Sometime in March, someone at the Israel Prisons Service pranked arch-terrorist Marwan Barghouti who is serving a 140-year sentence for an assortment of murders. They piped Hatikvah into his cell. Or, as his son, aptly named Arab Barghouti, told Le Monde on Sunday, “They play the Israeli national anthem and the Israeli declaration of independence at full volume in his cell.”
Emergence therapy?
The CBC on Tuesday surmised that “With the decimation of Gaza in an Israeli bombing campaign now in its sixth month, and uncertainty over ‘the day after,’ calls are growing for Barghouti’s release from those who believe he could have an important role to play.”
In mid-December 2023, the daily Arabic independent online newspaper Elaph reported from Paris that secret meetings are being held between Israeli and Qatari delegations on a new exchange deal with Hamas that would include Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti who is expected by many to take over when PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, who just celebrated his 88th birthday, goes to a, well, different place.
Three senior Fatah leaders are in the running to inherit Abbas in the role he inherited from Yasser Arafat in 2005:
Mohammad Dahlan, 62, the former leader of Fatah in Gaza, who was expelled with his surviving soldiers from the Strip by Hamas in 2007. Supposedly, he is the candidate Israel prefers, if Israel decides to commit national suicide and hand over the keys for Gaza to the Palestinian Authority.
Hussein al-Sheikh, 63, secretary-general of the PLO executive committee since 2022, formerly the chief negotiator with Israel on Palestinian Authority affairs.
And Marwan Barghouti, 64, the former leader of Tanzim, a military arm of Fatah, and the founder of the al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, who is serving five cumulative life sentences for murders he committed or orchestrated, and an additional 40 years, a total of 140 years.
“اناشدكم التعالي على الجراح والترفع عن الألام والتقدم الى الأمام حفاظاً على الحلم المقدس” الأسير القائد “مروان البرغوثي ” عضو اللجنة المركزية لـ حركة فتـ-ـح pic.twitter.com/L7nDQxU6KO
— حركة فتح – الصفحة الرسمية (@fateh_pal65) March 27, 2024
BIDEN’S BOY
How do we know Barghouti is the Biden administration’s favorite, and that they are currently on a path to get him released and appointed king of the PA? Because the Middle East Eye noted on Wednesday: “The Biden administration has reportedly raised concerns about Israel’s treatment of imprisoned Palestinian leader, Marwan Barghouti.”
As the Washington Post put it on Wednesday: “The United States and governments in the Middle East have raised the treatment of Marwan Barghouti, one of the most prominent Palestinian political figures imprisoned by Israel, with the Israeli government.”
It wasn’t the first time the IPS messed with Barghouti. Back in May 2017, after Barghouti had instigated a hunger strike, he was placed in solitary confinement, and unbeknownst to him, the IPS placed hidden cameras around his cell. Barghouti was caught on camera eating multiple times while he pretended to be on the toilet during this current hunger strike. The Israel Prison Services released the video for all to see (CAUGHT IN THE ACT: Watch Marwan Barghouti Eating During the Hunger Strike). His favorite munchies were pizza, which was delivered to his cell during the hunger strike, and Tortit, a popular Israeli parve chocolate bar (The Candy Bar that Blew Barghouti’s Cover).
The Washington Post reported on Wednesday: “A lawyer who met with Barghouti this week said in a written report to the Barghouti family that he saw bruising over his right eye and that Barghouti showed him bruising on his back and right foot. The lawyer wrote that Barghouti told him that, on March 6, ‘I was beaten for long minutes all over my body, mainly on the face, back, and legs. The severity of the beating caused me to collapse to the ground, at which point they persisted in striking me until I lost consciousness.’”
Naturally, the arch-terrorist’s account included no references to what had instigated his rough treatment. A spokesperson for the Israeli Prison Service said the service “is a law-abiding organization. We have no knowledge of these claims.”
How did the legendary Gregory House MD put it? “Everybody lies.”
The State Dept. told the Post that Israel must “thoroughly and transparently investigate credible allegations of and ensure accountability for any abuses or violations.” Also, terrorists must be held in “dignified conditions and in accordance with international law.”
We gave him pizza and Tortit, didn’t we?
One of Israel’s arch-enemies on the Hill, Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), who sits on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, insisted the US should warn Israel to leave Barghouti alone.
“The Biden administration should make it very clear to the Netanyahu government that if Barghouti is harmed or killed in prison, it would throw gas on a raging fire,” Van Hollen told The Post. “Barghouti is probably the most popular Palestinian leader. That’s true in the West Bank and in Gaza.”
And in certain parts of the Senate, where the Hamas atrocities and Israel’s fight for its life are weighed as equal, with some advantage to Hamas.
NELSON MANDELA? MORE LIKE CHARLIE MANSON
MSNBC’s Ali Velshi last Sunday said on the air that “Netanyahu is well aware of one figure, often referred to as the ‘Palestinian Nelson Mandela,’ who enjoys widespread popularity and supports peaceful coexistence with Israel. His name is Marwan Barghouti, and his image adorns murals across Gaza and the West Bank.”
Born in Nairobi, Kenya, and raised in Toronto, Ontario, Ali Velshi was the host of “Ali Velshi on Target” on Al Jazeera America, until the Qataris struck the sets on April 12, 2016. In October 2016, he was already hosting an offshoot of the same show on MSNBC.
When Nelson Mandela was arrested and sentenced to life in prison, the charges against him were for carrying out acts of sabotage against the apartheid regime in South Africa. He did not murder anyone. The “Palestinian Nelson Mandela” might as well be dubbed the “Palestinian Charlie Manson,” considering the number of suicide bombers he groomed and sent to murder innocent Israeli civilians.
Finally, the amalgamation of reports on Barghouti in the Western media – his “mistreatment” in prison; his good relationship with Hamas (as if he is the only Fatah leader who could tame the beast; and his growing popularity among the Arabs of Judea, Samaria, and Gaza (who attached enormous popularity to the October 7 atrocities as well) – it’s a well-orchestrated trend intended to cleanse this monster.
As to his relationship with the “Zionist entity” once he becomes the next PA Chairman (because it’s in the cards, let’s not kid ourselves): starting in 2014, Barghouti has been calling for Ramallah to sever its security cooperation with Israel, the very reason for which the Rabin government created the PA. He also has been calling for a third intifada, which would have happened had the IDF not toughened its policy and started killing terrorists “between the river and the sea.”
Dr. Rafi Netz-Tsangut from the Leonard Davis Institute at the Hebrew University suggested on October 25, 2023: “Barghouti must be released from prison, let him be elected president of the Authority, and conduct peace negotiations with him.”
He argued: “If Israel reaches a peace agreement with Barghouti, the lives of hundreds and thousands of Israelis will be spared, who would God forbid die when, in the absence of a peace agreement, hostilities against Israel will continue in the future. This will also prevent existential danger to Israel.”
He wrote it. He really wrote it. Best written suicide note since Czechoslovakia was handed the Munich agreement in 1938.
