Marwan Barghouti: the hostage seen as Palestine’s Nelson Mandela

While President Donald Trump claims to have negotiated a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, one of the key players in future negotiations remains behind bars. The 66-year-old politician Marwan Barghouti, who’s currently imprisoned in Israel, has been described by Palestinians as their Nelson Mandela but by Israel as a terrorist. Israel has remained adamant that it will not free Barghouti from his prison term, even as Palestinians push for his release.

'Unifying pragmatist or terrorist mastermind'

Barghouti was a student leader at Birzeit University in the West Bank and was involved in popular protests at the time of the first Palestinian intifada, or uprising, in 1987. In the 1990s, he emerged as a prominent figure in Fatah — the movement led by Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas that runs the West Bank — rising to the position of general secretary. Described by The Times of Israel as Fatah's "terror chief," Barghouti is accused by Israel of having established the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades (AMB), and is currently serving five life sentences in an Israeli prison for his alleged role in deadly attacks during the second intifada during the early 2000s.

He is viewed by many Israelis as the "man who abandoned the peace process to lead the second intifada," said The Times, but his political role "was then and remains ambiguous." The other side of the conflict views him very differently; often described by Palestinians as the "Palestinian Mandela," he is seen as a "unifying pragmatist or a terrorist mastermind," depending on your political affiliation, said Haaretz.

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Barghouti has maintained his high profile and influence during his 20 years behind bars, smuggling out letters, writing articles and being active in the prisoner movement. After a statement calling for support for Hamas in the current war was released in his name, his family claimed he was brutalized in prison, transferred to solitary confinement and held in the dark with loud music playing for days.

The future for Barghouti

Hamas has continually pushed for Barghouti's release, which could "reshape the Palestinian political landscape," said CNN. This is not the first time that Palestinian officials have tried to get him out of prison, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "doesn't want a partner for peace," Barghouti's son Arab Barghouti told CNN.

Barghouti remains the "most popular and potentially unifying Palestinian leader," said The Associated Press. But if he were to be released, Israel "fears history could repeat itself after it released senior Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in a 2011 exchange." Sinwar went on to become one of the main architects of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attack that prompted the war.

Those in Gaza continue to view Barghouti on opposite ends of the spectrum, and he is seen by many Arabs as a "leader — perhaps the only one — capable of uniting Palestinians," said CNN. This is especially true given that the Palestinian Authority is "plagued by corruption and severe Israeli restrictions that have left it weak and under severe financial strain."

It is also unclear what role the United States could have in negotiating Barghouti's potential release; Trump is "considering whether to urge Israel to release" him as part of a means to further end the war, said Reuters. "I am literally being confronted with that question about 15 minutes before you called," Trump told Time in an interview earlier this month. "So I'll be making a decision."