200 Celebrities Sign Petition Demanding Israel Release Marwan Barghouti.
So apparently murdering Jewish teenagers at a disco gets you 200 celebrity signatures for your freedom.
Mark Ruffalo. Paul Simon. Benedict Cumberbatch. Sting. Tilda Swinton. Stephen Fry. Margaret Atwood. Just to name a few.
They just signed a petition demanding Israel release Marwan Barghouti. A man serving 5 life sentences for ordering the murder of Israeli civilians.
You want to know who they’re fighting for?
June 12, 2001. Two teenagers at a Tel Aviv disco. Yoela Chen and Pavel Slutzker. 16 and 17 years old. Barghouti ordered men to shoot them both dead.
July 2001. Father Georgios, a Greek Orthodox monk driving near Givat Zeev. Barghouti ordered a drive-by shooting. Murdered.
January 2002. Salim Barakat having dinner at a Tel Aviv restaurant. Barghouti ordered that attack. Killed.
5 people murdered. 5 life sentences plus 40 years in prison.
But Barghouti didn’t stop at 5.
He commanded the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades. Suicide bombers on buses. In cafes. In hotels.
March 27, 2002. Passover. Families gathered at the Park Hotel in Netanya for Seder. A suicide bomber walked in and detonated. 30 people murdered. 140 wounded. Barghouti’s group claimed it.
And 200 celebrities just signed their names demanding this man go free.
They’re calling him the Palestinian Mandela.
Mandela never ordered teenagers shot at discos. Never sent suicide bombers into religious celebrations. When Mandela got out, he preached reconciliation and won the Nobel Peace Prize. Barghouti’s face is on posters next to suicide bombers as a symbol of killing Jews.
We just learned this lesson. 2 years ago.
Yahya Sinwar. Released in 2011. Went back to Gaza, rebuilt Hamas, masterminded October 7th. 1,200 Jews murdered. Babies burned alive. Women raped. Families slaughtered.
That’s what happens when Israel releases terrorists. They go right back to killing Jews.
And now 200 celebrities want us to do it again with Barghouti.
If Barghouti had murdered American teenagers, would any of them sign this? If he’d bombed American hotels during Thanksgiving, would Benedict Cumberbatch demand his release?
Not a chance.
But because he murdered Jews? Suddenly he’s a political prisoner who deserves freedom.
Barghouti was tried. Convicted. 5 life sentences for murder. That’s justice.
So here’s what’s going to happen.
Nothing.
Barghouti stays in prison. We’re not releasing him. We learned with Sinwar. Cost us 1,200 lives.
You can have your petition. Your 200 signatures. Your moral outrage.
We’ll keep the man who murdered our teenagers exactly where he is.
Meanwhile, Barghouti stays in prison. Israel stays safe. We stay where we are.
Not negotiable.
Written by: Mitchell Schneider
Posted: Richard Jacobson on Facebook/December 8, 2025
Image: Uriel Sinai/Getty Images