‘Free Marwan’: International campaign calls for release of jailed Palestinian leader

RAMALLAH, Palestine / ISTANBUL

An international campaign was launched on Monday to demand the release of jailed Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti, who has been in Israeli detention since 2002.

Barghouti, 66, a senior leader of President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah group, is one of the most prominent figures in Palestinian politics.

He has been serving five life sentences in Israeli prisons since 2002 on charges related to the Second Intifada, which began in 2000.

Muqbel Barghouti, the brother of the imprisoned leader, told Anadolu that the campaign was relaunched with simultaneous events in London, South Africa, France, Italy, Arab countries, as well as his hometown, Kobar, in the occupied West Bank.

“The campaign is part of the ongoing efforts since Barghouti’s detention to press for his release,” he said.

Events were held in London on Saturday and Sunday as part of the campaign, including demonstrations and a display of paintings and drawings demanding Barghouti's release.

One of the venues for these gatherings was France, the country that granted Barghouti “honorary citizenship” in more than 50 of its municipalities.

A group of British activists also visited the town of Kobar, northwest of Ramallah, on Saturday as part of the campaign for Barghouti’s release.

An artist named Jimmy painted a mural of Barghouti with the phrase “Free Marwan” across a football field.

Muqbel said the campaign is organized in cooperation with human rights institutions, along with the participation of Nobel Peace Prize winners.

He called for accelerating efforts for the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons, “as more than 90 people have died” since October 2023.

“We fear for the lives of prisoners in Israeli jails where they face difficult health and humanitarian conditions, torture, and killings,” he said.

According to prisoners’ affairs groups, Marwan Barghouti was assaulted by Israeli soldiers in prison and suffered from multiple rib fractures.

Barghouti, who is widely seen as the only figure capable of unifying all Palestinian political camps, was excluded by Israel from the list of Palestinian prisoners released under a ceasefire agreement that took effect in Gaza on Oct. 10. The deal halted a two-year Israeli war that has killed more than 70,000 people, mostly women and children, and injured over 171,000 others since October 2023.

Phase one of the ceasefire deal includes the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. The plan also envisages the rebuilding of Gaza and the establishment of a new governing mechanism without Hamas.