[Order Michael Finch’s new book, A Time to Stand: HERE. Prof. Jason Hill calls it “an aesthetic and political tour de force.”]
Donald Trump recently said he’s “making a decision” about whether to support the release of Marwan Barghouti. That phrase should freeze the blood of anyone who believes in justice, accountability, or truth.
“We’re going to be talking about that. We’ll be making a decision.”
Donald Trump on Barghouti, October 2025 press Q&A
Here’s the truth:
The decision doesn’t matter. The fact that this is even up for discussion does.
This isn’t some 3D-chess, dealmaker‑of‑the‑century scenario. This is where red lines are crossed and desperation is shown. Some topics should be an absolute no. This is one of them.
Meet Marwan Barghouti: The “Peace Partner” with a Kill Count
In 2004, Marwan Barghouti was found guilty by an Israeli civilian court of five counts of murder and four counts of attempted murder. He isn’t some distant figure issuing vague political statements. He is an operational commander of the Tanzim militia, the armed wing of Fatah. The court ruled that Barghouti directly authorized, financed, and coordinated multiple terror attacks during the Second Intifada.
Among the victims:
- Greek Orthodox monk Eleftherios Georgopoulos, ambushed and shot dead in Ma’ale Adumim while driving his car in 2001. His only “crime”? Wearing his priestly robes in a country Barghouti’s faction considered illegitimate.
- Yehudit Levy, a 45-year-old mother of seven, murdered by gunfire in Jerusalem in 2002 during a drive-by attack Barghouti’s operatives carried out in his name.
- Gadi Shemesh, a security guard, and Eli Dahan, a father of six, were killed in a terrorist shooting at a Tel Aviv seafood restaurant in March 2002. Witnesses described how the gunman opened fire indiscriminately on diners before calmly walking away. That gunman was sent by a Tanzim cell under Barghouti’s direction.
- Another attack claimed by Barghouti’s network left a security guard named Yosef Habi dead, shot in the head at close range at a gas station outside Giv’at Ze’ev. The killer fled to Ramallah, where he was celebrated by locals as a resistance hero.
And that’s just the beginning. The prosecution tied Barghouti to dozens of other attempted attacks, including failed car bombings, firebomb ambushes, and sniper operations, all directed at Israeli civilians. Phone records, intercepted communications, and captured operatives all pointed to the same coordinator: Marwan Barghouti.
“He is not a political prisoner. He is a murderer who sent others to murder.”
Israeli Prosecutor’s closing statement, Tel Aviv District Court, May 2004
This man wasn’t in the room planning theoretical resistance. He ran payroll for terror cells. He chose targets. He recruited teenage attackers. He made calls when it was time to pull the trigger.
Barghouti is Palestine and Hamas’s hero for a reason. He is a committed Jihadist with blood all over his hands.
This is the man some call “Palestine’s Mandela.”
No, this is Palestine’s Charles Manson. And Trump is “making a decision” on whether to help secure his release.
When the Price of Peace Is Justice
Let’s be clear: Trump isn’t alone. For years, Arab leaders and Western diplomats have floated Barghouti’s name as the “only leader” who could unite Fatah and Hamas. That logic is as old as it is sickening: reward the man with the most influence over violence, because he’s the one they’ll listen to.
“Releasing Barghouti is the only way to stabilize the Palestinian leadership and create a legitimate negotiating partner.”
European diplomat, leaked notes from Cairo 2023 summit
That’s not peace. That’s mafia logic. That’s “let’s give the capo a seat at the table, maybe then the shootings stop.”
What about the families of the victims? What about the laws that demand justice? What about the precedent it sets?
When convicted terrorists become your bargaining chips, you are no longer negotiating peace; you’re bidding on silence with blood-soaked currency.
Israel Has Said No. Why Won’t We Respect That?
Israel’s position has remained firm: no release. And they have every reason for it:
- The murders were proven in court with testimony and forensics.
- The victims’ families were promised life imprisonment.
- The release would empower terror factions.
And yet the pressure continues from Europe, from Qatar, from the Biden State Department, and now from Trump.
When an American leader publicly suggests he’s weighing the release of a mass killer to smooth political optics, he isn’t leading. He’s capitulating. He’s signaling that American diplomacy has a price, and the cost is always paid by the dead.
The Last Time They Traded Terrorists, We Got a Massacre
In the 2011 Gilad Shalit deal, Israel released 1,027 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for one IDF soldier.
It was hailed globally as a “humanitarian triumph.”
But buried in the details was one name that would change history:
Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas butcher who would later orchestrate the October 7, 2023, massacre.
He had been imprisoned since 1988 for abducting and murdering Palestinians accused of collaborating with Israel. He was a founder of Hamas’s internal security unit, responsible for torture, executions, and purges. That’s who Israel let go.
“The Shalit deal was not just a release. It was a strategic rearmament of Hamas.”
IDF Intelligence Brief, 2012 (declassified in part, 2024)
After his release, Sinwar quickly rose through the ranks, became Hamas’s political chief in Gaza by 2017, and masterminded the deadliest terror attack on Jews since the Holocaust.
Yes, he is dead now, eliminated by the IDF in 2024, but only after October 7th happened. After women were raped, after babies were burned, after civilians were hunted and dragged into Gaza.
And yes, the United States backed that 2011 deal.
With full diplomatic support, White House praise, and pressure behind the scenes for “goodwill gestures” during a fragile negotiation.
Freeing Barghouti would repeat the same mistake.
Hamas has made its demands clear: they want Barghouti, and they want him alive. Why? Because he’s not just a symbol. He’s a future candidate.
Even from his prison cell, polls among Palestinians show Barghouti as the most popular political figure in the territories, consistently outperforming both Hamas and Fatah leadership. His approval ratings hover near 60%, far higher than Mahmoud Abbas’s, and his image has been carefully cultivated as a “martyr in waiting.” In the eyes of many, he isn’t just a politician.
They see a second Arafat. And if he walks free, they’ll see victory.
Trump Should Know Better, So Why Is He Entertaining It?
Trump wants to be “the Peace President.” He said it before he even had a deal. He declared victory in the Middle East while the bodies were still being buried. And now, he’s so obsessed with chasing the legacy and maybe even a Nobel Peace Prize, that he’ll do whatever it takes to keep the illusion alive.
Even if it means risking more lives.
Even if it means entertaining the release of a mass murderer.
But this isn’t 2017 Trump, the man who moved the embassy, cut off UNRWA, and walked away from every bad deal.
This is a new Trump: one so desperate to deliver something branded as “peace,” he’s willing to flirt with full-scale betrayal.
Because once you start negotiating with jihad, it becomes harder to say no to the next “small” ask.
But once you even consider freeing a convicted terrorist, whose victims can’t speak for themselves, you have lost your footing. You are no longer a defender of peace. You are a broker of betrayal.
There Are No Shortcuts to Real Peace
Real peace isn’t built on the backs of the murdered. It isn’t bought with the blood of the innocent. And it doesn’t come from deals that reward the very playbook Hamas has mastered: commit atrocities, take hostages, make demands, repeat.
Trump must say no. Not maybe. Not later. Not “we’re making a decision.”
Just NO.
If he doesn’t, it’s not a lapse or a diplomatic misstep; it’s a conscious surrender.
It will be a decision that chooses optics over bodies, rewards terror with legitimacy, shreds our alliances, and buries the pleas of victims under a pile of press releases.
If “America First” now means cutting deals that free killers for the sake of a legacy photo, then the republic’s soul is for sale, and we will not stand silent.
