Photo Credit: Kobi Gideon/Flash 90
A Palestinian child admires a mural of jailed Palestinian terrorist Marwan Barghouti at the Qalandiya checkpoint between Ramallah and Jerusalem.

A week ago a major Jewish publication sadly was persuaded by a liberal Jewish organization to publish a paid advertisement pressing for the release of a bloodthirsty killer, Tanzim terrorist leader Marwan Barghouti, along with thousands of Arab terrorists like him.

The text of the ad was written by Barghouti and its fee was paid by the Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) organization, which has been described by the New York-based Anti-Defamation League as the largest “Jewish anti-Zionist group” in the United States, one that firmly supports the Boycott, Divest & Sanctions campaign against Israel.

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The ad, filled with half-truths and lies, was a bid for sympathy for the cause of convicted, vicious killers who whine after having had the misfortune of being captured and forced to pay for their crimes, and then seek a free pass out of prison (they call it a “struggle for freedom”) from a naive public.

It was written by an equally vicious murderer. In the past, Barghouti has been presented by extreme leftists as some kind of “social activist” or “political leader” on the Palestinian Authority street. But the truth is that at the time he was captured, Marwan Barghouti led the Tanzim terrorist division of the Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades terrorist organization of the Palestinian Authority’s leading Fatah faction, led by Israel’s supposed “peace partner” Mahmoud Abbas.

Barghouti was convicted in 2004 of having masterminded the murders of five people, including a Greek Orthodox priest, a Jerusalem motorist and three Israelis who were killed in Tel Aviv, in addition to the attempted suicide bombing of the Malha Mall in Jerusalem.

He is serving five consecutive terms of life in prison for the above murders. He is not a politician, and not a social activist. He is a bloodthirsty killer with no respect for human life.

Any attempt to deify him, polish his halo or otherwise champion his so-called “activism” — be it making trouble within a prison or sneaking op-eds to the media illegally on a phone or bits of paper — is a denial of the reality of who this man is at his core.

Those who fear to stare deeply enough to perceive the truth of the evil within, are better off not attempting at all to analyze that which they don’t understand.

Moreover, for the good of Tikkun Olam, (improving the world) it is best not to perpetuate such evil, let alone to assist in its growth. That was never the freedom that “free speech” was intended to preserve.

There is a saying in Hebrew, “Shteeka, hee hochma.” In silence, there is wisdom.

It’s best to muzzle a terrorist, rather than grant him a soapbox.

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Hana Levi Julian is a Middle East news analyst with a degree in Mass Communication and Journalism from Southern Connecticut State University. A past columnist with The Jewish Press and senior editor at Arutz 7, Ms. Julian has written for Babble.com, Chabad.org and other media outlets, in addition to her years working in broadcast journalism.