Palestinian Mandela? Marwan Barghouti, imprisoned preacher of unity.
By Taylor Luck and Fatima AbdulKarim
KOBAR AND RAMALLAH, WEST BANK
Among Palestinians, Marwan Barghouti’s popularity is unsurpassed.
Politician and professor – and a peacemaker now imprisoned for armed resistance – the man regarded by many as Palestinians’ “Mandela” looms larger than ever amid the devastating Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and spiraling violence across the West Bank.
Rising from humble farmhand to community organizer to a leader of the national Fatah party, Mr. Barghouti became known for his soaring oratory and common touch.
His message of democracy, unity, and resistance to occupation is resonating today with Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza who are under attack, who distrust their autocratic leadership, and who would vote for him if given the chance. He is the only political figure who outpolls Hamas.
Serving five life sentences after being convicted by an Israeli court for involvement in militant killings in the second intifada, Mr. Barghouti remains the rare – perhaps the only – figure trusted by all Palestinian factions.
With his release from Israeli prison demanded by Fatah’s rival, Hamas, and even advocated by a former Israeli spy chief, the mere possibility of Mr. Barghouti’s return to the scene is stirring up Palestinian politics, and hope, at a historic crossroads.
Many believe that Mr. Barghouti, if released from prison, would go straight to Gaza to reconcile Fatah with Hamas – whose infighting he describes as a “catastrophe” – and form a new, broad national unity government that could resolve the current conflict with Israel.
“We must achieve unity, and then liberty,” multiple associates quote him as saying recently.
“If the international community is serious about solving the conflict in Gaza, they will push for Marwan’s release,” Barghouti comrade Mahmoud Jabri says from the office of the Free Marwan Barghouti Campaign in Ramallah.
“He is the key to any future political solution.”