How would you describe a man convicted of terror attacks that killed five people and is accused of orchestrating dozens of other shootings and suicide bombings? One would think that he would be referred to correctly: as a terrorist. But apparently not when the perpetrator is a Palestinian and his victims are Israeli.
Associated Press (AP) recently ran a story about Marwan Barghouti’s last-minute shake-up of the upcoming Palestinian parliamentary elections. The imprisoned former Fatah military commander last week registered a slate of candidates for the May 22 vote, mere hours before the deadline. According to recent surveys, Barghouti’s plans are liable to severely weaken Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah ruling faction.
Further Reading: Palestinian Elections: Groundhog Day or New Path Forward?
This development prompted AP to publish a background piece on Barghouti, who is currently serving multiple life sentences in an Israeli prison for his role in planning deadly terror attacks against Israelis during the Second Intifada. The story describes the arch-terrorist as “popular and charismatic,” someone who is viewed by many Palestinians as a “revolutionary leader in the mold of Nelson Mandela or Fidel Castro.”
In an attempt to present Barghouti as a man of peace, the article glosses over his conviction for killing civilians. Instead, AP writes that “Israel considers Barghouti and other Palestinians jailed for security offenses to be terrorists,” and that the Jewish state “may refuse to engage with a leader it views as a terrorist.” The story was reprinted by major media outlets like The Washington Post and NBC News, leaving millions of readers in the dark about who Barghouti really is and what he has really done.
Leading A Murderous Terrorist Group
Take the following paragraph, for example:
Barghouti, 61, a former Fatah militant commander, is serving five life sentences in Israel following a 2004 terrorism conviction. But he remains a popular and charismatic leader…. Israel is unlikely to release Barghouti regardless of his political fortunes, and may refuse to engage with a leader it views as a terrorist.”
Israel doesn’t just “view Barghouti as a terrorist.” Prior to his arrest, he co-founded and headed the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade. Under Barghouti’s leadership, the group murdered dozens of Israelis in suicide bombings and shooting attacks during the Second Intifada (2000-2005). Barghouti also served as the leader of Fatah’s Tanzim armed wing, which likewise carried out attacks during that period.
Further Reading: The Second Intifada: Israeli Society Terrorized
Israeli authorities arrested Barghouti on April 14, 2002, and subsequently charged the terror mastermind with ordering at least 37 attacks, in which 26 people were killed and many more wounded. Eventually, in 2004, a court found him guilty of organizing a March 2002 attack on a restaurant, in which three people were murdered. He was also convicted for a June 2001 attack in Ma’ale Adumim, in which a Greek monk was murdered, a January 2002 terror attack on a gas station in Givat Zeev, and a car bomb attack in Jerusalem.
In addition, Barghouti was convicted on a charge of attempted murder, being a member of a terrorist organization and conspiring to commit a crime. As Haaretz noted at the time, the judge’s decision not to convict Barghouti for the other attacks was due to legal barriers that prevent a leader of a terrorist organization from being held fully accountable for acts carried out by members of the group if he himself is not directly involved in perpetrating them.
However, that does not diminish the fact that many people – not just in Israel – view him as the driving force behind the Second Intifada.
Encouraging Violence Against Israelis From Jail
Now, consider the following sentence that appears in the AP article:
He [Barghouti] condemned attacks targeting civilians inside Israel, though Israel says he is responsible for civilian deaths.”
The AP story relies on a 2002 Washington Post op-ed by Barghouti himself, a mendacious propaganda piece previously critiqued by HonestReporting. Notably, while he publicly denied responsibility for the deaths of innocents, he did admit to playing a role in the January 2002 attack that killed Israeli civilian Yoela Chen.
Further Reading: Palestinian Warlord Manifesto
More importantly, Barghouti continues from behind bars to incite violence against Israeli civilians living both in the West Bank and within Israel’s pre-1967 borders. In November 2014, amidst terror attacks that injured and killed civilians in Jerusalem and throughout the country, he issued the following statement from his prison cell:
We must convey our veneration and esteem for the popular uprising in Jerusalem, and call upon the Palestinian people in the West Bank, in Gaza and within [Israel’s pre-1967 borders], and in the [Palestinian] diaspora and the Arab and Islamic world, to support this uprising, because the battle for Al-Aqsa and the places sacred to Islam and Christianity is the battle for Palestine and the battle for liberty, return and independence.”
He added that the Palestinians should “adhere to the option of resistance and the gun.” It is thus illusory to believe that Marwan Barghouti actually opposes attacks targeting Israelis.
The Destruction of Israel Through A Palestinian ‘Return’
Another line in the AP story reads:
From behind bars, he has continued to call for a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, lands Israel seized in the 1967 war.”
This sentence also tries to present Barghouti as a constructive partner who is willing to make concessions and accept Israel’s existence as a Jewish state within the pre-1967 lines. This is a false depiction of his views. Although Barghouti’s incarceration might have ended his career as a murderer, his statements from prison have repeatedly condemned what he called “futile negotiations” with Israel.
“We need a structure that adopts the principle of comprehensive resistance to the occupation and to the entire Zionist colonialist plan,” he wrote in 2016, hinting that he regards all of Israel as illegitimate. As part of this strategy, Barghouti is a proponent of the Palestinian “Right of Return,” which is essentially a euphemism for Israel’s destruction through demographic means. The influx of million of Palestinians “refugees” would spell the end of Jewish self-determination.
Further Reading: A One-State Solution: Advocating Israel’s Destruction
In a 2012 interview, Barghouti made crystal clear what that “return” would entail: “He [Abbas] said he would give up on returning to Tzfat. This is his personal opinion, it is not my opinion. I would not give up and I claim that the right of return is a sacred right of the Palestinians.”
It is worth noting that the Galilean town of Tzfat was envisioned as part of the Jewish state in the 1947 UN Partition Plan and has been under Israeli control ever since the War of Independence the following year.
Similarly, Barghouti in 1995 refused to condemn a suicide bombing near Netanya, located in central Israel, saying that “this is an area that we have not yet liberated.” All in all, these statements cast serious doubt on the claim that Barghouti merely wants to establish a Palestinian state on “lands Israel seized in the 1967 war,” especially when considering his apparent rejection of peace talks.
Nevertheless, Associated Press paints him as a heroic figure. And not just AP: The New York Times last week published a similar piece about Barghouti, omitting almost all references to his terrorist past, and merely identifying him as a “popular Palestinian militant.”
When will media outlets stop acting as defense lawyers on behalf of actual terrorists, and simply present the facts? You can reach out to Associated Press and demand a correction through [email protected].
Featured Image: David Silverman via AFP/Getty
