Israel Palestine relations might take a new turn. First, on June 15, the president of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas has issued a decree calling for presidential elections in early 2027 and for legislative elections to be held in November of this year, official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported. Abbas, 90, won the last Palestinian presidential election in 2005 with a mandate of 4 years, meaning his term should have ended in 2009. However, no presidential election has been held since, with Abbas ruling by presidential decrees, courting criticism at home and abroad.
According to Haaretz, Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti, currently in an Israeli prison, “told his lawyer he is determined to run and will not withdraw if elections are held.” French historian and professor Vincent Lemire confirms Barghouti has just announced his candidacy for the presidential election to be held in early 2027. “Even from prison, I will remain a candidate,” he reportedly said.
For his decades-long struggle and his integrity, Barghouti has been nicknamed the “Palestinian Mandela.” He symbolizes the experience of incarceration: first imprisoned at age 18 in 1976, he has been in prison since 2002. 40% of all Palestinians have been incarcerated at some point in their lives. A member of Fatah since 1973, he was elected as a representative for Ramallah in 1996 and has since actively fought against corruption within the Palestinian Authority, for gender equality (male/female), and for a rigorous dialogue with the Israelis. He traveled to Israel several times to establish an “Israeli-Palestinian parliamentary friendship group” with members of the Knesset. Barghouti played an active role in the First Intifada (he was arrested in 1987 and deported to Jordan) and in the Second Intifada (as leader of the Tanzim, Fatah’s armed wing). He survived an assassination attempt by Israel in 2001 (a missile fired at his car killed his bodyguard). He was arrested in 2002 and sentenced to five life terms in prison. Since then, he has been the undisputed leader of the “Prisoners’ Movement,” which brings together activists from all Palestinian factions with the aim of achieving national reconciliation.
In June 2006, “The Prisoners’ Appeal,” signed by activists from Fatah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), declared that a Palestinian state must be established “within the June 1967 borders.” Barghouti said: “I myself, as well as Fatah, of which I am a member, firmly oppose any attack against civilians inside Israel, our future neighbor. I seek to liberate my people, not to kill the people on the other side … We want a Palestinian state living side by side with the State of Israel. I unequivocally support the idea of two states for two nations. … We cannot separate the liberation of the land from the liberation of the people. We will therefore need a revolution in our educational, intellectual, and cultural systems.”
Marwan Barghouti is now 67 years old and enjoys immense popularity, both in the West Bank and in Gaza. All opinion polls indicate that he will be elected by a landslide in the upcoming presidential elections in Palestine.
On July 18, Elie Barnavi, the former Israeli ambassador to France, in an op-ed for Le Monde, calls for the release of the Palestinian leader, arguing that Barghouti has consistently championed the project of a sovereign Palestine living in peace alongside Israel. Barnavi: “Under the authority of Itamar Ben-Gvir, the proudly fascist Minister of National Security and overseer of the prison system, Barghouti has been starved, tortured, regularly beaten and systematically denied medical care. Beyond popular mobilization, the campaign for his release now beginning in France must lead to genuine diplomatic action. Time is short, as the man is simply at risk of dying.”
