French authorities have sparked a major censorship controversy after blocking the distribution of a Palestinian children’s colouring book and conducting a police raid on a Paris bookshop to seize copies, moves denounced by the publisher and booksellers as an “unprecedented attack on freedom of expression.”
Social Bandit Media, the publisher of From the River to the Sea: A Colouring Book, accused the French authorities of censorship after the book was effectively prevented from being distributed in France following an adverse opinion by a government body. The book, by South African author and illustrator Nathi Ngubane, is presented as an educational colouring book introducing young readers to Palestinian history and culture.
Through a series of illustrations, the Soweto-based artist explores Palestinian heritage, addresses the injustice of the Nakba, examines the ongoing Israeli occupation, and introduces ideas that have shaped Palestinian resistance.
In a press release, the publisher said it was informed on January 8, 2026, that the Commission for the Surveillance and Control of Publications for Youth (CSJP) had issued an “unfavourable opinion” on October 16, 2025, regarding the book’s import and distribution in France. While the French Interior Ministry has not issued a formal ban order, Social Bandit Media said the opinion had been used to initiate what it described as “a criminal procedure aimed at censoring, in fact, a book which has not given rise to any formal ban on sale or distribution to date.”
According to the publisher, the commission claimed the book was “likely to incite hatred towards a group of people, namely the Israeli population, and to harm the moral development of young people.” Social Bandit Media said it “categorically” rejected the allegation.
“We categorically reject these accusations,” the publisher said, adding that claims of antisemitism made by pressure groups and far-right forces since the summer of 2025 were “completely unfounded.”
The publisher also said it had not been informed of the commission’s decision when it was taken. “We were not informed, as of October 16, 2025, that the Commission had chosen to censor the book,” the statement said.
Expressing solidarity with Paris bookshop Violette & Co, which was recently searched by police, Social Bandit Media described the action as “unworthy of the rule of law” and warned that “any attack on the freedom of artistic creation and dissemination constitutes an act of censorship.” The statement recalled that freedom of artistic creation and distribution is protected under French law and said the publisher supported the bookseller’s “courageous approach” in defending those rights.
The publisher stressed that the book is an “educational and interactive tool” widely used by children across the world, adding that at least 22,000 copies have been sold in countries including South Africa, the United States, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, the Netherlands, India, and Pakistan.
“The continued censorship, in France, of a children’s colouring book disregards the basic rules protecting the freedom of artistic creation and dissemination and constitutes a serious violation of democratic principles,” the statement said. Calling the move “unacceptable and scandalous,” the publisher added that censoring a children’s book about Palestine when children were among the worst-affected victims in Gaza was “simply unacceptable.”
“The silencing of Palestinian stories, especially those aimed at children, is unacceptable,” the statement said, adding that the company would continue to defend the right to publish, read and tell Palestinian stories “without intimidation or pressure of any kind.”
As the book has now been deemed illegal in France, Social Bandit Media said it is making the French-language edition available as a free download and has appealed for donations to support its work. “Censorship will not work. We refuse to accept it,” the statement said.
The controversy intensified after French police earlier this month raided a Paris bookshop in an operation targeting the book, triggering outrage among the shop’s owners and free expression advocates.
On January 7, five uniformed police officers, accompanied by a public prosecutor, searched Violette & Co, a well-known Paris bookshop, in an attempt to seize copies of the book. In a statement, the bookshop described the raid as “unprecedented and deeply worrying,” calling it a “disproportionate police operation in a cultural space” that raised serious concerns about fundamental freedoms.
“On January 7, 2026, the Violette and Co bookshop-café was subjected to an irregular search aimed at seizing books. This is unprecedented in France and extremely worrying for the fundamental freedoms of bookshops,” the statement said.
According to the shop, officers spent 45 minutes conducting a meticulous search, inspecting shelves, opening boxes of books one by one, and searching storage areas and the staff break room. Employees present were described as “shocked and powerless.”
“Uniformed police officers, weapons at their belts, were filming the premises with body cameras and checking around thirty boxes of books in search of a title that was no longer in stock,” the statement said. It added that two officers, one of them masked, stood at the entrance, preventing customers from entering during the search.
No books were seized during the operation. However, the prosecutor informed the shop that its staff have been summoned to the 11th arrondissement police station on January 22 for questioning as part of a preliminary investigation.
The bookshop also said it had sought information from authorities about a complaint it filed last year over threats and vandalism. “We were told a few hours later by phone that our complaint had been ‘lost’,” the statement said.