On December 3, 2025, more than 200 cultural heavyweights from around the world united their voices in an open letter demanding the release of Marwan Barghouti, the imprisoned Palestinian leader often dubbed the "Palestinian Mandela." This unprecedented campaign, which intentionally echoes the global solidarity movement that helped free Nelson Mandela and topple South African apartheid, has drawn support from a dazzling array of writers, actors, musicians, artists, activists, and public figures.
The list of signatories reads like a who’s who of international culture and activism. Authors Margaret Atwood, Philip Pullman, Zadie Smith, Fatima Bhutto, and Nobel laureate Annie Ernaux are joined by actors Sir Ian McKellen, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tilda Swinton, Mark Ruffalo, Josh O’Connor, and Cynthia Nixon. Musicians Sting, Paul Simon, Annie Lennox, and Brian Eno add their star power, while public figures such as Stephen Fry, broadcaster and former footballer Gary Lineker, artist Ai Weiwei, entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson, cookery writer Delia Smith, and director Sir Richard Eyre amplify the campaign’s reach. The petition also includes prominent Jewish voices like Miriam Margolyes, Naomi Klein, Nan Goldin, Peter Beinart, Gabor Maté, Ilana Glazer, and Hannah Einbinder, underscoring the campaign’s broad and diverse support base.
Barghouti, now 66, has spent 23 years behind bars after being convicted in 2002 for masterminding terror attacks against Israelis during the Second Intifada—a charge for which he received five consecutive life sentences plus 40 years. At the time of his arrest, he was an elected parliamentarian, and he has remained a central figure in Palestinian politics throughout his imprisonment. According to an October 2025 poll by the Ramallah-based Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, Barghouti would win if elections for the Palestinian Authority leadership were held today, consistently topping opinion polls as the people’s preferred leader.
Yet, despite periodic mentions in prisoner-exchange negotiations, Israeli governments have steadfastly refused to release him. The most recent example came after the October 2025 Gaza ceasefire, when Barghouti was excluded from a major prisoner swap. According to several sources, including Dawn and The Guardian, human rights groups and legal experts have widely criticized his original trial as deeply flawed, with the Inter-Parliamentary Union—an organization representing parliaments worldwide—concluding its own assessment with the same verdict. British-Palestinian novelist and lawyer Selma Dabbagh stated, “Marwan Barghouti’s trial was widely recognized as a sham. The body that represents parliaments around the world—the Inter-Parliamentary Union—undertook their own assessment and concluded it was deeply flawed. Marwan’s release would be a critical step in allowing Palestinians to determine their own leadership, whatever shape that may take.”
The open letter, signed by the cultural luminaries, expresses "grave concern at the continuing imprisonment of Marwan Barghouti, his violent mistreatment and denial of legal rights whilst imprisoned." It calls upon the United Nations and world governments to "actively seek the release of Marwan Barghouti from Israeli prison." The campaign’s statement is unequivocal: "We express our grave concern at the continuing imprisonment of Marwan Barghouti, his violent mistreatment and denial of legal rights whilst imprisoned. We call upon the United Nations and the governments of the world to actively seek the release of Marwan Barghouti from Israeli prison."
Supporters of Barghouti argue that his continued detention is less about security concerns and more about his symbolic and practical power to unite divided Palestinian factions and reinvigorate the push for a two-state solution. As The Guardian and Al Jazeera report, Israel’s refusal to release Barghouti, even during high-profile prisoner swaps, appears to be motivated by fears of his potential influence in building unity and momentum toward a negotiated peace. Critics of Israel’s policy argue that Barghouti’s leadership could provide the best hope for a stalled Palestinian statehood mission, while Israeli officials maintain that his release could reignite large-scale violence.
Adding to the urgency of the campaign is a proposed Israeli law that would allow the death penalty for Palestinian prisoners—a measure that could put Barghouti at even greater risk. The open letter warns against this legislation, emphasizing the dangerous precedent it would set. Human rights groups have voiced alarm, with many drawing parallels to the international campaigns that helped free other iconic political prisoners in history.
The campaign’s deliberate invocation of the anti-apartheid movement is more than rhetorical. In 2002, Nelson Mandela himself remarked, “What is happening to Barghouti is the same as what happened to me.” British musician Brian Eno, one of the signatories, underscored the point: “History shows us that cultural voices can shift the course of politics. Just as global solidarity helped free Nelson Mandela, we all have the power to accelerate the day that Marwan Barghouti walks free. His release would mark a turning point in this long struggle and bring much-needed hope to all of us.”
On the ground, the political landscape remains complex. The recent passage of a United Nations resolution backing the establishment of an international stabilization force inside Gaza—supported by Washington—has not led to a rush of nations willing to provide troops. Many countries fear that such a force could become entangled in conflict with Hamas over the disarmament of its weapons, which Israel has set as a precondition for withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. Most major Palestinian human rights groups have also rejected the UN resolution, citing concerns about potential conflicts and the imposition of external solutions. Should Barghouti be released, he would have to navigate these treacherous political waters, balancing international expectations with the realities of Palestinian politics and resistance on the ground.
Meanwhile, the diplomatic chessboard is in motion. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is widely expected to resist any move to release Barghouti unless there is strong pressure from the United States. In a sign of ongoing high-level engagement, Donald Trump invited Netanyahu to the White House for what could be the Israeli leader’s fifth visit since Trump’s return to office in January 2025. The outcome of such meetings—and whether US pressure will materialize—remains to be seen.
The campaign for Barghouti’s release has drawn both fervent support and sharp criticism. Some Israeli officials and commentators argue that freeing Barghouti would be a grave mistake, citing his conviction for orchestrating deadly attacks and warning that his return to public life could destabilize the fragile security situation. Others, including many international advocates and Palestinian voices, counter that his release is essential for jumpstarting a meaningful peace process and giving Palestinians a genuine opportunity to choose their own leadership.
As the world watches, the fate of Marwan Barghouti has become a lightning rod for broader debates about justice, leadership, and the future of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Whether this chorus of cultural voices can indeed “shift the course of politics,” as Brian Eno hopes, is an open question. But for now, the campaign has succeeded in shining a global spotlight on a leader whose imprisonment, supporters say, stands at the crossroads of history and hope.
