Marwan Bin Khatib Barghouti ( مروان البرغوثي born June 6, 1959) is a
PalestinianThe Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with family origins in Palestine...
politician and militant leader who gained political authority during the
FirstThe First Intifada was a Palestinian Uprising against Israeli rule in the Palestinian Territories. The uprising began in the Jabalia refugee camp and quickly spread throughout Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem....
and Second Intifada. He was arrested and detained by Israel in 2002 on the charges of murder of
IsraelIsrael officially the State of Israel , is a developed state in Western Asia located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its...
i civilians and attacks on Israeli soldiers.
HamasHamas is a Palestinian Islamic socio-political organization which includes a paramilitary force, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...
has demanded his release, along with that of many other
Palestinian prisonersPalestinian prisoners in Israel mainly refers to Palestinians imprisoned in Israel following apprehension resulting from the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Most prisoners are held after conviction by the Israel Prison Service, which is under the jurisdiction of the Internal Security ministry, while...
, in exchange for the captured Israeli soldier
Gilad ShalitGilad Shalit is an Israeli soldier who was captured on 25 June 2006 by Palestinian militants in a cross border raid. He was abducted through the Kerem Shalom crossing and has been held hostage in the Gaza Strip by Hamas since...
.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3571431,00.html Currently serving 5 life sentences in Israel, he still directed votes in the 2009 Fatah party congress from within prison.
Biography
Barghouti was born in the village of
KobarKobar is a Palestinian village in the Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate in the northern West Bank, located northwest of Ramallah. The village is situated on a hill at an altitude of 640 meters above sea level and is along Highway 37. Its built-up area consists of about 1,300 dunams and a total...
near
RamallahRamallah is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank adjacent to al-Bireh with a population nearly 25,500...
, and became active in Fatah at the age of 15. He comes from the
BarghoutiBarghouti is the last name of a prominent Palestinian family...
clan, an extended family from Deir Ghassaneh and should not be confused with fellow Palestinian political figure
Mustafa BarghoutiMustafa Barghouti is a Palestinian democracy activist. He was a candidate for the presidency of the Palestinian National Authority in 2005, finishing second to Mahmoud Abbas, with 19% of the vote.Barghouti was born in Jerusalem...
, a distant cousin. By the age of 18 in 1976, Marwan Barghouti was arrested by Israel for his involvement with Palestinian
militantThe word militant, which is both an adjective and a noun, comes from the 15th Century Latin "militare" meaning "to serve as a soldier". The related modern concept of the militia as a defensive organization against invaders grew out of the Anglo-Saxon "fyrd"...
groups, and learned
HebrewHebrew is a Semitic language of the Afro-Asiatic language family. Culturally, it is considered a Jewish language. Hebrew in its modern form is spoken by more than seven million people in Israel while Classical Hebrew has been used for prayer or study in Jewish communities around the world for over...
during his time in imprisonment.
First Intifada
Barghouti was one of the major leaders of the
First IntifadaThe First Intifada was a Palestinian Uprising against Israeli rule in the Palestinian Territories. The uprising began in the Jabalia refugee camp and quickly spread throughout Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem....
in 1987, leading Palestinians in a mass uprising against Israel. During the uprising, he was arrested by Israel and deported to
JordanJordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in Western Asia spanning the southern part of the Syrian Desert down to the Gulf of Aqaba. Jordan shares borders with Syria to the north, Iraq to the northeast, Saudi Arabia to the east and south, the Gulf of Aqaba to the southwest,...
, where he stayed for seven years until he was permitted to return under the terms of the
Oslo AccordsThe Oslo Accords, officially called the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements or Declaration of Principles became a milestone toward the resolution of the Palestinian - Israeli conflict, one of the major continuing issues within the wider Arab-Israeli conflict...
in 1994. In 1996, he was elected to the
Palestinian Legislative CouncilThe Palestinian Legislative Council, the legislature of the Palestinian Authority, is a unicameral body with 132 members, elected from 16 electoral districts in the West Bank and Gaza...
