – who was not named by the Post – approached a library employee about the display, the employee said Israel was an "apartheid" state, according to video of a portion of the confrontation obtained by the paper.

“It is the truth. [Palestinians] are indigenous to that land,” the unknown employee told her. “

Publishers put out a call for read Palestine Week … It’s always a practice of the library to highlight a certain experience at a certain time.”

An NYPL spokeswoman condemned the display at the Roosevelt Island branch to the Post, saying it was "unacceptable" as it failed to provide a full range of perspectives.

“The New York Public Library strives to present unbiased, objective perspectives and information for the public. These principles are the bedrock of our reputation as well as the trust the public has in us," the spokeswoman said.

"This unacceptable display fell well short of these principles, which is especially distressing at a time when we are seeing a tragic rise in antisemitism. It is important to offer a range of perspectives for the patron, which is why this display fell so short. It was one-sided, and favored one perspective over another.”