Over 200 cultural figures call for release of Palestinian terror convict Marwan Barghouti

Over 200 public figures have signed onto a petition calling for the release of prominent Palestinian security prisoner Marwan Barghouti, who is serving five life terms for his role in terror attacks in which five Israelis were killed, a campaign for his freedom said Wednesday.

The diverse range of celebrities who signed onto the “Free Marwan” petition included several Jewish names, such as British actors Stephen Fry and Miriam Margolyes, American singer-songwriter Paul Simon, and American actresses Hannah Einbinder and Ilana Glazer.

Other prominent names included actors Mark Ruffalo, Sir Ian McKellen, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tilda Swinton, and Josh O’Connor; musicians Annie Lennox, Sting, and Brian Eno; and author Margaret Atwood.

British broadcaster Gary Lineker and Virgin boss Richard Branson also added their support.

“We express our grave concern at the continuing imprisonment of Marwan Barghouti, his violent mistreatment and denial of legal rights whilst imprisoned. We call upon the United Nations and the Governments of the World to actively seek the release of Marwan Barghouti from Israeli prison,” the petition’s statement read.

Many of the names also appeared on a pledge that circulated in September pledging to boycott Israel’s film industry over the war in Gaza, which was among several letters over the past two years that drew celebrity support calling for an immediate end to the conflict sparked by Hamas’s invasion and massacre in Israel on October 7, 2023.

Barghouti, seen by many Palestinians as a potential successor to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, has been incarcerated since 2002. He is serving five cumulative life terms plus 40 years in prison for helping plan terror attacks during the Second Intifada that killed five civilians.

Barghouti has denied the charges for which he was convicted, and rejected the Israeli court’s jurisdiction to try him as a member of the PA’s parliament.

Hamas negotiators pressed hard to have Barghouti freed in the October hostage-prisoner exchange that saw the terror group hand over the remaining 20 living hostages abducted from Israel in exchange for 1,968 Palestinian detainees, but they ultimately failed to secure his release.

His wife, Fadwa, has traveled the world campaigning for his release and has insisted in an interview with The Times of Israel last month that her husband favors a peaceful, two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

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Since the October 7, 2023, massacre, Barghouti has been held in solitary confinement, according to his family and fellow inmates who have recently been freed.

His family charges that he has been beaten four times by guards over the past two years, causing broken ribs and other injuries. National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who oversees prisons, said last month that he was “proud that Barghouti’s conditions have changed drastically” during his tenure.

Barghouti was last seen publicly in an August video leaked by Ben Gvir’s office in which the far-right minister can be seen taunting a gaunt and significantly thinner-looking Barghouti in the latter’s prison cell.

Jacob Magid contributed to this report.