November 18, 2002. Copyright, 2002, Graphic News. All rights reserved

Profile of prominent Palestinian militant Marwan Barghouti
By Joanna Griffin

LONDON, November 18, Graphic News:  In the West Bank they call him ÒNapoleonÓ. Until his arrest in April, the diminutive, dark-haired figure of Marwan Barghouti was a familiar sight at the rallies, riots and funerals that are a daily feature of life in that area of the Middle East. To his army of stone-throwers, Barghouti was the general, energetically directing the Palestinian intifada against Israel.

Now Barghouti, leader of the Tanzim armed wing of Yasser ArafatÕs Fatah organisation, languishes in an Israeli jail, awaiting the reopening of his trial on charges of murder and conspiring to murder in suicide attacks. So far Israel has been deaf to arguments that it has no jurisdiction to try Barghouti, but any eventual decision on his fate is likely to add to volatility in the West Bank and provide a new flashpoint for the Middle East conflict.

Barghouti, 42, would be the natural choice of many young Palestinians to succeed the ailing Arafat, not least because of his oft-stated belief that the only language Israel understands is force. In turn, IsraelÕs Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his cronies would like to humiliate or put him out of action permanently to reinforce their message that Israel will not tolerate terror.

Israel blames Barghouti for inciting attacks on Israelis, particularly shooting and suicide bomb attacks staged by the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade. The deputy minister for internal security, Gideon Ezra, has said Barghouti Òdeserved to dieÓ for his role in the violence. For his part, Barghouti has hailed the attacks by the shadowy militia but denies masterminding them.

Whatever the exact nature of his involvement, Israel could not let the high-profile presence of the Fatah leader at every stage of the intifada go unpunished and in September 2001 a warrant was issued for his arrest. On April 1, 2002, Al-Aqsa proclaimed him as their leader and soon afterwards elite troops came calling. Prior to their arrival Barghouti had not left Ramallah for 19 months for fear he would be assassinated. He was absent when a missle demolished his office.

That Barghouti used to be counted as a peacemaker perhaps reflects the downward trajectory of wider progress towards peace. The son of a farmer, he was raised in the West Bank village of Kafr Kuber. He later led the student Fatah organisation and was in and out of jail during the first intifada (1987-1992). Deported to Jordan, Barghouti was elected to the Fatah Revolutionary Council in exile. He went home under a provision of the 1993 Oslo Accords.

In recent years he has steered the cause on a different course to Arafat, ensuring that Fatah remains distinct from the Palestinian Authority, whose representatives he has attacked for not joining the intifada. He has called for Hamas terrorists to have a seat at the negotiating table. He has even dared to criticise Arafat, reflecting what analysts say is wider unhappiness that Jewish settlements on the West Bank have proliferated under the veteran ArabÕs leadership.

This is the crux of BarghoutiÕs popularity. He grew up dodging bullets on the West Bank and, unlike some Palestinian leaders who hail from ArafatÕs days in exile in Tunis, he seems to have no truck with the trappings of power. He is angry and impatient, and his is the mood on the streets. For all these reasons, he had been seen as the peopleÕs choice to succeed Arafat.

But it now seems unlikely that Barghouti will ever be freed to take up the helm. For the time being he remains another a focus for anger in the conflict. His supporters say he is being tortured with sleep deprivation in prison. His captors say if he canÕt sleep, itÕs because of the torments of his conscience. At the start of his trial in Tel Aviv in October, there were violent clashes between his supporters and relatives of slain Israelis, and such scenes are likely to be repeated when the court reconvenes on November 21. But they are likely to be just a foretaste of what will happen on the steets when BarghoutiÕs fate is known.
/ENDS