Marwan Barghouti’s son on the quest for Palestinian statehood and who will lead them

Amna Nawaz:

As the fragile cease-fire holds, Palestinians are grappling with what comes next in their quest for statehood and who will lead them.

The most popular political leader is 66-year-old Marwan Barghouti, convicted and imprisoned in Israel as a terrorist, but seen as a potential unifying force among Palestinians.

Special correspondent Leila Molana-Allen spoke with Barghouti's son in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.

Leila Molana-Allen:

Often called the Palestinian Nelson Mandela, Marwan Barghouti has long been seen by Palestinians and Western leaders alike as the one man who could unite and lead Palestinians to statehood, the youngest person to be elected to the Palestinian Legislative Council and a key leader of the second intifada.

But he has been jailed by Israel for 23 years, convicted in 2004 of planning an attack that killed five Israelis. Many say the trial was a sham. Hopes were high he would be released in the cease-fire/prisoner hostage swap, but the day came and went, and imprisoned he remained.

In a rare interview, the "News Hour" spoke with his son Arab, who was just 11 when his father went to jail, about the campaign for his release.

Arab Barghouti, Son of Marwan Barghouti: We thought that anyone in their right mind that wants an end for this cycle of violence would see that my father represents a great positive voice for political settlement.

The fact that he has a political vision that is accepted by the international community is the reason why the Israeli government does not want him released. They already released more than 800 Palestinians with life sentences since his imprisonment, but they insist on keep avoiding him, because he's not — they understand he's not a security threat and he's never been. He's not a military guy.

But they don't want a political figure who is willing and capable of unifying the Palestinian people towards a two-state solution that is accepted by everyone.

Leila Molana-Allen:

Tell me about your father's treatment in prison since October 7.

Arab Barghouti:

Since October 7, the Israeli government has found it a great opportunity for the collective punishment of the Palestinian people overall and especially the Palestinian detainees inside prisons.

After October 7, my father has been through some of the ugliest torture tactics that you can think of. Obviously, he had nothing to do with October 7, but yet he got punished for it. He was sent to solitary confinement.

He was sent from prison to prison. He was put in a very tiny cell that could barely fit his body without windows, with a spotlight in his face, with putting speakers at the door of his cell with the highest volume of the Israeli national anthem to prevent him from sleeping for days and days. And he got assaulted four different times. They shackled him. They put him on the ground and they started kicking him. They started beating him up.

They focused on the head area. They focused on the chest area, on the legs, and until he lost consciousness. So that was a clear assassination attempt. These units, they follow the lead of Ben-Gvir.

Leila Molana-Allen:

Itamar Ben-Gvir is the security minister in Benjamin Netanyahu's far right government. He has been a vocal advocate of increasing the severity of state policy towards Palestinians.

Arab Barghouti:

Ben-Gvir went to my father's cell a couple of months ago. He taunted him. He threatened his life. He showed him a picture of electric chair and he told him that, this is your fate. This is your future.

I'm just asking myself, what are these Western leaders and Western governments waiting for? This is the man that could unify the Palestinian people for the political vision that you're asking for, you're supporting. So, show that you're willing to take steps by calling for his release.

Leila Molana-Allen:

For decades, your father has consistently been voted the most popular candidate to be leader of the Palestinian people. What is it about his experience in his background that makes him the man for the job?

Arab Barghouti:

He's a unifying figure. He is capable of unifying the Palestinian people across factions, across secular, extremists, whatever you want to call it, and bring them into a reasonable political vision that is accepted by the international community. And he did — already did that.

Leila Molana-Allen:

In 2006, Marwan Barghouti united the Palestinian factions from prison behind one plan. It remains the best available basis for a cohesive Palestinian government.

Barghouti has long been an outspoken advocate of a two-state solution and before his arrest worked with Israeli politicians in the Knesset in pursuit of a workable peace plan.

Arab Barghouti:

He brought every single faction, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and made them sign on a document that stated clearly that the Palestinian state will be built on the '67 borders and established there, resistance will be limited to within the '67 borders, and the targeting of civilians should be forbidden regardless where they are.

Leila Molana-Allen:

Marwan Barghouti is often referred to as the Palestinian Nelson Mandela. Why is that?

Arab Barghouti:

I think this is very interesting, because Nelson Mandela was called a terrorist, and my father as well. And if you go back to any struggle, in Algeria, in Ireland, in South Africa, in all the countries that were colonized and occupied and so on, you will find that their resistance and their defending themselves against their occupiers is always being called terrorism.

Ninety percent of the civilians killed in the last eight decades of this so-called conflict have been on the Palestinian side and not the Israeli side. And who killed them? It's Israelis. And they're never called terrorists.

Leila Molana-Allen:

Arab says the key to peace is understanding the oppressive system of occupation Palestinians are forced to live under and ending it.

Arab Barghouti:

It's apartheid. You are ought to feel that you're a second-class citizen in every single day, every single move. When you move from city to city, you're stopped by checkpoints, you're searched, you might get humiliated.

For example, I was born in Jerusalem. I'm not allowed to go to Jerusalem for 25 years, while you can go to Jerusalem tomorrow, even though you have no ties to the city. If you go to Hebron, you're allowed to go to some streets I'm not allowed to go to because I'm Palestinian.

We want to get to a point where we don't need resistance, because resistance exists — according to international law, we have the right of resistance as long as there is occupation. We want the occupation to end. The root cause of what's happening is the occupation and the apartheid regime that we're living in.

My message to the international community is that help us with ending the illegal occupation, and we promise you that we will commit to every single law. And we can't — how can I go to Palestinians who are being tortured, who are being — their families are being bombed in front of them, and tell them you don't have a right to resist your occupier?

Leila Molana-Allen:

Arab argues that, for decades, successive Israeli governments have intentionally imprisoned popular leaders, so the Palestinian people would have no effective politicians.

Arab Barghouti:

They always say there is no partner for peace, and that's done by design. It's intentional. They're not interested in a partner for peace. My father has been a big supporter for the two-state solution for more than three decades, and he is the most trusted Palestinian leader.

But they don't want that combination, because that combination puts them in the corner that they have to negotiate peace, they have to negotiate a political settlement. And they're not interested in that. And these are not my words. These are Netanyahu's words. He said that he's not interested in a Palestinian state.

Leila Molana-Allen:

Arab believes that now is an inflection point in history. He hopes his father will be a free man to watch a new dawn for Palestinians alongside him.

Arab Barghouti:

My father's dream has always been very simple and very clear, which is Palestinian children to live in peace and prosperity and with security like any others. And he's always said that we Palestinians deserve our freedom and deserve to live with dignity and we're not an exception from any other nation.

Leila Molana-Allen:

For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Leila Molana-Allen in Ramallah, the occupied West Bank.