, following which he began his active advocacy of the establishment of an independent Palestinian state . He was also a strong campaigner against the corruption festering in the Fatah movement, sometimes coming into conflict with
Yasser ArafatMohammed Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf Arafat al-Qudwa al-Husseini , popularly known as Yasser Arafat or by his kunya Abu Ammar , was a Palestinian leader. He was Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization , President of the Palestinian National Authority, and leader of the Fatah political...
. The formal position occupied by Barghouti was Secretary-General of
FatahNot to be confused with Fatah Revolutionary Council also known as Abu Nidal OrganizationFataḥ is a major Palestinian political party and the largest faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization , a multi-party confederation. In Palestinian politics it is on the center-left of the spectrum...
in the West Bank.
By the summer of 2000, Barghouti and Arafat were increasingly at odds with each other, with Barghouti accusing Arafat's administration of corruption and his security services of human rights violations.
Second Intifada
As the Second Intifada raged, Barghouti became increasingly popular as a leader of the Fatah armed branch, the
TanzimTanzim is a militant faction of the Palestinian Fatah movement.Tanzim came to prominence in the street fighting which marked the beginning of the second Palestinian Intifada. Its members tend to be younger than those of other Fatah factions, often having grown up in the post-Oslo era...
, seen as one of the major forces fighting against the Israeli Defense Forces. Barghouti led marches to Israeli checkpoints, where riots broke out against Israeli soldiers and spurred on Palestinians in speeches at funerals and demonstrations, condoning the use of force to expel Israel from the West Bank and Gaza Strip. When asked which civilians were legitimate targets, he clarified: "And while I, and the Fatah movement to which I belong, strongly oppose attacks and the targeting of civilians inside Israel, our future neighbor, I reserve the right to protect myself, to resist the Israeli occupation of my country and to fight for my freedom"
Arrest
Barghouti's actions during the Intifada landed him on Israel's most-wanted list, and he escaped an arrest attempt in 2001. However, he was arrested by the Israeli Army in
RamallahRamallah is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank adjacent to al-Bireh with a population nearly 25,500...
, on April 15, 2002 and transferred to the 'Russian Compound' police station in Jerusalem. Several months later, he was indicted in civilian court on charges of murder and attempted murder stemming from attacks carried out by the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades on Israeli soldiers.
Trial
Israel tried Barghouti in an Israeli civilian court, instead of a military court as is often done with Palestinian militants.
Marwan Barghouti refused to present a defense to the charges brought against him, maintaining throughout that the trial was illegal and illegitimate. However, he continued to stress that he supported armed resistance to the
Israeli occupationThe Israeli-occupied territories are the territories captured by Israel from Egypt, Jordan, and Syria during the Six-Day War of 1967, consisting of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights, and, until 1982, the Sinai Peninsula...
, but condemned attacks on civilians inside Israel. He was found guilty of murdering two of the latter, however:
On May 20, 2004, he was convicted of 5 counts of murder - including authorizing and organizing the Sea Food Market attack in Tel Aviv in which 3 civilians inside Israel were killed. He was acquitted of 21 counts of murder in 33 other attacks for "lack of sufficient evidence." On June 6, 2004, he was sentenced to five life sentences for the five murders and 40 years imprisonment for the attempted murder.
Candidacy for Palestinian Authority presidency
In late 2004, Barghouti announced from his Israeli prison his intention to run in the Palestinian Authority
presidential election in January 2005The 2005 Palestinian presidential election — the first to be held since 1996 — took place on January 9, 2005 in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Voters elected PLO chairman Mahmoud Abbas as the new President of the Palestinian Authority to replace Yasser Arafat, who died on November 11,...
, called for following the death of President
Yasser ArafatMohammed Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf Arafat al-Qudwa al-Husseini , popularly known as Yasser Arafat or by his kunya Abu Ammar , was a Palestinian leader. He was Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization , President of the Palestinian National Authority, and leader of the Fatah political...
in November.
