Official: Israel Must Free Fatah Leader

[Eugene]

Official: Israel Must Free Fatah Leader

The Associated Press
Monday, January 15, 2007; 12:47 AM

JERUSALEM -- A senior Israeli official said Sunday that the nation must move to release
its most prominent Palestinian prisoner _ Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti.

Barghouti is serving five life sentences in an Israeli prison after being convicted of
involvement in fatal attacks on Israelis.

As the West Bank leader of the Fatah movement of President Mahmoud Abbas, Barghouti
is the highest Palestinian official in Israeli hands.

Ynet, the Web site of the Yediot Ahronot newspaper, quoted Deputy Defense Minister
Ephraim Sneh as telling an independent security group that "Barghouti is the most popular
leader among the Palestinians. We also helped him gain that position. There are legal
obstacles to releasing him, but we will have to solve them."

-snip-

Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/15/AR2007011500023.html

[Tom Joad]

1. It would make sense, yes. Statement from Marwan:

Marwan Barghouti, member of Palestinian Parliament and Secretary-General of Fatah, calls for all Palestinians, be they in the OPT or the Diaspora, to put an end to present internal strife in order to prevent any further damage being done to the Palestinian cause. He hopes that the coming days will see Palestinians demonstrate their steadfastness in the face of recent events, by taking to the streets in peaceful marches and flying the Palestinian flag as a symbol of unity among Palestinian people. He also hopes that all will be unanimous in condemning the current infighting taking place among brothers, families and comrades from the same trench and in calling for the immediate formation of a unity government, as expounded in the National Conciliation Document of the Prisoners.

Marwan Barghouti also calls upon militias of all factions to steer clear from turning their weapons on each other. These weapons should be saved for the more vital task of guarding the Palestinian people against acts of outside aggression and occupation. Marwan Barghouti and fellow prisoners have made it clear that they are prepared to undertake a hunger strike if the current infighting does not stop and in the event that national unity is not achieved. Marwan Barghouti calls upon the leaders of all factions to meet immediately and be held to their responsibilities with regards to forming a unity government and halting the unfolding catastrophe.

Finally, Marwan Barghouti and fellow prisoners wish to make it clear that they strongly condemn all assassinations, acts of violence against other individuals and attacks on other individuals’ properties. The bullets used in said aggressions are but the bullets of cowardice. Furthermore, they are a stab in the back of Palestinian martyrs, in particular the murdered Yasser Arafat and Ahmed Yassin, freedom fighters and all Palestinians held in the prisons of the Israeli occupier