Although theories differ on the role of the individual in shaping history, it was Russian philosopher Georgi Plekhanov who most effectively sought to strike a balance between historical determinism and the influence of individuals on its course.
Today, the case of Marwan Barghouti provides a strong example of that balance, as US President Donald Trump publicly mulls pushing for the jailed Palestinian leader’s release.
Trump’s striking comments have drawn attention to Barghouti’s significance in shaping the contours of the future Palestinian political landscape. Yet the Palestinian people have long recognised Barghouti’s importance, envisioning his rise to a prominent political role.
Barghouti was a candidate in the presidential election won by Mahmoud Abbas two decades ago, but withdrew following advice from his Fatah colleagues. Barghouti also planned to run in the 2021 election, but the vote was cancelled; political analysts say this was largely due to fears within the Palestinian Authority that he would have won.
Trump’s statement could affect how the US engages with the Palestinian question going forward.
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Barghouti is far more than a Palestinian prisoner who has spent a third of his life in Israeli jails. Scores of Palestinians have served longer sentences, yet none have occupied the same place in Palestinian political life.
Barghouti has become a symbol of Palestinian unity in a context of overwhelming internal divisions. He has earned broad popular trust through his lifelong service, immense personal sacrifice, and intellectual depth, enabling him to articulate the concept of national liberation within the complexities of the international order.
Striking a balance
Barghouti is principled where principle is needed, pragmatic where possible, and cautious where necessary. He is organised when it matters, and possesses a dialectical mind capable of driving change without rushing the process.
He knows how to balance opposing ideas, believing in resistance as a legitimate right of a people living under occupation, while at the same time striving for a just and lasting peace with Israel – one that would grant the Palestinian people their freedom, independence and dignity.
He embodies both concepts simultaneously: supporting former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s pursuit of peace, while also leading a genuine popular uprising against the occupation.
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In one of my many conversations with him, I once asked: “Marwan, how do you reconcile the emotional and historical notion of the homeland with the political notion of the state – the two-state solution? Can you truly convince yourself, before convincing our people, of that balance?”
Without hesitation, he replied: “The homeland is a supreme value; it is part of our people’s very being. The state, meanwhile, is the political expression of a lived reality. States can also create homelands.
His continued imprisonment would be a loss not only for the Palestinian people, but for everyone who yearns for peace and stability in the region
“Switzerland, for instance, is a collection of homelands (German, French and Italian), yet the political reality created a homeland called Switzerland. The French in Switzerland have not ceased to be French, but they are also fully Swiss. There is no contradiction here. An individual can hold more than one identity. We must teach our people that multiple identities can coexist without conflict.”
It’s no coincidence that he came to be known as the Palestinian Mandela. His symbolism is rivalled only by that of the keffiyeh that once crowned Arafat’s head, and later became a universal emblem of the Palestinian identity and narrative.
Barghouti is a fighter for peace: a man who bends before the breeze, but cannot be uprooted by the fiercest storm. He is open to any peace offering even a glimmer of hope, as the Oslo Accords once did; yet he also led a full-scale uprising, the Second Intifada, when that hope evaporated.
Most importantly, he is perhaps the only figure capable of persuading the Palestinian people to rally behind a specific political course – much as Arafat once did – drawing on his personal authority, historic legacy and immense popular trust.
Sustained divisions
For more than two decades, Barghouti has been nurturing hope in his dim prison cell – cultivating not only hope itself, but also a steadily growing popular confidence. But at the same time, he has bred jealousy, even resentment, among certain Palestinian politicians who fear that his release would curtail their own political ambitions.
This political envy took its harshest form through opposition to the 2017 hunger strike staged by Barghouti and hundreds of his fellow prisoners, with some going so far as to discourage other detainees from participating.
Abdelqader Badawi, who spent years in prison alongside Barghouti and earned his master’s degree under the latter’s instruction, said in a recent Taqareb podcast: “There were those within the Palestinian Authority who actively worked to prevent Marwan Barghouti’s release, seeing him as a rival they could never match.”
When the time finally comes for Barghouti to embrace freedom, the dark hatred of Israel’s far right will stand in his way, blocking his path to the open air. The Israeli government has drawn a red line around his release – one it refuses to cross, even if international efforts to end the war in Gaza collapse as a consequence.
The reason is not related to security concerns. It is purely political: Barghouti’s presence in the Palestinian political arena would represent a genuine step towards ending internal divisions, through a unifying figure who commands a broad consensus. This is precisely what Israel does not want.
For two decades, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has nurtured and sustained Palestinian division as a means of weakening Palestinian political coherence. It is thus unsurprising that he would oppose the release of a man who poses a direct challenge to that fragmentation.
What Israel fails to grasp, however, is that the deepening of Palestinian disunity – especially after a war that has inflamed hatred – will inevitably produce dozens, if not hundreds, of uncontrolled armed groups. Many will operate without political discipline and may embrace unrestrained violence, particularly when despair fuses with the bitterness of war.
From Arafat to Barghouti
For that reason, the emergence, or the release, of a strong and unifying Palestinian figure may represent not a problem, but a solution – not just for Palestinians, but for Israelis as well.
When Palestinian negotiators faced the choice of securing Barghouti’s release or ending the war of extermination in Gaza, the natural choice was to prioritise halting the genocide.
Israel likely recognised this calculation, and that awareness might have strengthened its resolve to insist on keeping Barghouti imprisoned. It understood that ending the genocide would be an offer the Palestinians could not refuse, even if it did not include the release of Barghouti and other key leaders.
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While Barghouti’s release is certainly a Palestinian necessity, it may also prove to be an Israeli, and even an international, necessity. This is a somewhat odd conclusion, yet it reminds me of a similar episode that took place many years ago.
During the Second Intifada, the Israeli army raided my home as part of a sweep of several houses in the neighbourhood, while searching for a wanted Palestinian. Once the occupying officers realised my political standing, a political exchange – part interrogation, part debate – took place between their senior officer and myself.
In that conversation, the officer expressed an Israeli desire to “get rid of” Arafat, one way or another. I told him plainly that such a move would be Israel’s greatest mistake. Arafat might have been a hard foe and a ruthless adversary, but he was the only one capable of leading the Palestinian people towards a genuine peace.
Today, the same argument, in a sense, applies to Barghouti. He is a determined enemy from an Israeli perspective, yet he may be the only figure capable of delivering a real peace and ending the cycle of violence. His continued imprisonment would be a loss not only for the Palestinian people, but for everyone who yearns for peace and stability in the region.
The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye.
