‘Ongoing Efforts’ – Free Marwan Barghouti Campaign Launched Worldwide

December 1, 2025 News
Imprisoned Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti. (Photo: Twitter, via MEMO)

Barghouti was excluded by Israel from the list of Palestinian prisoners released under a ceasefire agreement that took effect in Gaza on October 10.

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

Dubbed the ‘Palestinian Mandela’, 66-year-old Barghouti is a senior leader of the Fatah group and 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.

‘Free Marwan Barghouti’: The War against Palestinian Democracy

Muqbel Barghouti, the brother of the imprisoned leader, told the Anadolu news agency that the campaign was launched 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.

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

Israel refused to release Barghouti in the latest ceasefire’s prisoner exchange agreement, despite demands from the negotiating parties for his freedom.

Global Events

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.

Another event was held in France, the country that granted Barghouti “honorary citizenship” in more than 50 of its municipalities.

In Cape Town, South Africa, hundreds of people formed a human chain along a promenade at the coast, to mark the UN’s International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, calling for his release.

One of the organizers, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), said in a social media post that South Africans “know this story: when a freedom fighter is caged, it’s the oppressor who fears liberation. It’s time to demand his release.”

In Italy, activists, including UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese and Greta Thunberg, participated in a conference in support of the call to free Barghouti and all Palestinian political prisoners, QNN reported.

Football Field Mural

A group of British activists, meanwhile, also visited the town of Kobar, northwest of Ramallah, on Saturday as part of the campaign for Barghouti’s release, where an artist named Jimmy painted a mural of Barghouti with the phrase “Free Marwan” across a football field.

According to the Quds News Network (QNN), the campaign aims to make Barghouti’s release a central demand in the next phase of Gaza ceasefire negotiations.

‘Deeply Flawed’ Trial

According to the freemarwan.org website, Israeli soldiers disguised in an ambulance seized Marwan from Ramallah, in 2002, where he was serving as a political leader and elected parliamentarian.

“He was taken to Israel in violation of the Geneva Conventions and later convicted in a trial widely condemned as illegitimate and politically motivated,” the website states.

It stressed that the Inter-Parliamentary Union—representing over 181 national parliaments —found “numerous breaches of international law” in his case, and concluded it was “impossible to say that Mr. Barghouti received a fair trial.”

Assaulted in Detention

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

In August, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir threatened Barghouti after entering his cell, leaving the detainee’s family alarmed by his deteriorating appearance and fearful for his life.

Ben-Gvir Threatens Marwan Barghouti in Prison Visit, Family Fears for His Life

According to the Israeli Channel 7, Ben-Gvir entered the solitary confinement ward where Barghouti is held and told him: “Whoever kills our children or women, we will wipe them out. You will not defeat us.”

The channel published a video of the visit, showing Barghouti looking frail and emaciated. It said the purpose of the visit was to oversee tighter restrictions on Palestinian detainees.

Support from The Elders

In a statement issued in October, an independent group of global leaders called The Elders issued a statement calling for his “immediate” release.

“We condemn the ill-treatment, including torture, of Marwan Barghouti and other Palestinian prisoners, many of whom are arbitrarily detained. Israeli authorities must abide by their responsibilities under international law to protect prisoners’ human rights,” they said.

‘Palestinian Nelson Mandela’ – Who Is Marwan Barghouti?

“Many Palestinians refer to Marwan Barghouti as ‘their Mandela’”, the Elders stated, adding that he “has a vital role to play as a unifying figure, whose reputation as a supporter of a two-state solution has grown over his 23 years of imprisonment.”

They noted that Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the founding Chair of The Elders, first called for his release in 2013.

“Freeing him now would send a signal that Israel is serious about pursuing a peaceful, political path to resolve the conflict,” they stated at the time.

Barghouti, widely seen as the only figure capable of unifying all Palestinian political camps, is serving five life sentences and 40 additional years after being convicted of responsibility for operations by armed Fatah-affiliated groups that caused Israeli deaths and injuries.

(PC, Anadolu)

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