Israel’s far-right safety minister posted video footage of himself taunting essentially the most high-profile Palestinian prisoner whereas visiting him in jail this week, in an encounter that has prompted outrage from supporters.
The video is the primary time that Marwan Barghouti, 66, who’s serving 5 life sentences after being convicted in 2002 for his function in planning assaults that killed 5 Israeli civilians, has been seen for a few years. He seems gaunt and frail, along with his arms held collectively in entrance as he nods barely.
In the 13-second video, Itamar Ben Gvir taunts and threatens Barghouti, saying, “Whoever harms the people of Israel, whoever kills children, whoever kills women, we will wipe them out.”
Barghouti seems to attempt to reply, saying, “You know…” earlier than Ben Gvir promptly cuts him off. “No no, you must know this, throughout all of history.” The video then abruptly ends. Ben Gvir posted the video on his Telegram channel on Friday morning.
Opinion polls have persistently proven him as the preferred Palestinian politician, and his time in jail has solely elevated the admiration through which he’s held by Palestinians. Despite his life sentences, some see him as a successor to the ageing Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
Barghouti is barely seen very not often, and sometimes years will cross between movies or photographs are seen by the general public. Nevertheless, he stays vastly influential and is taken into account one of the few individuals who might unite Palestinian society behind a single leader.
On a number of events, Palestinians have tried to safe his launch, together with reportedly in ceasefire negotiations in the course of the present warfare. But Israel has refused to think about releasing Barghouti.
The video ignited an virtually quick response from Palestinian officers, who condemned Ben Gvir’s message and Barghouti’s situation. Barghouti has been held in solitary confinement for the reason that begin of the warfare on October 7, in accordance with his household and to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society.
Barghouti’s spouse, Fadwa Al Barghouti, stated she didn’t acknowledge him at first and “maybe part of me doesn’t want to acknowledge everything that your face and body express,” she stated in a publish on social media.
“They are still, Marwan, pursuing you and following you even in the solitary confinement cell where you’ve been living for two years. The struggle against the occupation and its symbols with you continues, and the chains are still on your hands.”
A cousin of Barghouti advised NCS that the video confirmed “something most awful,” including that his relative seemed “so thin” and “so weakened,” which he stated was as a result of his cousin is being “starved in his prison.”
When requested what Ben Gvir’s motivation to humiliate Barghouti might need been, Mustafa Barghouti stated that the far-right minister “didn’t humiliate Marwan – he humiliated himself.”
“You can’t humiliate a person who is weakened by being put in a jail and in a cell,” he stated. “In reality, he humiliated the Israeli government by this behavior.”
It’s unclear why Ben Gvir posted the video, which seems to be shot in a high-security jail in southern Israel the place Barghouti is held. The far-right minister of nationwide safety is understood for making provocative statements and served time in jail for anti-Arab incitement.
Palestinian Authority Vice President Hussein Al Sheikh known as Ben Gvir’s threats “the height of psychological, moral, and physical terrorism practiced against prisoners, and a violation of international and humanitarian conventions and norms.”
Raed Abu Al-Humus, the pinnacle of the Palestinian Authority for Prisoners and Released Prisoners’ Affairs, stated he holds Ben Gvir “fully responsible” for the Barghouti’s life. He warned that the threatening go to was a “dangerous indication of the intentions” of Ben Gvir.