Marwan Barghouti
مروان البرغوثي
Born: Kobar, Palestine
Domain: Politics & Diplomacy
Recognition: GLOBAL
Biography
Marwan Barghouti (born 1959 in Kobar, near Ramallah) is one of the most prominent Palestinian political leaders of his generation — a figure so widely respected across factional lines that he is often called “the Palestinian Mandela.” A leader of Fatah and founder of its Tanzim grassroots militia, he rose to national prominence during the First and Second Intifadas. He joined Fatah as a teenager, was first imprisoned by Israel in his youth, and learned fluent Hebrew during his detention. He became a key organizer of popular resistance and a leading voice of the Fatah “young guard” that challenged the old PLO leadership returning from exile after Oslo. Elected to the Palestinian Legislative Council in 1996, he argued at different times both for resistance to occupation and for a negotiated two-state solution. Israel arrested him in 2002 during the Second Intifada; in 2004 an Israeli court sentenced him to five life terms in proceedings he refused to recognize, and which Palestinians widely regard as the trial of a political prisoner. From prison he has remained a towering political force. He authored the 2006 “Prisoners’ Document” calling for Palestinian national unity, and has repeatedly topped opinion polls as Palestinians’ preferred candidate for president. International campaigns, consciously echoing the anti-apartheid movement, have called for his release. His enduring popularity across both Fatah and Hamas constituencies makes him a symbol of Palestinian unity and steadfastness, and a recurring name in every discussion of leadership after Mahmoud Abbas.
Why This Person Matters
Imprisoned for more than two decades yet still the most popular Palestinian leader in poll after poll, Marwan Barghouti embodies the unbroken link between resistance and the aspiration for a unified Palestinian future.