The Israeli Prison Service on Wednesday moved jailed Fatah leader Marwan Barghouthi to solitary confinement in Hadareim prison, a day after he sent a widely-published letter from prison calling for armed resistance against the Israeli occupation, a rights group said.

In a statement, the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society said that Barghouthi was being punished for the letter he sent Tuesday, on the 10th anniversary of the death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

“Moving Barghouthi to solitary confinement because of a statement he sent on the Arafat anniversary is evidence that Arafat is still scaring them (the Israelis) from his grave,” said PPS chairman Qaddura Faris.

“Marwan is scaring them from his prison cell,” Faris added.

An IPS spokeswoman did not answer calls seeking comment.

Barghouthi said in the letter that “choosing global and armed resistance” was being “faithful to Arafat’s legacy, to his ideas, and his principles for which tens of thousands died as martyrs.”

The letter was released to media outlets after months of clashes across the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Palestinian areas of Israel, and the day after two Palestinian knife attacks killed an Israeli soldier in Tel Aviv and a settler near Bethlehem.

Barghouthi is serving five life sentences for alleged involvement in attacks on Israeli targets.

(Ma’an – www.maannews.net)