Home > Marwan Barghouti
Marwan Barghouti (born June 6, 1958) 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). On June 6, 2004, he was sentenced to five life sentences for five murders of Israeli civilians and 40 years imprisonment for attempted murders in terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians. He was tried by an Israeli civilian court, which is rare because Palestinians captured by the Israeli military in the occupied territories are usually tried by military tribunals, or placed under administrative detention (i.e. interned).Barghouti was born in RamallahRamallah (Arabic: ) is a West Bank city of approximately 57,000 residents, which is currently under Palestinian Authority control. It is located about 15 kilometers (10 miles) north-west of Jerusalem. Ramallah was under Jordanian occupation from the 1948, and became active in Fatah at the age of 15. By the age of 18 in 1976, he was arrested by Israel for his involvement in a Palestinian uprising, and learned HebrewThe Modern Hebrew language is a Semitic language of the Afro-Asiatic language family. What makes it unique is that the original Bible, the Torah, by Orthodox Jews held to be recorded in the time of Moses 3,300 years ago, was written in Biblical Classical 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 degreeA bachelor's degree is usually an undergraduate academic degree awarded for a course that generally lasts three or four years. Note that some postgraduate degrees are entitled Bachelor of. the University of Oxford Bachelor of Civil Law. Honours degrees In in history and political science and a master's degreeA master's degree is an academic degree usually awarded for completion of a postgraduate course of one or two years in duration. In the UK it is sometimes awarded for an undergraduate course whose final year consists of higher-level courses and a major re in international relations.
Barghouti was one of the major leaders of the First IntifadaThe first Intifada was an uprising that took place from 1987 to 1991 or 1993 (see Intifada). It was sometimes also called "the war of stones", because the Palestinians generally used stones and other makeshift weapons. The intifada was a partially spontan 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 JordanThe Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan commonly called Jordan is a country in the Middle East. It is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the north-east, Saudi Arabia to the east and south, and Israel and West Bank to the west. It shares the coastlines of the, where he stayed for seven years until he was permitted to return under the terms of the Oslo AccordsThe Oslo Accords were a series of agreements negotiated between the Israeli government and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO, acting as representatives of the Palestinian people) in 1993 as part of a peace process between the two sides, officiall in 19941994 is a common year starting on Saturday, and was designated the International year of the Family''. Events January events January 1 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) goes into effect January 6 Nancy Kerrigan is clubbed on the right leg by an. 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.
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 deaths in drive-by shootings. Under Barghouti, the Tanzim has also carried out suicide bombings in Israel under the name al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades.
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 terrorist activities carried out by forces under his supervision.
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 civilians. He was convicted on May 20, 2004 of five counts of murder, one of the victims being a Greek Orthodox monk, resulting from three terror attacks, one north of Jerusalem, one in Tel Aviv and 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 murders and 40 years imprisonment for the attempted murder.
