By Stan Goodenough
Jul 10, 2007
He is serving five life-sentences for the murder of Israeli Jews and the attempted murder of more.
His hands are positively soaked in blood.
But Marwan Barghouti may indeed soon be set free to take his place as the wildly popular leader of Fatah's young guard.
His release would largely be attributed to the leftist political camp in Israel, which regards the cold-blooded murder of fellow Jews as understandable and even justifiable, and which consistently promotes the "Palestinian" side while denigrating their own.
The wheels that will likely see Barghouti walk out of Hadarim prison as a "heroic champion of the 'Palestinian' cause" have been creepinmg round ever since his sentencing and imprisonment in May 2004.
They began turning faster Monday, when Israel's former deputy defense minister Ephraim Sneh held a secret two-hour meeting with the convict.
Reports in the Israeli press, vaguely described what the two men discussed as "issues relating to the situation in the Palestinian Authority."
PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas is known to have called for Barghouti's release during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert two weeks ago. Olmert at the time indicated this would not happen.
But Abbas' argument that Barghouti's freedom at his request would further support him in his power struggle against the Hamas leadership appears to have resonated with the Israeli government, which has publicly spelled out its intention to help strengthen Abbas and his Fatah terrorists.
Middle East observers note that today's political recommendations, especially when they fit the left's agenda, frequently become tomorrow's political realities.