A campaign seeking the release of Marwan Barghouti shared a post about support from 20 actors who have appeared in Marvel films and series.
The post on the campaign’s X account expressed concern over Barghouti’s ongoing prison sentence, the violence he has faced in prison and the deprivation of his legal rights.
The same post called on the United Nations and governments to work for Barghouti’s release from an Israeli prison.
Actors’ support for the campaign
Those who signed the campaign included Ian McKellen, who played Magneto in the X-Men series, as well as Rebecca Hall, Riz Ahmed, Jason Flemyng, Elliot Page, Hugo Weaving, Zawe Ashton, Emma Corrin, May Calamawy, Brian Cox, Dan Stevens, Rob Delaney and Kingsley Ben-Adir.
Mark Ruffalo, who plays Hulk in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Benedict Cumberbatch, who plays Doctor Strange, and Don Cheadle, known for his role as War Machine, were also among those supporting the campaign.
Cate Blanchett, who played Hela in Thor: Ragnarok, Tilda Swinton, who played the Ancient One, She-Hulk actor Tatiana Maslany and Daniel Brühl, known for his role as Zemo, were also among the actors who signed the campaign.
Barghouti’s political background
Born on June 6, 1958, in the village of Kobar, northwest of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, Barghouti joined the Fatah Movement at the age of 15. He was 18 when Israel arrested him in 1976, and he learned Hebrew during his time in prison.
Barghouti was detained several times while studying at university. He was imprisoned again in 1985 under administrative detention and was later placed under house arrest. A prominent figure in the First Intifada, which began in 1987, Barghouti was exiled by Israel to Jordan, where he remained for seven years.
Barghouti returned to the West Bank in 1994 under the Oslo Accords signed between Israel and the Palestinian administration. In 1996, he was elected to the Palestinian Legislative Council on behalf of the Fatah Movement from the Ramallah and Al-Bireh area. He later became Fatah’s secretary-general.
Prison sentence and solitary confinement
Israeli forces detained Barghouti at his home in Ramallah on April 15, 2002. An Israeli court sentenced him to five life terms and 40 years in prison on charges of murder and attempted murder.
Barghouti taught political science at Birzeit University and earned a bachelor’s degree in history and political science and a master’s degree in international relations. He completed a doctorate in prison and wrote the books The Promise, Resistance to Detention and A Thousand Days in Solitary Confinement.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir transferred Barghouti from Ofer Military Prison to Ramon Prison on February 18, 2024, and placed him in solitary confinement. The decision was based on an allegation that intelligence had been obtained regarding a planned uprising in the West Bank.
