U2 frontman Bono recently called for the release of Palestinian prisoner Marwan Barghouti, who is captured in an Israeli jail and said that “both sides must be represented by leaders seen as legitimate in their own communities”.
Bono wants Marwan Barghouti to be released
The singer shared his stance in The Atlantic, where he wrote a new essay urging for Israel to release the Palestinian prisoner.
Barghouti has been in prison since 2002 and was convicted of five counts of m*rder in 2004. These were in relation to the attacks during the second Palestinian intifada, and, as highlighted by The Irish Independent, he refused to participate in the trial and denied any involvement.
He is serving five life sentences, plus 40 years. Bono said that he was among numerous people who feels that there are “grave concerns about the legitimacy of the trial”, and have concerns for the wellbeing and safety of Barghouti in the prison.
“In recent months, despite reports of a brutal beating that left him unconscious, Israeli officials still refuse to allow Marwan’s family or the International Committee of the Red Cross to visit him and verify his condition, only allowing his lawyer the rarest of visits,” Bono claimed in the piece.
“This is outrageous. The ICRC should be allowed to see him immediately.”
He also added that an organisation of over 180 of the world’s national parliaments, the Inter-Parliamentary Union, have declared that the trial breached international law.
“It should not surprise us, then, that hundreds of artists and activists and others have called on the United Nations to help secure Barghouti’s freedom,” Bono continued, referring to how acts including Fontaines D.C. have also urged for the release of Barghouti.
“Or that the Elders – former world leaders who serve, unofficially, as a collective political conscience—are evoking Mandela and Tutu in urging his release.”
“The Elders, for example, insist that Barghouti be freed so he can play a ‘leadership role’ in reviving a two-state solution and advancing peace, dignity and security for both Israelis and Palestinians,” the essay added.
The U2 singer further claimed that he thinks the imprisoned man “might be the only man who could credibly claim to represent a broad coalition of Palestinians, who could speak for them at a negotiating table and within their own jagged borders”.
He also compared him to Nelson Mandela, and claimed that, like the former President of South Africa, Barghouti “is a man who has recognised the legitimate existence of the Other”.
“Barghouti is different, and this is why right-wing Israelis, including the prime minister, who fear a two-state solution see him as so dangerous. And why this week National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has gone as far as to suggest Marwan be executed. Let’s be honest…What he really wants is the peace process executed,” Bono then added.
He later closed the essay by writing that Barghouti “stands to be a leader of vision, one with credibility among his own people, and among his adversaries”.
“Both Israelis and Palestinians have an interest in having him take a seat at the negotiating table. Our prayer is that he is physically and mentally healthy enough to do so, and that he and Israel’s leadership are indeed committed to the idea that there is no future for Israel or Palestine alone,” he concluded. “Set him free. And let both sides finally begin again. Again.”
