Bono calls for the release of Palestinian political leader Marwan Barghouti

Bono has written a letter calling for the release of Palestinian political leader Marwan Barghouti, who has been imprisoned by Israeli forces for over two decades.

Barghouti has been an advocate for a two-state solution, and was the leader of protests and diplomatic initiatives prior to his imprisonment. He has been serving five life sentences, with an additional 40 years after being convicted of deadly attacks during the Second Intifada in 2002.

“Marwan Barghouti has been unjustly imprisoned by Israel for over two decades, convicted in a trial by a court he did not recognize,” states the Free Marwan website “Despite his imprisonment, poll after poll show he’s Palestine’s most popular leader. A powerful symbol of unity and a long-time advocate for freedom and dignity for the Palestinian people.”

Bono came out in support of the Free Marwan campaign in a recent letter to the Atlantic.

“As we saw in the Irish peace process, both sides must be represented by leaders seen as legitimate within their own communities, because only such leaders can make the hard compromises necessary to get a deal done," he wrote. "One of the hardest parts - the hardest part - is engaging with your enemies. Even, or especially, the ones you consider most dangerous and have locked up, you thought permanently, in your prison cells."

Marwan has been considered a terrorist level threat by Israeli officials, with Israel's National Security Minister, Itmar Ben-Givir, suggesting he should be executed.

“Let’s be honest… What he really wants is the peace process executed,” Bono writes. “Credibility accrues to those who stood at the barricades, who risked their lives for the cause, and – sorry to say it, but this is the world as it is – who committed or at least condoned acts of violence.”

Marwan Barghouti mural

Bono added that Marwan is a "a leader of vision, one with credibility among his own people, and among his adversaries, ” likening Marwan to Nelson Mandela who was imprisoned for 27 years for opposing South Africa's apartheid system.

“Like Mandela, Barghouti is not a man of nonviolence, but he is a man who has recognized the legitimate existence of The Other… and this is why right-wing Israelis, including the prime minister, who fear a two-state solution, see him as so dangerous,” Bono wrote. "He 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"

Despite calls for his release under terms of the ceasefire agreed in October, Marwan continues to be held without visitation rights.

“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 continues "This is outrageous. The ICRC should be allowed to see him immediately.”

Bono has joined Irish artists Fontaines D.C. and Sally Rooney as well as a string of other cultural figures and celebrities in support of the “Free Marwan” campaign.