On November 26, 2004, it appeared he would withdraw from the contest following pressure from the
FatahNot to be confused with Fatah Revolutionary Council also known as Abu Nidal OrganizationFataḥ is a major Palestinian political party and the largest faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization , a multi-party confederation. In Palestinian politics it is on the center-left of the spectrum...
faction to support the candidacy of
Mahmoud AbbasMahmoud Abbas , also known by the kunya Abu Mazen , has been the Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organisation since 11 November 2004 and became President of the Palestinian National Authority on 15 January 2005 on the Fatah ticket.Elected to serve until 9 January 2009, he unilaterally...
. However, just before the deadline on December 1, Barghouti's wife registered him as an independent candidate.
On December 12, facing pressure from Fatah to withdraw in favor of Abbas, he chose to abandon his candidacy for the benefit of Palestinian unity.
In 2009, he was elected to 'elected to party leadership at the Fatah Conference in Bethlehem.
Campaign to release Marwan Barghouti
Since Barghouti's arrest, many of his supporters, Palestinian and otherwise, have campaigned for his release. They include prominent Palestinian figures, members of European Parliament and the
Israeli peace blocGush Shalom is an Israeli left-wing peace activism group founded and led by former Irgun and Knesset Member and journalist, Uri Avnery, in 1993.-Organisation:...
.
Some focus on the illegality of Bargouti's arrest, pointing to his diplomatic immunity as a member of the Palestinian Parliament, as well as to the fact that he was arrested in an area over which Israel has no jurisdiction. They also point out that the transfer of a prisoner from occupied territory to the territory of the occupier violates the
Fourth Geneva ConventionThe Fourth Geneva Convention relates to the protection of civilians during times of war "in the hands" of an enemy and under any military occupation by a foreign power. This should not be confused with the better known Third Geneva Convention, which deals with the treatment of prisoners of war...
.
Another approach is to suggest that Israel's freeing of Barghouti would be an excellent show of good faith in the peace process. This view gained popularity among the Israeli left after the 2005
DisengagementIsrael's unilateral disengagement plan , also known as the "Disengagement plan", "Gaza expulsion plan", and "Hitnatkut") was a proposal by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, adopted by the government on June 6, 2004 and enacted in August 2005, to evict...
from the
Gaza StripThe Gaza Strip lies on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Egypt on the south-west and Israel on the south, east and north. It is about long, and between 6 and 12 kilometers wide, with a total area of . The area is recognized internationally as part of the Palestinian territories...
. Still others, operating from a
realpolitikRealpolitik refers to politics or diplomacy based primarily on practical considerations, rather than ideological notions. In this respect, it shares aspects of its philosophical approach with those of realism and pragmatism...
perspective, have pointed out that allowing Barghouti to re-enter Palestinian politics could serve to bolster Fatah against gains in
HamasHamas is a Palestinian Islamic socio-political organization which includes a paramilitary force, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...
' popularity. According to
Pinhas InbariPinhas Inbari is an Israeli correspondent who has reported on Palestinian affairs for Israel Radio and the newspaper Al Hamishmar, and currently for the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs and several foreign media outlets. He has written several books on the Palestinians, e.g. The Palestinians:...
of the
Jerusalem Center for Public AffairsThe Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs is an independent, non-profit think tank located in Jerusalem. Its research focuses on Israeli foreign policy in general, and --- in particular --- on Israel's rights under International Law in the context of the Arab-Israeli conflict...
,
- Hamas understands it needs to provide its supporters with some comfort, especially seeing the suffering of the Palestinian people. For this reason, Hamas is willing to accept Barghouti's release and to deal with him after he is free. Without the severe state of the Palestinian people, Hamas would object to the release of Barghouti.
Following Barghouti's January 2006 re-election to the
Palestinian Legislative CouncilThe Palestinian Legislative Council, the legislature of the Palestinian Authority, is a unicameral body with 132 members, elected from 16 electoral districts in the West Bank and Gaza...
