Freedom denied

Fatah’s Marwan Barghouti is the most high-profile of the Palestinian prisoners Israel flatly refused to release in exchange for 48 captive Israelis held by Hamas. He led street protests and diplomatic to counter Israeli occupation during the second intifada (2000-2005) until he was arrested in 2002. He was convicted and sentenced to life for attacks that killed five Israelis despite his contention that he had no connection with these incidents. He challenged the legitimacy of the trial court while an Interparliamentary Union report argued he was not given a fair trial as the evidence produced against him was not credible.

Born in 1959 in Kobar village near Ramallah in the West Bank, Barghouti joined Fatah and emerged as a leader of the younger generation of Palestinians involved in resisting the occupation. When he was 18, he was arrested, charged with belonging to a terrorist organisation and spent more than four years in prison where he studied with fellow inmates and learned Hebrew. Upon release he entered Bir Zeit University where he majored in politics and history and led campus demonstrations, earning another six months in prison. In 1987 he was expelled to Jordan from where he travelled the globe raising funds until 1993 when, after the signing of the Oslo Accords, Barghouti and other exiles were allowed home. He became a supporter of the Accord which many Palestinians believed would lead to liberation and statehood. He was elected in 1996 to represent Ramallah in the Palestinian Legislative Council.

Oslo failed to deliver an end to the occupation and Israeli settlers swarmed into the West Bank. In September 2000, Likud leader Ariel Sharon stormed the mosque compound in Jerusalem, and the second intifada erupted. Out came the guns and explosives. In an editorial in “The Washington Post,” Barghouti wrote, “I’m not a terrorist, but neither am I a pacifist. I do not seek to destroy Israel but only to end its occupation of my country.” Barghouti went into hiding until he was arrested. He was held in solitary confinement until 2005 when he was allowed to join other prisoners. A villager with limited schooling, began educational programmes, assembled a library, and studied for a doctorate through extension courses.

At the end of March 2002, the Beirut Arab summit adopted the Saudi-sponsored plan calling for full Israeli withdrawal from Arab territory occupied in 1967 in exchange for full Arab normalisation with Israel. Instead of taking up the offer, Sharon, who had become prime minister, responded with a full scale invasion of the West Bank after a Palestinian suicide bomber killed 30 at a cafe in Natanya on the coast. Barghouti was among the Fatah members arrested. He was accused of being in command of Fatah’s armed wing and of establishing al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades which carried out multiple suicide operations.

During his imprisonment, Palestinians have told opinion pollsters that he remains a figure to unify Palestinian ranks, and they would vote for him in a presidential election, making him a challenger to the current leasers of Fatah and Hamas. Prison has not tarnished him with mismanagement, corruption, and collaboration with Israeli security agencies like the leaders of Fatah and the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority. Hamas is seen to be a divisive agent. As Israel has adopted the practice the tried and tested colonial practice of divide-and-rule, the last Palestinian Israel wants to face is a man who enjoys full backing of a united Palestinian people.

Ahmed Sa’adat is a second leading Palestinian figure Israel has refused to free. He is the secretary general of the Marxist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). Borm in 1953, was raised in Ramallah and graduated from the UNRWA teachers’ college in that city. In 2001 he became a member of the PFLP’s central committee to succeed Abu Ali Mustafa who was assassinated by Israel after it allowed him to live in Ramallah during the Second Intifada. Sa’adat has served eight terms in Israeli prisons. He was accused by Israel of planning the 2001 killing of Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze’evi in retaliation for Israel murder of Mustafa. After Sa’adat took refuge in the Palestinian headquarters compound in Ramallah, a deal was reached with Israel to hold him in the Palestinian prison in Jericho where he was elected to the Palestinian parliament in 2006 and Hamas announced its decision to free him. However, Israeli forces arrested him and in 2008 he was given a 30-year prison sentence. He argues that the one-state solution for Israel-Palestine is the only means to achieve peace.

Abdallah Barghouti, 53, is a third Palestinian prisoner Israel is determined to retain. He is a senior commander in Hamas’ Izz al-Din Qassam Brigades and one of the faction’s chief bomb makers. While he comes from the Ramallah-based Barghouti clan, he was born in Kuwait, the birthplace of Fatah. In 1999 he went to the West Bank in 1999 and joined Hamas. He has been charged with providing the devices for seven bombings which slew 66 and injured 500 Israelis. In 2001, he was arrested by the Palestinian Authority’s preventive security services but was released in 2002 and returned to Hamas resistance activities until Israeli domestic security captured him in 2003 and sentenced to 67 life terms. During his time in prison he wrote a novel, “Prince of the Shadow: Engineer on the Road,” merging his experiences in the Palestinian struggle with imprisonment.

By keeping these three influential figures in prison, Israel has reduced the political and psychological impact among Palestinians of the releases. If free, these men could contribute positively to resolution of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Text: The Independent Photo: TNS