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Marwan Barghouti ( مروان البرغوثي born June 6 , 1959 ) is a Palestinian leader from the West Bank and a leader of the Fatah movement that forms the backbone of the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). He is currently serving five life sentences in an Israeli jail for murder and attempted murder. Barghouti's supporters believe that these charges were politically motivated, and consider him a Political Prisoner . BIOGRAPHY Barghouti was born in Ramallah , and became active in Fatah at the age of 15. Marwan Barghouti should not be confused with Mustafa Barghouti , a distant cousin. By the age of 18 in 1976, Marwan Barghouthi was arrested by Israel for his involvement in a Palestinian uprising, and learned Hebrew during his time in Israeli prisons. After his release, he returned to the West Bank and became president of the student body at Birzeit University , where he received a Bachelor's Degree in history and political science and a Master's Degree in international relations. He is married to Fadwa Barghouti . First Intifada Barghouti was one of the major leaders of the First Intifada in 1987, leading Palestinians in a mass uprising against Israeli occupation of the West Bank. During the uprising, he was arrested by Israel and deported to Jordan , where he stayed for seven years until he was permitted to return under the terms of the Oslo Accords in 1994. In 1996, he was elected to the Palestinian Legislative Council , in which he advocated peace with Israel , sometimes coming in conflict with Yasser Arafat . The formal position occupied by Barghouti was the General Secretary of Fatah in the West Bank. By the summer of 2000, Barghouti and Arafat had grown increasingly at odds with each other, with Barghouti accusing Arafat's administration of corruption and his security services of human rights violations, and Arafat was planning to fire him shortly. Second Intifada However, as the Second Intifada began, Barghouti became increasingly popular as a leader of the Fatah Tanzim militia. This was perhaps due to the transformation of Tanzim into an organization more resembling militant groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad , responsible for dozens of civilian Death s in drive-by shootings. The Tanzim has also carried out Suicide Bombing s in Israel under the name Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades . Barghouti himself, however, has declared that he is against the killing of any Israeli civilians, and believes only the Israeli military should be attacked. ARREST His role as a leader of the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades landed him on Israel's most-wanted list, and he escaped an Israeli assassination attempt in 2001. However, he was captured by Israel on April 15 , 2002 and indicted in civilian court on charges of murder and attempted murder stemming from activities carried out by forces under his supervision. TRIAL Oddly, Israel chose to try Barghouti in an Israeli civilian courtroom, instead of in a Military Tribunal as Israel generally does with arrested Palestinian militants. Throughout his trial, Barghouti largely refused to offer a defense, arguing instead that the court lacked jurisdiction and that the trial itself was illegal. Barghouti said that he supported armed resistance to the Israeli Occupation , but condemned attacks on Civilian s. He was convicted on May 20 , 2004 of five counts of Murder , one of the victims being a Greek Orthodox Monk , resulting from three attacks, one north of Jerusalem , one in Tel Aviv and one in the West Bank . He was also found guilty of one count of Attempted Murder resulting from a failed suicide car bomb. He was acquitted of 21 counts of murder in 33 other attacks. On June 6 , 2004 , he was sentenced to five life sentences for the five Murder s and 40 years imprisonment for the attempted murder. CANDIDACY FOR PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY PRESIDENCY In late 2004, Barghouti announced his intention to run in the Palestinian Authority Presidential election in January 2005, called for following the death of President Yasser Arafat in November. On November 26 , 2004 , it appeared he would withdraw from the contest following pressure from the Fatah faction to support the candidacy of Mahmoud Abbas . However, just before the deadline on December 1 , Barghouti's wife registered him as an independent candidate. On December 12 , facing pressure from Fatah to withdraw in favor of Abbas, he abandoned his candidacy and threw his support behind Abbas, citing his desire to maintain Palestinian unity. CAMPAIGN TO FREE MARWAN BARGHOUTI Since Barghouti's arrest, many of his supporters, Palestinian and otherwise, have campaigned for his release. A number of rationales have been offered. Some say that Bargouti's arrest was illegal, pointing to both his diplomatic immunity as a member of the Palestinian Parliament , as well as the larger question of Israeli judicial authority in the Palestinian territories. Another explanation is that Israel's freeing of Barghouti would be an excellent show of good faith in the peace process. This view gained popularity among the Israeli left after the 2005 Gaza Disengagement . Still others, operating from a Real-politik perspective, have pointed out that allowing Barghouti to re-enter Palestinian politics could serve to bolster Fatah against gains in Hamas' popularity. {Link without Title} Following Barghouti's November 25 , 2005 nomination to the Palestinian Legislative Council which is considered the "primary" for the Palestinian Parliament, a debate over Barghouti's fate began anew in Israel, ranging from Yahad leader and former MK Yossi Beilin's support for a Presidential pardon to the total refusal of any idea of early release. Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said, ''""We must not forget that he is a cold-blooded murderer who was sentenced by the court to five life sentences... It is out of the question to free an assassin who has blood on his hands and was duly sentenced by a court."'' [http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=20341 However several MKs, including Kadima MK Meir Sheetrit , have suggested that Barghouti will likely be released as part of future peace negotiations, although they did not specify when. SPLIT FROM FATAH On December 14 , 2005 , Barghouti announced that he had formed a new political party, Al-Mustaqbal ("The Future"), mainly composed of members of Fatah's "Young Guard", who have repeatedly expressed frustration with the entrenched corruption in the party. The list, which was presented to the Palestinian Authority's central elections committee on December 14 includes Mohammed Dahlan , Kadoura Fares , Samir Mashharawi and Jibril Rajoub . [http://dwb.newsobserver.com/24hour/world/story/2979990p-11657995c.html The split followed Barghouti's earlier refusal of Mahmoud Abbas' offer to be second on the Fatah party's parliamentary list, behind Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei . Barghouti actually topped the list {Link without Title} , but this was not apparent till after the new party had been registered. Reactions to the news have been split. Some have suggested that the move could be a positive step towards peace, as Barghouti's new party could help reform major problems in Palestinian government. Others have raised concern that it could wind up splitting the Fatah vote, inadvertently helping Hamas. Barghouti's supporters argue that al-Mustaqbal will split the votes of both parties, both from disenchanted Fatah members as well as moderate Hamas voters who do not agree with Hamas' political goals, but rather its social work and hard position on corruption. Some observors have also hypothesized that the formation of Mustaqbal is mostly a negotiating tactic to get members of the young guard into higher positions of power within Fatah and its electoral list. A variant theory, highly plausible, is that after the elections, Mustaqbal will either be partially re-incorporated into Fatah, or will function as part of a Parliamentary coalition with it in opposition to Hamas and other political rivals. This theory was partially confirmed by a December 28 announcement that Fatah would submit a unified list for the January primaries consiting of both old guard and Mustaqbal members, with Barghouti receiving the top slot on the list. [http://news.monstersandcritics.com/middleeast/article_1071936.php/Palestinian_Fatah_ends_split_submits_joint_election_list However, Al-Mustaqbal spokesmen have denied that the party was created with ulterior motives, instead claiming that its decision to re-join Fatah was motivated out a desire to prevent Hamas from gaining electoral strength. Shortly after the announcement, Barghouti began campaigning for Fatah from his jail cell, apologizing to young Fatah members for the party's past mistakes, particularly relating to corruption. [http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1135696364797&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull] Some editorialists have drawn a parallel between Barghouti's split from Fatah and the upheaval in Israeli party politics resulting from Ariel Sharon 's leaving the Likud to form Kadima . {Link without Title} {Link without Title} QUOTE
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