, a debate over Barghouti's fate began anew in Israel, ranging from Yahad leader and former MK
Yossi Beilin'sDr. Yosef "Yossi" Beilin is a left-wing Israeli politician and a former Knesset member, Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister and Justice Minister, representing both the Labor Party and Meretz-Yachad, of which he served as chairman between 2003 and 2006...
support for a Presidential pardon to the total refusal of any idea of early release. Israeli Foreign Minister
Silvan Shalom' is an Israeli politician, member of the Knesset for Likud and the country's Vice Prime Minister and Minister for Regional Development. He previously served as the country's Foreign Minister and Finance Minister.-Biography:...
stated,
""We must not forget that he is a cold-blooded murderer who was sentenced by the court to five life sentences... It is out of the question to free an assassin who has blood on his hands and was duly sentenced by a court." http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=93696, http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=20341
However several MKs, including Kadima MK
Meir SheetritMeir Sheetrit is an Israeli politician who currently serves a member of the Knesset for Kadima. He previously served as the country's Minister of the Interior.-Biography:...
, have suggested that Barghouti will likely be released as part of future peace negotiations, although they did not specify when.
In January 2007, Israeli Deputy Prime Minister
Shimon Peres' is the ninth and current President of the State of Israel. Peres served twice as Prime Minister of Israel and once as Interim Prime Minister, and has been a member of 12 cabinets in a political career spanning over 66 years...
declared that he would sign a presidential pardon for Marwan Barghouti if elected to the Israeli presidency. However, despite Peres winning the presidency, the signing of such a pardon has yet to be announced.
In 2008, Hamas presented Israel with a list of 450 prisoners it demands released which includes Marwan Barghouti in exchange for Israeli soldier
Gilad ShalitGilad Shalit is an Israeli soldier who was captured on 25 June 2006 by Palestinian militants in a cross border raid. He was abducted through the Kerem Shalom crossing and has been held hostage in the Gaza Strip by Hamas since...
who was captured in 2006.
Split from Fatah
On December 14, 2005, Barghouti announced that he had formed a new political party,
al-MustaqbalAl-Mustaqbal , The Future, was Palestinian electoral list headed by Marwan Barghouti and registered in December 2005 for January 2006 elections for the Palestinian Legislative Council.- Formation :...
("The Future"), mainly composed of members of Fatah's "Young Guard", who have repeatedly expressed frustration with the entrenched corruption in the party. The list, which was presented to the Palestinian Authority's central elections committee on that day, includes
Mohammed DahlanMohammed Dahlan , also known by the kunya or nom de guerre Abu Fadi, is a Palestinian politician, the leader of Fatah in Gaza. Dahlan was born on September 29, 1961 in Khan Younis refugee camp in Gaza to a refugee family from Hamama...
, Kadoura Fares, Samir Mashharawi and
Jibril RajoubJibril Rajoub served as the National Security Advisor for the Preventive Security Service during the Arafat administration. He is a member of Fatah. He is currently the head of the Palestine Olympic Committee....
.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1134309581046&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFullhttp://dwb.newsobserver.com/24hour/world/story/2979990p-11657995c.html
The split followed Barghouti's earlier refusal of
Mahmoud Abbas'Mahmoud Abbas , also known by the kunya Abu Mazen , has been the Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organisation since 11 November 2004 and became President of the Palestinian National Authority on 15 January 2005 on the Fatah ticket.Elected to serve until 9 January 2009, he unilaterally...
offer to be second on the Fatah party's parliamentary list, behind Palestinian Prime Minister
Ahmed QureiAhmed Ali Mohammed Qurei , also known by his Arabic Kunya Abu Alaa is a former prime minister of the Palestinian Authority...
. Barghouti had actually topped the list, but this had not become apparent until after the new party had been registered.
