▪ Marwan Barghouti Marks 23 Years Behind Israeli Bars

Palestinian Prisoner’s Society 
April 15, 2025

Ramallah, Palestine – Today, April 15, 2025, marks the 23rd year since Palestinian political leader Marwan Barghouti was last arrested and detained by Israeli occupation forces. Barghouti, who is a member of the Fatah Central Committee, has been imprisoned since 2002, and he is one of the key leaders of the Palestinian prisoners’ movement. 

In honor of his sacrifices, the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS) marks Barghouti’s 23rd year behind bars with a briefing highlighting key milestones in his life. This day comes amid a severely escalating aggression against all Palestinians across the country and particularly those in Gaza who continue to live through this genocide. This period marks the most violent and oppressive reality yet in the history of the Palestinian people under Israeli occupation. 

Barghouti is currently being held in solitary confinement in Ramon Prison according to the latest information available. Since the genocide began in October 2023, the conditions for the thousands of Palestinian prisoners in the occupation’s custody have never been worse. All prisoners, and even more so the leaders of the prisoners’ movements, have face unprecedented levels of abuse, isolation, deprivation, torture, and assault. The prison system has deliberately transformed every kind of basic human need as a means to torture and weaken our prisoners. 

Barghouti and his fellow incarcerated leaders continue to represent a model of steadfastness, sacrifice, and dedication, despite the shackles and the systematic Israeli violations that have sought for decades to oppress those who resist. During his repeated transfers between prisons and long periods of solitary confinement, he has been subjected to repeated physical assault by special prison repression units, along with the other leaders of the prisoners' movement. 

These practices, which intensified after October 2023, are not new, but rather an extension of the occupation's ongoing repressive and retaliatory policies since it began its occupation of our land, during which hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have undergone arrest, abuse, and torture.

It is worth noting that the prolonged solitary confinement that Barghouti faces today is not his first; he has faced isolation many times, yet he continues his struggle, along with his fellow prisoners, with unwavering will, strength, and resilience.

Key Milestones in the Struggle of Palestinian Prisoner Leader Marwan Barghouti:

Born in 1959, Barghouti is from the village of Kobar in the Ramallah and Al-Bireh governorate. He is considered the first member of Fatah’s Central Committee and the first Palestinian parliamentarian to be arrested by Israeli occupation authorities and sentenced to life.

He began his political activism early in life and was first arrested in 1976, then again in 1978, and a third time in 1983.

After his release in 1983, he enrolled at Birzeit University, where he was elected head of the Student Council for three consecutive years, and helped establish the Fatah Youth Movement (Shabiba). 

He was arrested again in 1984 for several weeks, and again in 1985 for 50 days, during which he was subjected to a harsh interrogation. That same year, he was placed under house arrest and administratively detained without trial or charge. 

In 1986, the occupation pursued him until he was eventually arrested and exiled abroad, during which he worked alongside the martyred political leader Khalil al-Wazir (Abu Jihad).

In 1989, at Fatah’s Fifth General Conference, he was elected to the Revolutionary Council, and he returned to Palestine in April 1994, becoming deputy to the martyred leader Faisal Husseini who was the Fatah Secretary in the occupied West Bank. Barghouti then began a new phase of organizational and political work, rebuilding Fatah’s organizational structure in the occupied West Bank.

In 1996, he was elected to the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) as its youngest member.

During the Second Intifada (Al-Aqsa Intifada) - of which he was a prominent leader - Israeli occupation accused him of founding and leading the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, Fatah’s armed wing. He was hunted and faced multiple assassination attempts.

On April 15, 2002, on this very day 23 years ago, Israeli occupation forces arrested him during the military invasion of West Bank cities. 
Barghouti was subjected to months of torture during interrogation and over 1,000 days of solitary confinement. 

In 2004, he was sentenced to 5 life sentences plus 40 years. In response, Barghouti said: "If the price of my people’s freedom is the loss of my own, then I am ready to pay that price."

In 2006, Barghouti headed Fatah’s unified list in the second Palestinian legislative elections.

He played a leading role in drafting the 'National Conciliation Document of the Prisoners.' On May 9, 2006, he signed it on behalf of Fatah. This document, authored by imprisoned leaders from various Palestinian political groups, was later adopted by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as a foundation for a National Reconciliation Conference.

In 2010, while in Israel’s Hadarim prison, in solitary confinement, Barghouti earned a PhD in Political Science from the Arab League’s Institute for Arab Research and Studies. He has authored several books from prison, including "One Thousand Days in Solitary Confinement."

On April 17, 2017—marked annually as Palestinian Prisoners’ Day—Barghouti led a massive hunger strike titled “Freedom and Dignity Strike” along with about 1,600 prisoners, which lasted for 42 days.

Throughout his imprisonment, he has launched and overseen an academic revolution in Israeli occupation prisons, supervising an education program that allowed prisoners to pursue undergraduate and master’s degrees.