BICOM

Jailed Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti has urged the Palestinian Authority to “end all forms of coordination” with Israel in a letter he sent to supporters on the 10th anniversary of his incarceration.

In the letter, which was published late on Monday, Barghouti called on Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to recognise that negotiations with Israel were not working. “I call on the Palestinian Authority to end all forms of coordination, security and economic, with the occupation,” wrote Barghouti, who is serving five life sentences for his role in a succession of terrorist attacks against Israelis during the second intifada.

The letter also called on Abbas to “stop marketing the illusion that it is possible to end the occupation through these negotiations.” Barghouti also reaffirmed that the Palestinians should not enter negotiations without a settlement freeze and the 1967 lines as a basis for talks on future borders.

Barghouti played a key role in the second Palestinian intifada that erupted in 2000. He was arrested in April 2002 and two years later was handed five life terms for his role in several deadly anti-Israeli attacks. Shortly after the eruption of the Second Intifada, Barghouti pushed for the involvement of the Tanzim, Fatah’s military wing, in suicide attacks.

Recently, however, Barghouti has thrown his support behind “popular resistance”. In his letter, the Jailed leader also called on the Palestinians to back a “combination of resistance and diplomacy.” He also backed the Palestinian bid to become a full member of the United Nations. “We must affirm the absolute right of our people to resist occupation in all ways, and in the way appropriate to the situation — and at this stage, popular resistance serves our people,” he said.