RAMALLAH, February 6, 2017 (WAFA) –Attorney General Ahmad Barak Monday issued an order to remove from book stores all copies of a new novel written by a Palestinian author on the ground it contains explicit sexual language and indecent terms.

A statement by Barak’s office said the decision to remove the Arabic novel titled “A Homicide in Ramallah” by Abad Yahiya, was because the writer used “indecent texts and terms in a way that violates ethics, morality and general decency, which could have an effect on people, particularly minors and children.”

It said the novel “violates Palestinian and international laws of relevance, in particular press and publications law, the Penal Code, the law on the protection of juveniles and children‘s act, which prohibits publications that encourage behaviors opposing public order and morality.”

It said the order to ban its sale “does not violate freedom of opinion and expression guaranteed by law and which compels adherence to the principles and moral values while practicing freedom of opinion and expression.”

In addition to removing the novel from bookshelves around Palestine, the attorney general also issued an order to summon the author, the publisher and the distributor to carry on the investigation.

The author, Yahiya, who previously wrote another controversial novel, “Blonde Ramallah,” said the distributor confirmed to him that the police were removing his novel from all bookstores.

He criticized on his Facebook page the order to remove his novel from shelves saying this step will have an impact on the freedom of creative writing and expression.

“I am worried and surprised by this decision and all that came with it from interrogation and confiscation” of the book, he wrote. “I am surprised and worried about freedom of creative writing, expression, publication and writing, and really shocked by what is happing and the way it is being done.”

Yahiya said he is not going to compromise on his right to use literary terms and texts as required in his writing.

“I am not going to compromise on this,” he said. “This is simply our freedom.”

M.H./M.K.