As negotiations continue over the current Gaza ceasefire, a global campaign is being launched to secure the release of Palestinian prisoner Marwan Barghouti, seen by many as his best hope to lead a future Palestinian state.
The campaign is being led by Barghouti’s West Bank-based family with support from UK civil society, The 66-year-old is seeking to put the fate of the man at the center of the next phase of the ceasefire.
Opinion polls consistently show that he is the most popular Palestinian politician in Gaza and the West Bank.
Murals bearing the words Free Marwan, coordinated by Calum Hall, founder of creative consultancy and arts platform Creative Debut, have begun to appear in London, and a massive public art installation has appeared in the village of Kobar near Ramallah.
A letter from several political and cultural figures calling for his release is expected to be released next week.
Barghouti has been jailed by Israel for more than 20 years after being convicted of planning the attacks, which killed five civilians. The trial was criticized as highly flawed by the Inter-Parliamentary Union, an international organization.
Despite intense pressure from Hamas and the Gulf countries, Israel refused to release him as part of a large-scale prisoner exchange at the time of the ceasefire on 13 October. At one point Donald Trump admitted that he was considering pushing for his own release.
Barghouti, a member of Hamas’ arch rival Fatah party, is a supporter of a two-state solution. Many believe that Israel is refusing to release him because they know he would be an effective spokesperson for the Palestinian cause.
Barghouti is often held in solitary confinement without access to his family, and has reportedly suffered four major beatings inside prison since 2023, but is said to be still physically and mentally capable of becoming an effective political leader if released.
He has not seen his family for three years and his lawyer has met him five times in two years. The International Committee of the Red Cross has been banned from meeting him, in violation of international law.
Recently, he was taunted and threatened with execution by Israel’s National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, as captured on video. The Knesset is studying a new bill backed by Ben-Gvir that would allow the death penalty for those convicted of murder motivated by nationalism.
A pillar of Fatah and the Palestine Liberation Organization, but jailed when Yasser Arafat was still at the helm, it is believed Barghouti could restore the credibility of both movements, which had been weakened by the long rule of current President Mahmoud Abbas.
In 2004 an Israeli court issued five life sentences and a 40-year sentence against Barghouti on charges of helping plan deadly attacks during the Second Intifada.
To begin to change Israeli public opinion, his wife Fadwa Barghouti has given her first interview to the Israeli press. She stressed that her husband “sees the two-state solution as the way to move forward and live in peace”.
His son, Arab Barghouti, said that his father “represents hope for Palestinians at a time when efforts are being made to silence and forget them”.
He added, “Seeing people around the world lift up his name gives me hope. I wish our family’s experience was unique, but thousands of Palestinian families have to endure the same pain.”
“Honoring them in this way is not only a call for their freedom – it is a call for the release of all Palestinian prisoners and a call for justice for every family still waiting.”
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