A collection of writings by imprisoned Palestinian political leader Marwan Barghouti will be published in November, gathering letters from prison, interviews, personal materials and documents from the last three decades of his political life and suffering in prison.
As deadly attacks in Gaza continue despite a nominal ceasefire, the 66-year-old is seen by many as the best hope for a future leader of a Palestinian state.
His book, Unbroken: In Pursuit of Freedom for Palestine, will be published by Penguin on November 5 of this year, the publisher announced to The Guardian.
Barghouti has been held in Israeli prisons since 2002, after being arrested in Ramallah, where he served as an elected member of the Palestinian Legislative Council. He was captured and imprisoned on charges of orchestrating attacks that resulted in the deaths of five civilians and was convicted of terrorism by an Israeli court. The Inter-Parliamentary Union, an international organization, criticized the trial, arguing that it violated international law, including the Geneva Conventions. Barghouti has consistently denied the charges against him.
He is a member of the Fatah party, a rival to Hamas, and has long supported the two-state solution. Many analysts say Israel's refusal to release him is related to concerns that he could become a powerful voice for the Palestinian cause.
Born in 1959 in the village of Kobar in the West Bank, Barghouti grew up under Israeli military occupation after the 1967 war and was arrested several times for political activity as a teenager. Over the following decades, he became a prominent figure in Palestinian politics, advocating for the unity of the Palestinian people.
The upcoming book will include private letters written from prison to his family, correspondence with public figures, press interviews, public statements, historical documents and photographs, as well as excerpts from his book 1,000 Days in Solitary Confinement, which until now was only available in Arabic.
Barghouti has spent long periods in solitary confinement without contact with his family and, according to former Palestinian prisoners, has been severely beaten on numerous occasions in prison. In November 2025, The Guardian reported that he had not seen his family for three years, and his lawyers had been allowed to visit him only five times in the past two years. The International Committee of the Red Cross has been barred from visiting him, a move that violates international law.
Despite more than two decades in prison, opinion polls show Barghouti is the most popular Palestinian politician in Gaza and the West Bank. He is often cited by supporters as a potential leader who could unite factions, and has been called the “Mandela of Palestine.” His prominence has fueled international campaigns for his release.
The most recent campaign took place in November 2025, with coordinated demonstrations and public art installations in Palestine and cities such as London, in addition to protests in Europe, the US and South Africa. In December, over 200 leading cultural figures – including Margaret Atwood, Annie Ernaux, Benedict Cumberbatch, Elif Shafak, Peter Gabriel, Sting, Tilda Swinton, Olga Tokarczuk, Colm Tóibín, Sir Ian McKellen and Gary Lineker – signed an open letter demanding his release.
An introduction to the book was written by his wife, Fadwa Barghouti, a lawyer known for his release. “I have long wanted the world to hear Marwan in his own voice, not through the noise that surrounds him,” she said in a statement. “This book makes that possible – and I hope it helps people understand who Marwan Barghouti really is and how he embodies the Palestinian struggle for freedom and dignity.” /GazetaExpress/
edition
t7 live
