Jailed Popular Palestinian Leader Calls for Resistance Campaign Against Israel

Marwan Barghouti, the popular Palestinian leader who was an architect of the second Intifada [period of unbridled violence that erupted in late 2000 and continued through 2005] and who is serving five consecutive life sentences for murder, has sent a letter from his jail cell calling on Palestinians to sever all contacts with Israel; enact an economic and diplomatic boycott of the Jewish state; and focus energies on achieving reconciliation between the Fatah and Hamas factions. Barghouti’s call comes as Palestinians are urging mass participation in demonstrations and marches to Israel’s borders in commemoration of Land Day on Friday – the annual marking of Arab claims of land confiscation by Israel. Despite his incarceration, Barghouti has remained one of the most recognizable and authoritative figures to Palestinians, and is often rumored to be the subject of possible deals with Israel that would see his release from prison in order to assume a role in government. His call for a resistance campaign is seen as a potentially significant boost for those organizing the effort. He urged his followers to “stop marketing the illusion that there is a possibility of ending the occupation and achieving a state through negotiations after this vision has failed miserably.”