Freeing a Terrorist

Israel has a problem. On the one hand, the only democracy in the Middle East is being pressured to negotiate with Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah party. On the other hand, Abbas is weak and it is doubtful that the PLO veteran can deliver on any deal that he might sign with an Israeli leader. To remedy the situation, many say that Israel needs to help bring to power a Fatah leader who has a larger mandate and would thus be empowered not only to make decisions, but to implement them as well. Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, Israel's Infrastructure Minister has just the man for the job: imprisoned Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti.

Barghouti, Ben-Eliezer argues, would have the necessary strength within Fatah and overall credibility amongst Palestinians to make him a worthy negotiating partner. He contrasts this to Abbas's weakness and inability to affect real change. With that said, it is understandable why a Labor minister like Ben-Eliezer would want to find a more suitable negotiating partner. But before we reach for the key to unlock Barghouti's cell, let us remember what landed him in an Israeli prison in the first place.

Barghouti was arrested during Operation Defensive Shield in April 2002. Two years after his capture, he was convicted by an Israeli court of ordering attacks that led to the murders of five people, and was sentenced to five life sentences. As the founder of the now well known Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, Barghouti is responsible on some level for all of the acts of terror that the group has preformed and was originally indicted for the violent deaths of 21 other people.

Barghouti's popularity amongst Palestinians is not to be doubted. In a poll conducted this month by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, Barghouti is shown to secure a decisive victory in a potential presidential race against Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh. The poll concluded that Barghouti would receive a whopping 60% of the vote, while Haniyeh would be buried with just 35%.

The release of Marwan Barghouti will not enhance the "peace process", as Mr. Ben-Eliezer would hope. Barghouti's popularity stems from his lead role in the founding of one of the most murderous of Palestinian terrorist organizations. A move to free Barghouti would show absurdly, that if you murder enough Israelis, the Israeli government will see that you rise to power. It is also worth considering what this man's popularity says about the Palestinians. Any people who view Marwan Barghouti as a beloved future leader, are light years away from making peace.