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Source: https://jcfa.org/why-would-celebrities-call-to-free-a-terrorist-murderer/
Why Would Celebrities Call to Free a Terrorist Murderer?
(Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs) Lt.-Col. (res.) Maurice Hirsch - Over 200 celebrities and public figures are using their platform to call for the release of convicted Palestinian terrorist Marwan Barghouti. Do these people actually know why Barghouti is in prison? In 2000, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah organization launched a full-blown terror war - the Second Intifada. Barghouti established the Tanzim and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, both part of Fatah, as organizational structures to carry out acts of terror. From September 2000 through April 2002 when he was arrested, Barghouti and the other terrorists carried out over 1,000 terror attacks that resulted in the death of over 150 Israelis. A report published by the Israeli government in May 2002, based on seized documents, noted that "The Al-Aqsa Brigades organization, headed by Arafat, was put under the direct authority of Marwan Barghouti, who had no compunction in using women and even children to execute terrorist activity, which killed hundreds of Israelis." The report included documents showing the involvement of Barghouti in the terror. Barghouti was indicted for his role in 37 different terror attacks and was tried in an Israeli civilian court. In its final verdict regarding his responsibility, the court convicted Barghouti only for the five counts of murder for which he had not only been implicated by the other terrorists, but for which he had personally confessed to during his interrogation. The drive to release Barghouti is based on his alleged potential to become the leader of the Palestinian people. This position is simply outrageous. Surely there must be potential Palestinian leaders who are not terrorists and convicted murderers. If not, what does that say about Palestinian society? It is time to demand that the Palestinian leadership abandon terror. The writer, former director of the Military Prosecution in Judea and Samaria, is director of the Palestinian Authority Accountability Initiative at the Jerusalem Center.