Reactions to the news was split. Some suggested that the move was a positive step towards peace, as Barghouti's new party could help reform major problems in Palestinian government. Others raised concern that it could wind up splitting the Fatah vote, inadvertently helping Hamas. Barghouti's supporters argued that al-Mustaqbal would split the votes of both parties, both from disenchanted Fatah members as well as moderate Hamas voters who do not agree with Hamas' political goals, but rather its social work and hard position on corruption. Some observers also hypothesized that the formation of al-Mustaqbal was mostly a negotiating tactic to get members of the Young Guard into higher positions of power within Fatah and its electoral list.
Barghouti eventually was convinced that the idea of leading a new party, especially one that was created by splitting from Fatah, would be unrealistic while he was still in prison. Instead he stood as a Fatah candidate in the January 2006
PLC-Business:* Public limited company, in the UK, Ireland and the Philippines, is a type of limited company whose shares may be sold to the public* Program length commercial, or infomercial* Product life cycle, the succession of stages a product goes through...
elections, comfortably regaining his seat in the Palestinian Parliament.
The National Conciliation Document of the Prisoners
On May 11, 2006, prominent Palestinian leaders held in Israeli prisons released the
National Conciliation Document of the PrisonersThe "Prisoners' Document," officially the National Reconciliation Document, is a document written in 2006 by Palestinian prisoners who were being held in Israeli jails at the time...
. The document was a proposal initiated by Marwan Barghouti and leaders of
HamasHamas is a Palestinian Islamic socio-political organization which includes a paramilitary force, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...
, the PFLP, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the DFLP that proposed a basis upon which a coalition government should be formed in the
Palestinian Legislative CouncilThe Palestinian Legislative Council, the legislature of the Palestinian Authority, is a unicameral body with 132 members, elected from 16 electoral districts in the West Bank and Gaza...
. This came as a result of the political stalemate in the
Palestinian territoriesThe Palestinian territories are composed of two discontiguous regions, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, whose final status has yet to be determined. The territories, which were originally contained within the British Mandate of Palestine, were captured and occupied by Jordan and by Egypt in the...
that followed Hamas' election to the PLC in January 2006. Crucially, the document also called for negotiation with the state of Israel in order to achieve lasting peace. The document quickly gained popular currency and is now considered the bedrock upon which a national unity government should be achieved.
Involvement in Unity Government negotiations
According to the Israeli newspaper
HaaretzHaaretz is Israel's oldest daily newspaper. It was founded in 1918 and is now published in both Hebrew and English in Berliner format. The English edition is published and sold together with the International Herald Tribune. Both Hebrew and English editions can be read on the Internet...
, Barghouti, although not officially represented in the negotiations of a Palestinian unity government in February 2007, has played a major role in mediating between Hamas and Fatah and formulating the compromise that was reached on February 8, 2007.
Quotes
- "And while I, and the Fatah movement to which I belong, strongly oppose attacks and the targeting of civilians inside Israel, our future neighbor, I reserve the right to protect myself, to resist the Israeli occupation of my country and to fight for my freedom" (2002 Washington Post op-ed)
- "I am not a terrorist, but neither am I a pacifist. I am simply a regular guy from the Palestinian street advocating only what every other oppressed person has advocated—the right to help myself in the absence of help from anywhere else." (2002 Washington Post op-ed)
Further reading
- William Hughes: Political Show Trial for Marwan Barghouti
- CS Monitor: The 'Palestinian Napoleon' Behind Mideast Cease-fire
- Bitter Circus Erupts as Israel Indicts a Top Fatah Figure The New York Times, August 15, 2002
- Uri Avnery
Uri Avnery is an Israeli writer and founder of the Gush Shalom peace movement. A member of the Irgun as a teenager, Avnery sat in the Knesset from 1965-74 and 1979-81...
, "Palestine's Mandela", New InternationalistNew Internationalist is a magazine from New Internationalist Publications, a co-operative-run publisher based in Oxford, England. It has editorial and sales offices in Toronto, Canada; Adelaide, Australia; Christchurch, New Zealand; and New York, USA.It describes itself as "exist[ing] to report on...
, November 2007
External links