Marwan Barghouti, an imprisoned Palestinian Fatah leader, has been nominated by the Belgian parliament for the Nobel Peace prize for 2016.
Palestinian rights groups and various parliamentarians have been engaged in a campaign for Barghouti to be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, referring to the imprisoned parliament member as the “Palestinian Mandela” and a symbol of peace in Palestine.
The nomination letter sent to the Norwegian Nobel Committee stated the need to grant “the Nobel Peace Prize to someone who embodies (not only) the Palestinian people’s struggle for freedom, but also their aspiration to achieve peace.”
“This nomination is important because it says that the Palestinian people have a legitimate right to free themselves from the Israeli occupation,” said Fadwa Barghouti, wife of Marwan Barghouti.
She added that the nomination aimed at drawing attention to the plight of Barghouti, as well as approximately 7,000 Palestinians incarcerated by Israel.
Barghouti enters his 15th year of imprisonment. He was later handed five consecutive life sentences after being detained in 2002 on charges which he has repeatedly denied.
(PC, MA’AN, Al Jazeera)
