PA officials: Arch-terrorist Marwan Barghouti’s nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize shows that imprisoned Palestinian terrorists are freedom fighters
Headline: “Barghouti’s candidacy for the Nobel Peace Prize and the ‘will for freedom’”
“Many commentators and people who deal with prisoners’ affairs consider the submission of prisoner [PA Parliament Member] Marwan Barghouti’s candidacy for the Nobel Peace Prize by the Argentinian leader Adolfo Perez Esquivel, recipient of the 1980 Nobel Peace Prize, an important step, that will positively affect the affairs of about 5,600 prisoners in the Israeli occupation prisons, and legitimize the Palestinian national struggle.
In order to support the candidacy, the [PLO] Commission of Prisoners’ Affairs launched a national campaign yesterday [April 13, 2016], in cooperation with the PA Parliament (i.e., Legislative Council), the Prisoners' Club, and social and national institutions and activists. Attorney Fadwa Barghouti, prisoner Barghouti's wife… emphasized that this step is ‘significant in terms of legitimizing the Palestinian national struggle, establishing an international alliance between all the people of the world’s nations who believe in peace and freedom that will stand with the Palestinian cause, and in conveying a message to the whole world, that the prisoners are fighters who sacrificed their lives and their liberty for freedom, and not terrorists, as Israel claims.’…
District Governor of Ramallah and El-Bireh Laila Ghannam stated that the candidacy for the prize ‘may… convey the message to the whole world that the last, most despicable occupation on the face of the earth is taking our young people captive, who are guilty of being free Palestinians who want to live in freedom and in peace on the land of Palestine…
Chairman of the Higher Follow-up Commission for Prisoner Affairs Amin Shuman clarified that the fact that the candidacy of a Palestinian prisoner is submitted for the first time, ‘means that the Palestinian national struggle is a legitimate struggle, and that [the Palestinian people] has the right to end the occupation and the settlement enterprise.’
Shuman said: ‘When the candidacy of Barghouti is submitted for the Nobel Peace Prize, this means that we seek peace, that we want a state that would enjoy peace, and that we do not want killing. The Palestinian national struggle is victorious today, thanks to the submission of Marwan Barghouti’s candidacy. Likewise, this opens the way for prisoners in prisons and [confirms] that they are freedom prisoners, and not terrorists, as they are defined by Israel, which insists on leaving them in prison for the rest of their lives.’
He added: ‘The significance of the international solidarity with the Marwan Barghouti campaign, which has taken place in South Africa before, is his becoming a symbol, similar to [Nelson] Mandela’s symbol, if he receives the prize.’…
Director of [PLO] Commission of Prisoners’ Affairs [and PA Parliament Member] Issa Karake said that this prize ‘has political and legal implications and dimensions, and that it proves to the world that a person who sacrificed his freedom and his life for the liberation of the homeland, freedom, and honor, must not be ignored.’”
Marwan Barghouti - serving 5 life sentences for orchestrating three shooting attacks that killed 5 people: one in Jerusalem (June 12, 2001, 1 killed), another in Givat Zeev near Jerusalem (Jan. 15, 2002, 1 killed), and one in Tel Aviv (March 5, 2002, 3 killed). When arrested in 2002, he headed the Tanzim (Fatah terror faction). After he was convicted and imprisoned, he was re-elected member of the Palestinian Authority parliament. On Dec. 4, 2016, he was elected to Fatah's Central Committee.
“Many commentators and people who deal with prisoners’ affairs consider the submission of prisoner [PA Parliament Member] Marwan Barghouti’s candidacy for the Nobel Peace Prize by the Argentinian leader Adolfo Perez Esquivel, recipient of the 1980 Nobel Peace Prize, an important step, that will positively affect the affairs of about 5,600 prisoners in the Israeli occupation prisons, and legitimize the Palestinian national struggle.
In order to support the candidacy, the [PLO] Commission of Prisoners’ Affairs launched a national campaign yesterday [April 13, 2016], in cooperation with the PA Parliament (i.e., Legislative Council), the Prisoners' Club, and social and national institutions and activists. Attorney Fadwa Barghouti, prisoner Barghouti's wife… emphasized that this step is ‘significant in terms of legitimizing the Palestinian national struggle, establishing an international alliance between all the people of the world’s nations who believe in peace and freedom that will stand with the Palestinian cause, and in conveying a message to the whole world, that the prisoners are fighters who sacrificed their lives and their liberty for freedom, and not terrorists, as Israel claims.’…
District Governor of Ramallah and El-Bireh Laila Ghannam stated that the candidacy for the prize ‘may… convey the message to the whole world that the last, most despicable occupation on the face of the earth is taking our young people captive, who are guilty of being free Palestinians who want to live in freedom and in peace on the land of Palestine…
Chairman of the Higher Follow-up Commission for Prisoner Affairs Amin Shuman clarified that the fact that the candidacy of a Palestinian prisoner is submitted for the first time, ‘means that the Palestinian national struggle is a legitimate struggle, and that [the Palestinian people] has the right to end the occupation and the settlement enterprise.’
Shuman said: ‘When the candidacy of Barghouti is submitted for the Nobel Peace Prize, this means that we seek peace, that we want a state that would enjoy peace, and that we do not want killing. The Palestinian national struggle is victorious today, thanks to the submission of Marwan Barghouti’s candidacy. Likewise, this opens the way for prisoners in prisons and [confirms] that they are freedom prisoners, and not terrorists, as they are defined by Israel, which insists on leaving them in prison for the rest of their lives.’
He added: ‘The significance of the international solidarity with the Marwan Barghouti campaign, which has taken place in South Africa before, is his becoming a symbol, similar to [Nelson] Mandela’s symbol, if he receives the prize.’…
Director of [PLO] Commission of Prisoners’ Affairs [and PA Parliament Member] Issa Karake said that this prize ‘has political and legal implications and dimensions, and that it proves to the world that a person who sacrificed his freedom and his life for the liberation of the homeland, freedom, and honor, must not be ignored.’”
Marwan Barghouti - serving 5 life sentences for orchestrating three shooting attacks that killed 5 people: one in Jerusalem (June 12, 2001, 1 killed), another in Givat Zeev near Jerusalem (Jan. 15, 2002, 1 killed), and one in Tel Aviv (March 5, 2002, 3 killed). When arrested in 2002, he headed the Tanzim (Fatah terror faction). After he was convicted and imprisoned, he was re-elected member of the Palestinian Authority parliament. On Dec. 4, 2016, he was elected to Fatah's Central Committee.