Arab Barghouti was 11 years old when his father was detained and later convicted by an Israeli court for his role in an attack that killed Israeli civilians during the second Palestinian intifada or uprising more than two decades ago.
Now 35 and sitting in an office with photos of Marwan Barghouti and other Palestinian prisoners, Arab says his father – now in his 24th year in jail – was convicted by “a show trial”, citing legal experts who criticised the proceedings.
Marwan Barghouti was sentenced in 2004 for his involvement in attacks on Israeli civilians and for leading the Tanzim, an armed wing of the Fatah movement. His family and supporters dispute the legitimacy of the trial and say his detention has been used to sideline a unifying Palestinian political figure.
Despite his long incarceration, Marwan Barghouti retains broad support across otherwise fractured Palestinian factions. Before his arrest he engaged extensively with Israeli officials and has long advocated a two‑state solution.
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Israel has rejected repeated requests for Barghouti’s release during prisoner exchanges. During negotiations with Israel to return remaining hostages held in Gaza, Hamas repeatedly demanded the release of Barghouti, who has earned respect from the Islamist militant group despite being a member of the secular-leaning Fatah party.
Ronald Lauder, a mainstream Jewish American leader and president of the World Jewish Congress, has also lobbied the Israeli government to release and exile the Palestinian leader and is often referred to as a Palestinian Nelson Mandela.
Arab Barghouti was in London on an advocacy trip when he learned that his father would not be one of the 250 Palestinians serving life sentences in Israeli jails released as part of October’s ceasefire deal.
“They release hundreds of prisoners with life sentences – and always exclude his name,” says Arab. “Why? Because he represents a unified Palestinian political vision.”
[ Bono calls for Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti to be freed from Israeli jailOpens in new window ]
Palestinian governance has been fractured since 2007, when Hamas ousted the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority (PA) from Gaza, leaving the authority to administer parts of the occupied West Bank and Hamas in control of the besieged coastal enclave.
Recent polling by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PCPSR) shows “the overwhelming public priority is the reunification of the Palestinian territories and reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas and the holding of free and inclusive presidential and legislative elections”.
Like all Palestinians his age, Arab has never cast a vote in an election for the Palestinian presidency or parliament, which was suspended in 2006 after Hamas secured a majority of the seats. In 2018, the parliament was formally dissolved by Mahmoud Abbas, the autocratic 90-year-old president of the Palestinian Authority, which co-ordinates closely on security matters with Israel and is widely viewed by Palestinians as a subcontractor for the Israeli military occupation.
In 2021, Barghouti considered running from prison in the presidential elections that were subsequently cancelled by Abbas, citing Israel’s refusal to allow voting in East Jerusalem.
“We don’t have a political crisis – we have a democratic disaster,” says Arab. “Elections are the only peaceful way to renew leadership ... The alternative is illegitimacy – and that leads to violence.”
Barghouti remains the most popular presidential candidate among the Palestinian public, according to recent PCPSR polling. He won decisively when considered alongside Abbas, Khaled Meshaal (69), a Hamas leader based in Doha, Mustafa Barghouti (72), a doctor and leader of the Palestinian National Initiative, and Mohammad Dahlan (64), a former Palestinian Authority security chief from Gaza who was expelled from Fatah and now lives in exile in the UAE.
Palestinians surveyed were not asked to consider Hussein al-Sheikh, the vice-president of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO), a body designed to broadly represent the Palestinian people including the diaspora but which has been largely sidelined by the PA in Ramallah.
A Hebrew speaker who has worked closely with the Israeli security establishment, Al-Sheikh (66) is now the de facto successor to Abbas but lacks popular support among Palestinians.
Khalil Shikaki, the director of PCPSR, says Al-Sheikh was not included in the latest survey as he did not receive more than 2 per cent of responses in an open-ended question in 2024 which allowed Palestinians to submit the name of anyone they would consider for Palestinian Authority president.
The credible Palestinian presidential candidates are all male and over 60.
“There are no national figures who have emerged in recent years who have been able to capture the imagination of the Palestinian public,” says Shikaki, but adds: “The fact that we’re not finding anyone right now does not necessarily mean we’re not going to find anyone as we get closer to a realistic or viable date for elections.”
Hamas currently maintains a lead over Fatah in potential legislative elections, according to PCPSR polling, which notes, however: “A substantial segment of the public is deeply disillusioned with the status quo, as nearly a third believe neither party is worthy of representing the Palestinian people.”
In a telephone interview with The Irish Times, Jibril Rajoub (72), a senior Palestinian Authority figure and possible PA president, says: “Our generation should leave a legacy ... a reformed, strong PLO, democratic elections [and] renewed legitimacy.”
But 60 per cent of Palestinians polled believe that the PA does not genuinely intend to hold elections within a year of the ceasefire as the majority of Palestinian wish to see.
With a fragile ceasefire in Gaza where attacks by the Israeli military have slowed but not stopped, Ali Shaath, an engineer and former PA official from Gaza who is largely unknown to the Palestinian public, has been appointed to lead a Palestinian technocratic committee. The work of the committee in Gaza will be overseen by the Trump-backed Board of Peace which, to date, includes no Palestinians.
Israel and the US have publicly stated that Hamas, which orchestrated the October 7th attacks, cannot be part of any future government in Gaza. A reformed PA which excludes Hamas is now touted as the preferred option of the international community.
Shikaki describes the reform agenda proposed by the US and Israel as “fundamentally a security-oriented project aimed at transforming the PA into a more effective counter-terrorism partner which can prevent Gaza from ever again becoming a platform for attacks”.
While the reforms to the PA championed by the EU and Arab states such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE include “demands for a strong prime minister and financial accountability [which] coincide with some Palestinian desires”, Shikaki says their agenda is “ultimately a top-down, state-building project designed to create a predictable and responsible governing entity”.
“Palestinian political leadership that is seen as illegitimate will not have the mandate to enter into negotiations with Israel, or compromise on any aspect of the conflict,” said Dana El Kurd, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Richmond, in an article for the Center for International Policy think tank.
“All parties to the conflict must be included to ensure the legitimacy of the process, including armed groups,” she said, citing the peace process in Northern Ireland as an example.
After learning Barghouti would not be freed as part of last October’s ceasefire deal, his family launched a global campaign calling for his release, saying that they fear he may die while in Israeli prison.
Earlier this year, Israel’s far-right national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir called for Barghouti’s execution during a meeting at the Israeli parliament.
[ Far-right Israeli minister taunts jailed Palestinian leader during prison visitOpens in new window ]
According to Barghouti’s lawyer, Ben Marmarelli, in April the 66 year old Palestinian leader was beaten and left without medical attention, and also subjected to an attack by a guard dog. The Israel Prison Service (IPS) said the allegations made are “false and baseless”.
“While my father’s people are being starved, he is starved. While his people are being beaten, he is beaten,” says Arab. “My father represents the Palestinian struggle.”
At least 98 Palestinian prisoners have died since October 2023, according to the Israeli NGO Physicians for Human Rights. “Because they are not Israelis, they are not called hostages,” says Arab. “They are called prisoners, and apparently they have no rights.”
