Marwan Barghouti has spent more than two decades behind bars. Born in 1959 in the West Bank village of Kobar, Barghouti rose from student activist to a leading figure in Palestinian political life—a vocal proponent of the two-state solution, he was elected to the Palestinian Legislative Council in 1996 and known for his ability to build consensus among rival Palestinian factions.
Israeli authorities arrested him in 2002, during the Second Intifada; he was subsequently sentenced to five life terms plus 40 years following his 2004 conviction on five counts of murder and one of attempted murder for directing attacks led by the Tanzim militant group. Barghouti refused to mount a defense, rejecting the jurisdiction of an Israeli court over a Palestinian resident of the occupied West Bank, and in 2004 was convicted and sentenced to five life terms plus forty years.
Comparisons to Nelson Mandela have followed him ever since. Like Mandela, Barghouti politically leads from prison, commanding a legitimacy that incarceration has not diminished. A Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research poll conducted in October 2025 found that he would win 49 percent of the vote in a three-way presidential race and 58 percent in a head-to-head contest against Hamas’ Khalid Mishal.
Background and Imprisonment
Barghouti’s support of a two-state solution was most notable upon his co-authoring of the Palestinian Prisoners’ Document in 2006, in which jailed leaders of rival factions agreed to the framework of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders. Former Israeli head of intelligence, Ami Ayalon, described Barghouti as “the only leader who can lead Palestinians to a state alongside Israel.”
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Since October 7, 2023, Barghouti—now age 66—has been held in solitary confinement and, according to his lawyer, subjected to a pattern of escalating physical abuse. In an interview, Ben Marmarelli, an Israeli lawyer who is the legal representative of Marwan Barghouti and a vocal critic of Zionism, spoke candidly about the beatings Barghouti has endured, the starvation and deprivation facing Palestinian political prisoners more broadly.
Torture and Abuse
Marmarelli reported that Barghouti has been subjected to three violent assaults. On April 8th in Ganot Prison, he was severely beaten and left bleeding for more than two hours. He requested medical care and was denied treatment. On March 25th, he was assaulted during his transfer from Megiddo to Ganot. On March 24th, in Megiddo Prison, guards entered his cell with a dog, forced him to the ground, and the dog repeatedly attacked him.
Marmarelli alleged systematic sexual abuse of Palestinian prisoners. He had a client who was subjected to rape beforehand every time he came to visit, which was carried out with a mop handle inserted anally. The assault was not the act of one guard, but different guards each time, indicating it is not random, but a policy.
The Israeli parliament recently approved the death penalty for Palestinians convicted of murdering Israelis. Marmarelli noted that this law cannot apply retroactively to Barghouti, as his case was decided over twenty years ago. However, the law represents a shift in policy, removing the last discretionary check on the death penalty for Palestinians convicted of ideological violence.
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Marmarelli emphasized that lawyers within the Israeli legal profession should speak out about the torture, sexual abuse, and killings of Palestinian prisoners. He encouraged law students to study sociology and be brave in the face of intimidation from the state.
Marmarelli’s own experiences as a lawyer have been marked by numerous complaints submitted to the Bar Association by right-wing organizations seeking his disbarment. He has received threats to his life and has been subjected to a war of attrition, with the Israeli Prison Service constantly obstructing his access to clients.
Despite these challenges, Marmarelli remains committed to representing Marwan Barghouti and other Palestinian prisoners, and to speaking out against the systematic abuse and torture they face. He believes that it is the responsibility of lawyers to tell the world about these injustices and to fight for justice, even in the face of intimidation and repression.
