Since the events of October 7, 2023, Hollywood's involvement in the war between Israel and Hamas has been strongly felt, to say the least. Whether through star-led protests against Israel and petition campaigns, criticism of those who support Israel, or the conspicuous silence of others in the face of Hamas' attack and its consequences. But in recent months, a new-old proposal for managing the decades-long conflict in the Middle East has been bubbling up among the stars of Tinseltown – the release of Marwan Barghouti.
If you follow this issue, this name will sound familiar. Around 200 leading industry figures have now signed a petition calling for his release from Israeli prison, with the hope that the Palestinian prisoner will become the leader of a future Palestinian state. Among the signatories to the petition you will find names that haven't escaped notice around the world, such as British actors Sir Ian McKellen and Benedict Cumberbatch, musician Sting, and also Jewish actresses Miriam Margolyes – known mainly from the Harry Potter film series – and Hannah Einbinder, joining actors who have already expressed their anti-Israel views over the years, Mark Ruffalo and Javier Bardem.
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In light of the clear support of Hollywood's stars for Barghouti, one can only wonder – who does Hollywood want to crown as "Palestinian Mandela" and the future leader of a Palestinian state?
15-year-old Fatah operative
Born in a village near Ramallah in 1959, Marwan Barghouti joined the Fatah terrorist movement under the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) at the mere age of 15. Israeli authorities detained him for the first time at 19, and he served a two-year prison sentence for his involvement as an operative in a Fatah unit that executed a terrorist attack. During the first intifada of the late 1980s, Barghouti gained political prominence in the West Bank by directing Palestinian clashes with Israeli forces. He enrolled at BirZeit University to study History and Political Science, but his campus political work for Fatah, and his involvement in establishing Fatah's youth movement, triggered another imprisonment and subsequent deportation to Jordan.
Barghouti returned to Judea and Samaria in 1994, enabled by the terms of the Oslo Accords. He supported the Oslo Accords and even engaged in dialogue with Israeli political figures, an approach that significantly differed from his previous behaviour within Fatah. He began positioning himself against Yasser Arafat, then-leader of Fatah, particularly over disagreements with the Palestinian Authority. At the same time, he seized the opportunity to consolidate his power further within Fatah, whether through participation in mass demonstrations or by aiding and promoting terrorists from the Tanzim – Fatah's ground forces, who pioneered terrorist strikes against Israel during the Second Intifada, which he led in 2000.
When the second intifada erupted that September, he was directing marches toward Israeli checkpoints and provoking riots against Israeli soldiers. His compelling speeches aimed at urging Palestinians to use violence to drive Israel from the West Bank and Gaza Strip. During intensifying violence, Fatah spawned a new terrorist branch designated the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, which conducted strikes against Israelis – including a March 2002 suicide bombing that claimed 30 lives.
Israeli authorities accused Barghouti – still commanding the Tanzim – of holding a prominent position in the Brigades, and Israeli forces arrested him in April 2002 by tracking his phone. Israel charged him with terrorist organization membership and dozens of murder counts for ordering deadly attacks, with courts convicting him of five charges in 2004 and imposing five life sentences plus 40 years.
The court found Barghouti accountable for a June 2001 attack in Ma'ale Adumim that resulted in the death of Greek monk Tsibouktsakis Germanus, a January 2002 kidnapping and murder of American citizen Yoela Hen, a March 2002 attack at Tel Aviv's Seafood Market restaurant that killed three individuals, Eli Dahan, Yosef Habi, and Salim Barakat, and a car bombing in Jerusalem.
The connection to Hamas
Despite two decades of imprisonment, Barghouti has preserved much of his political power – including playing a key role in facilitating negotiations between Hamas and Fatah in February 2007 prior to Fatah's bloody ouster from the Gaza Strip, and securing election to Fatah's party leadership in absentia in 2009.
Throughout negotiations between Hamas and Israel since October 7, Hamas has repeatedly demanded Barghouti's release, despite his membership in the rival Fatah organization. Hamas' demand for his release connects to debates about Gaza's "day after" – Mahmoud Abbas' succession as the president of the Palestinian Authority and Hamas' future involvement in Palestinian political affairs. Since Abbas is unpopular among Palestinians, and Hamas is looking to extend its reach to the West Bank, Barghouti, who, according to polls, has garnered significant support from Palestinians, has become Abbas' natural successor.
Last March, Fadwa Barghouti began campaigning for her husband, hoping he might replace Abbas as president. Her campaign, which included meetings with high-ranking officials in the Arab world and the US, has also received support from pro-Palestinian Hollywood stars, as Barghouti is portrayed as a leader who will "unify" the Palestinian people in both Gaza and the West Bank.
Hamas previously attempted to secure Barghouti's release during negotiations for the return of kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, who was kidnapped in 2006. Still, even then, Israel firmly refused, and the deal was carried out with the release of over 1,000 security prisoners in exchange for Shalit. To this day, this deal continues to stir controversy in Israeli society. Given the risks associated with freeing Barghouti, his release remained off the table during the Iron Swords negotiations as well.
