Who is Marwan Barghouti?

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Who is Marwan Barghouti?

Brig.-Gen. (res.) Yossi Kuperwasser
19
Apr
2017
Marwan Barghouti is a Palestinian leader and parliamentarian, said the New
York Times at the end of Barghoutis op-ed on April 17th. Following the uproar
that this description caused, the NYT editor added a note: This article
explained the writers prison sentence but neglected to provide suFcient
context by stating the offenses of which he was convicted. They were Hve
counts of murder and membership in a terrorist organization. Mr. Barghouti
declined to offer a defense at his trial and refused to recognize the Israeli
courts jurisdiction and legitimacy.

The truth, of course, is quite different from what the NYT editor added. In fact,
Barghouti was the leader and commander of the Al-Aqsa Brigades, the key
terror component of Fatah that carried out many terror attacks throughout the
Second Intifada. He was also the leader of the umbrella organization of the
Islamic and national forces, which oversaw the entire range of terror activity
during those years, and served as coordinator between the different
organizations. Barghouti was also responsible for inciting violence and terror
before the Second Intifada (for example, during the eight days of violence and
terror throughout the West Bank in mid-May 2000).

According to the court at his trial, Barghouti operated under the direct
command of Yasser Arafat and was beyond any doubt directly responsible for
murderous activity. He was convicted of terror attacks that were performed
following his direct orders, in which 5 people were murdered:

1. Yosef Habi (52, from Netanya), Eli Dahan (53, from Lod), and policeman
Salim Barakat (33, from Yarka) were killed and many people were injured in
an attack at the Seafood Market restaurant in Tel Aviv on March 5, 2002.
2. Yoela Chen (45, from Givat Zeev) was murdered in an attack at a gas station
near the entrance to Givat Zeev on January 15, 2002.

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Who is Marwan Barghouti? 4/23/17, 9*47 AM

3. The Greek monk Georgios Tsibouktzakis (36, from the St. George
Monastery) was murdered in an attack on the road between Jerusalem and
Maale Adumim on June 12, 2001.

In addition, the court said that Barghouti was morally responsible for many
other terror attacks in which many more Israelis were murdered.

Documents captured by the IDF in Operation Defensive Shield (April 2002)

shed light on Barghoutis involvement in commanding the terror efforts under
Arafat. In those documents, Barghouti asks Arafat to authorize payments to
several lists of Fatah terrorists, while he himself was approached by local
commanders who asked him to authorize payments to terrorists from their
units. The documents include, for example, an urgent request from Barghouti to
Arafat to approve payment of $2,000 each to 25 members of the Palestinian
Fatah movement.

Filed Under: Palestinians, Radical Islam, Terrorism

Tags: Marwan Barghouti, Yasser Arafat

About Brig.-Gen. (res.) Yossi Kuperwasser

Brig.-Gen. (res.) Yossi Kuperwasser is Director of the Project on Regional

Middle East Developments at the Jerusalem Center. He was formerly Director
General of the Israel Ministry of Strategic Affairs and head of the Research
Division of IDF Military Intelligence.
Follow @yossikup

View all posts by Brig.-Gen. (res.) Yossi Kuperwasser

2017 All rights reserved.

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