From prison, Barghouthi urges Palestinian leadership to support 'resistance'
Imprisoned Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouthi has called on the Palestinian leadership to support resistance and end security cooperation with Israel.
2 min read
Bargouthi is urging Palestinian leaders to reassess mission [Getty]
Imprisoned Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouthi has called on the Palestinian Authority leadership to support resistance against Israel.
The call came after months of clashes in and around occupied east Jerusalem and a growing number of deadly Palestinian attacks by lone individuals.
The Palestinian leadership has not taken a clear position on the violence, which has recently spread across the occupied territories.
In a public letter to mark 10 years since the death of veteran leader Yasser Arafat, Barghouthi said that "choosing global and armed resistance" was being "faithful to Arafat's legacy, to his ideas and his principles for which tens of thousands died as martyrs."
Barghouthi wrote the letter from his cell in Israel's Hadarim prison where he is serving five life sentences for alleged attacks on Israeli targets.
A senior figure within the Fatah movement of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Barghouthi was arrested in 2002 and sentenced two years later.
Barghouthi has since said he never supported attacks on civilians inside Israel and in recent years has thrown his support behind peaceful resistance.
With tensions surging at the flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem, a site holy to both Muslims and Jews, Barghouthi urged the Palestinian leadership to take action and make good on threats to end security cooperation with Israel.
"The Palestinian Authority must review its priorities and its mission... and put an immediate end to security cooperation which is only strengthening the occupier," he said.
'Assasination'
He also remarked on the circumstances of Arafat's death, saying his "assassination" was the result of "an official Israeli-American decision".
Arafat died in a military hospital near Paris on 11 November 2004 in circumstances that have never been fully clear.
Two years ago, Swiss experts who examined his personal effects reported finding "abnormal" levels of polonium, an extremely radioactive toxin, fuelling the widespread Palestinian belief that he was poisoned by Israel.
Israel has repeatedly denied any role in Arafat's death.
The call came after months of clashes in and around occupied east Jerusalem and a growing number of deadly Palestinian attacks by lone individuals.
The Palestinian leadership has not taken a clear position on the violence, which has recently spread across the occupied territories.
In a public letter to mark 10 years since the death of veteran leader Yasser Arafat, Barghouthi said that "choosing global and armed resistance" was being "faithful to Arafat's legacy, to his ideas and his principles for which tens of thousands died as martyrs."
Barghouthi wrote the letter from his cell in Israel's Hadarim prison where he is serving five life sentences for alleged attacks on Israeli targets.
A senior figure within the Fatah movement of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Barghouthi was arrested in 2002 and sentenced two years later.
Barghouthi has since said he never supported attacks on civilians inside Israel and in recent years has thrown his support behind peaceful resistance.
With tensions surging at the flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem, a site holy to both Muslims and Jews, Barghouthi urged the Palestinian leadership to take action and make good on threats to end security cooperation with Israel.
"The Palestinian Authority must review its priorities and its mission... and put an immediate end to security cooperation which is only strengthening the occupier," he said.
'Assasination'
He also remarked on the circumstances of Arafat's death, saying his "assassination" was the result of "an official Israeli-American decision".
Arafat died in a military hospital near Paris on 11 November 2004 in circumstances that have never been fully clear.
Two years ago, Swiss experts who examined his personal effects reported finding "abnormal" levels of polonium, an extremely radioactive toxin, fuelling the widespread Palestinian belief that he was poisoned by Israel.
Israel has repeatedly denied any role in Arafat's death.
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