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🇮🇱 Israel /Elections & Politics

The Barghouti ‘myth’: Why Palestinians still want a leader they barely know - interview

From Jerusalem Post · () English

Summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Interview Named sources Context piece
  • Imprisoned Fatah figure Marwan Barghouti remains the leading choice in Palestinian presidential polling despite spending 24 years behind bars.
  • A recent poll gave Barghouti 54% support, compared with 14% for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and a lower share for Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya.
  • Analyst Michael Milshtein attributed Barghouti’s appeal partly to the “myth” surrounding him and dissatisfaction with corruption, prolonged leadership and economic hardship.

Marwan Barghouti has spent 24 years in prison, yet polls continue to place the senior Fatah figure at the top of Palestinian voters’ presidential preferences. His popularity, analyst Michael Milshtein told The Jerusalem Post, rests less on personal contact than on what Barghouti has come to represent.

A recent poll by the Ramallah-based Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research gave Barghouti 54% support. Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya followed behind, while Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas received 14%. Barghouti also led an earlier poll, with 49% support.

Milshtein said Barghouti’s absence from public life had helped build his reputation. His son, Qassam Barghouti, described a figure many Palestinians know through symbolism rather than direct experience. “People do not really know Marwan the person, but they admire Barghouti, the myth. He represents, for most Palestinians, mainly the young ones, all the symbols, dreams and aspirations they support,” he told Milshtein.

Barghouti is serving five life sentences for murder and membership in a terrorist organization. He has not witnessed the changes in Palestinian society since Oct. 7, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic or the technological changes affecting the Palestinian economy.

Milshtein also linked Barghouti’s appeal to dissatisfaction with the alternatives. The Palestinian Authority has not fulfilled promises to eliminate corruption, Abbas has remained president despite his term expiring in 2009, and the economy continues to struggle. State employees have received only part of their wages for a year, schools operate part-time and hospitals have struggled to function at full capacity in the West Bank.

People do not really know Marwan the person, but they admire Barghouti, the myth. He represents, for most Palestinians, mainly the young ones, all the symbols, dreams and aspirations they support. He is quite clean. He is not corrupt like other senior figures in the PA. He represents the prisoners. He represents the resistance, the Mukawama (resistance). He represents a lot of things that most Palestinians are affiliated with

— Qassam BarghoutiBarghouti’s son explained why the imprisoned Fatah figure remains popular despite his long absence.
About this summary

Originally published by Jerusalem Post. Summarized and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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