South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has become the first sitting head of state to sign an international petition demanding the release of convicted terrorist Marwan Barghouti from Israeli prison.
The Free Marwan Barghouti Pledge reads, “We call on Israel to release Palestine’s most popular leader, Marwan Barghouti, an elected representative unjustly imprisoned for 24 years. Barghouti is widely recognized as a Palestinian Mandela figure. His prolonged imprisonment, marked by solitary confinement, torture, threats, and under a communication ban, constitutes a grave injustice.” The pledge has been signed by many celebrities and famous figures since it was launched in 2013.
Ramaphosa signed the petition on Freedom Day, April 27.
Who is Marwan Barghouti?
Barghouti is a former leader of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, which carried out many of the suicide bombings and shooting attacks of the Second Intifada.
According to Israel, Barghouti orchestrated or was responsible for, among others, the following attacks between 2001 and 2002: the murder of a Greek Orthodox monk on the road to Ma’aleh Adumim; the shooting attack during a bat mitzva celebration at a banquet hall in Hadera that killed six Israelis; a shooting spree on Jaffa Street in Jerusalem during which two Israelis were killed and 37 people wounded; a shooting attack in Neve Ya’acov in which an Israeli policewoman was killed; the murder of an Israeli at the Bashkevitz coffee and spice factory in the Atarot industrial zone of Jerusalem; the suicide attack perpetrated by Daryan Abu Aysha at the Maccabim checkpoint in which two policeman were wounded; the shooting spree at the Seafood Market restaurant which killed three Israelis.
Israel ultimately convicted Barghouti of five counts of murder and one of attempted murder in 2004. He was sentenced to five consecutive life terms plus 40 years in prison.
Barghouti’s supporters, however, consider him to be a de facto Palestinian leader and symbol of resistance. Many argue that he was unjustly imprisoned and suffers violence in prison.
The Kathrada Foundation (named after anti-apartheid activist Ahmed Kathrada) called Ramaphosa’s signature a “direct challenge to political imprisonment and a call for governments everywhere to choose principle over silence by backing the global campaign to free Barghouti.”
“The same solidarity that helped free Nelson Mandela must now be extended to others still imprisoned,” it added.
The Iranian embassy in South Africa praised Ramaphosa for “always [standing] on the right side of history.”
South Africa has been active in its support for the Palestinian cause. On December 29, 2023, South Africa took Israel to the International Court of Justice, describing its assault on Gaza as genocidal.
Ramaphosa received condemnation in 2024 for chanting “From the river to the sea Palestine will be free,” at an African National Congress (ANC) election rally.
In response, South Africa’s Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) said, “The president of the ruling ANC party and the head of state of a democratic country has called for the elimination of the only Jewish state in the culmination of the ANC president’s election speech made to thousands of ANC members and on National television.”
SAJBD further stated, “This reconfirms our understanding that President Ramaphosa and his government are not looking for a peaceful solution to the tragic conflict, but rather to cause discord among fellow South Africans against its Jewish community.”
During his term as South Africa’s deputy president in 2017, Ramaphosa went on a 24-hour hunger strike in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners, including Barghouti.