Free Marwan Barghouti – a priority for the Palestinian prisoners’ campaign
Jonathan Rosenhead and Naomi Wimborne-Idrissi write:
The Palestine Solidarity Campaign unanimously agreed a motion submitted by JVL at its Annual General Meeting on February 14th to prioritise campaigning for the release of Marwan Barghouti, along with thousands of other unjustly incarcerated Palestinians held in Israel’s jails.
We accepted a helpful amendment from the PSC executive and the agreed resolution instructs PSC to publicise the cruel conditions in which Palestinian prisoners, especially leaders of the movement such as Barghouti, are held and the normalisation of torture in Israel’s gaols, and to work cooperatively with the Free Marwan campaign and other organisations supporting the rights of Palestinian political prisoners.
24 years in jail after a show trial
Marwan Barghouti has been a prisoner since 2002, when he was captured in Ramallah by Israeli soldiers mis-using an ambulance in order to spring their trap. It was the middle of the Second Intifada, and Marwan was then 42 years old. He had been an elected member of the Palestinian Legislative Council for 6 years, and was Secretary General of Fatah on the West Bank.
Israel staged his prosecution as a show trial, accusing him of connection to five murders. Observers from the Inter-Parliamentary Union, there because he was an elected representative, gave a scathing report on the quality of the evidence presented as well as on the many procedural irregularities – for example impeding Marwan’s ability to meet with his lawyer.
Marwan’s stature has grown during his imprisonment: for example as the leader of the 2017 prisoners’ hunger strike for improved conditions: more family visits, better medical care, and an end to solitary confinement. It succeeded in winning some concessions. Despite his imprisonment, and partially because of it, he has achieved a popularity and level of support among Palestinians that no other leader can approach.
Mass imprisonment has been a feature of Israeli policy since the inception of the state. The latest figures from B’tselem, based on information provided or published by the military and the Israeli Prison Service report well over ten thousand Palestinians prisoners in Israeli jails held on what are defined as “security” grounds, around three thousand of whom are from Gaza. Some 30% of Palestinian males have spent time, often years, in Israeli jails; children with ages still in single figures have been imprisoned. West Bank Palestinians are tried in military courts where the conviction rate is over 99%. But around one-third of those in prisoned have never been sentenced; they are held in ‘administrative detention’ with no charge specified and renewed indefinitely.
A call from Robben Island
In 2015 an international call for Marwan’s release was launched from Nelson Mandela’s prison cell on Robben Island, with the endorsement of Desmond Tutu. This call was relaunched last November. The Free Marwan campaign has the backing of an impressive array of supporters, from Sting to Eric Cantona, from Benedict Cumberbatch to Margaret Attwood to Naomi Klein. And Ai Wei Wei, and Tilda Swinton. Add in Stephen Fry, Richard Branson, Sally Rooney, Phillip Pullman, and a couple of hundred more. A book by Marwan, smuggled out of prison, will be published later in the year
There are many Palestinian political organisations and tendencies, and although Marwan has great public support, the solidarity movement in the UK and elsewhere does not ‘pick sides’. The motion, passed unanimously at the PSC annual conference, stresses support for the movement to free all Palestinians unjustly imprisoned, while also recognising Marwan Barghouti as the impressive public face that can help mobilise public opinion world-wide against Israel’s mass incarceration.
JVL will continue to press for Marwan’s release and that of all those suffering unjustly in Israeli gaols.
Great campaign, that should have been ongoing like the Nelson Mandela campaign in the 1970s,80s,90s. Marwan Barghouti and Ahmad Saadat are prominent, long-term Palestinian prisoners held by Israel since 2002, often cited as key figures for release in Hamas-Israel negotiations. As of late 2025, they remain imprisoned despite intense pressure from Hamas to secure their freedom, which Israel has previously resisted, often placing them in solitary confinement. We should highlight these two well as Nael Barghouti,(44 yrs) Abdullah Barghouti, Hasan Salaama, (29 yrs)and Ibrahim Hamed all long serving for participation in the 1st and 2nd intifadaa, in response to the killings and assassinations of resistance leaders and atrocities by the IDF in the West Bank.
I am glad to say that Nael Barghouti, at least is now free. We published this moving and powerrful interview with him that you may well have missed. https://jewishvoiceforliberation.org.uk/article/i-will-never-lose-hope-even-after-decades-in-israeli-jails/
Why do you never include Ahmad Sadaat ?
YES! please share materials for this campaign. I only have one copy of JVL’s leaflet for Marwan Barghouti and want to share it much more widely.
I have a few materials for the Red Ribbon campaign to free all Palestinian hostages/prisoners and would like to continue with this too, though as yet those materials are aimed at a different kind of audience from JVL’s leaflets.