Jailed Palestinian leader’s wife said barred from prison visits until 2019
Fadwa Barghouti says Israel preventing her from seeing husband, convicted terrorist Marwan Barghouti, after he led hunger strike
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
The wife of jailed Palestinian terrorist Marwan Barghouti said Israel has banned her from visiting her husband until 2019.
Fadwa Barghouti said she arrived at the prison on Monday and was informed of the decision resulting from her support for his hunger strike earlier this year.
She said Barghouti’s family had been denied permits to enter Israel to visit him for the past six months. Her journey to the prison Monday was possible after she received a permit via the Red Cross, she said.
Israel Prisons Service spokesman Assaf Liberati confirmed that Barghouti was barred from visiting for “security reasons” as a consequence of the hunger strike.
Barghouti led a hunger strike for 41 days earlier this year, demanding improved conditions for Palestinians jailed in Israel. Although behind bars, he is a senior official in the Fatah party that dominates the Palestinian Authority.
Israel largely viewed the strike as having less to do with actual conditions and more to do with internal Palestinian politics, saying it was a strategic political move by Barghouti, who wanted to demonstrate his influence on the Palestinian street ahead of a bid to succeed PA President Mahmoud Abbas.
Barghouti is serving five life terms, after being convicted by an Israeli court in 2002 of directing two shootings and a bombing that killed five Israelis.
The Times of Israel Community.