Leicester book firm donates to help shop destroyed in Gaza

An online book shop is donating 1,000 books to a store in the Gaza Strip, which was completely destroyed in the recent Hamas/Israeli conflict.

Leicester-based Books2Door heard how the two-storey Samir Mansour shop was demolished, destroying its stock.

Owner Abdul Thadha saw an online campaign to rebuild the store and offered his help.

Organisers said they had raised more than $200,000 (£142,000) and received tens of thousands of books nationwide.

The Samir Mansour book store stocked a wide range of subjects, including a section in English.

But it was one of thousands of buildings destroyed or damaged in a recent upsurge in violence between Hamas militants and Israel.

It is estimated 100,000 books were lost.

Mr Thadha said: "When I saw what had happened to the Mansour shop, my heart sank.

"This business is 21 years old, it is a community, it is a library it is where children in Gaza were getting their English literature books from.

"I thought 'I have a business, I have children's book, this is something we can help with'."

Among the volumes donated by his company are classics like the Sherlock Holmes stories and Enid Blyton adventures, along with newer best sellers like David Walliams.

Human rights lawyer Mahvish Rukhsana, one of the organisers, said: "We wanted to give the people of Gaza their access to books back and to help Samir back on his feet to serve the community.

"International relief organisations are quick to repair hospitals, roads and infrastructure, but smaller enterprises such as libraries are often overlooked."

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