Wife of Marwan Barghouti barred from prison visits

The wife of jailed Palestinian resistance leader has announced that Marwan Barghouti Israel has banned her from visiting him until 2019.

Fadwa Barghouti says she arrived at the prison on Monday and was informed of the decision resulting from her decision to support her husband leading Palestine’s largest hunger strike in modern history earlier this year. She says Barghouti’s family has been denied permits to enter Israel to visit him.

Israel Prison Service spokesman Assaf Liberati confirmed that Barghouti was barred from visiting for “security reasons” as a consequence of the hunger strike.

She had even written to Pope Francis calling on him to intervene "before it is too late".

During the 40 day hunger strike, Marwan Barghouti’s family members were quick to openly voice their support for Barghouti.

His son, Aarab Barghouti, faced Israeli media to address decades of smears against his jailed father, Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouthi.

“My father is a terrorist, just like Nelson Mandela”, Aarab told Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

“He was sentenced to five life terms. [Nelson] Mandela was also sentenced to life imprisonment. My father is a man of peace. He always sought peace. The only thing he will not forgo is his people’s rights”. 

By the end of May, when the hunger strike was over, Barghouti described it as a “turning point” for Palestinian prisoners.

“The prisoners were deprived of all sanitary and hygiene materials, turning their lives into hell and releasing shameful rumours and lies” during the hunger strike, Barghouthi said. 

“Yet, the record of the prisoners has been one of unprecedented steadfastness and the Israeli repression failed to break their will,” he added.