Marwan Barghouti
Marwan BarghoutiReuters

Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti, who is serving five life sentences in Israeli prison for his role in planning suicide terror attacks during the second intifada from 2000 to 2005, on Monday accused Israel of “legal apartheid”.

Barghouti is leading a mass hunger strike launched last week by terrorist prisoners in Israeli jails, in an attempt to pressure Israel to improve the conditions of their imprisonment.

In a letter to parliamentarians from around the world, Barghouti asked for support for the demands of the hunger striking terrorists.

He accused Israel of a policy of oppression and collective punishment against prisoners, stressing that the hunger strike is a means of dealing with human rights violations, torture, medical neglect, restrictions on visits to relatives, and contact with the outside world.

Barghouti, who was punished by the Israel Prison Service after writing an op-ed in The New York Times, stressed in his letter that the prisoners will not surrender or break, claiming that the Israeli courts are part of the “colonialist military occupation” and are trying to help Israel take over “Palestinian” land, remove the Palestinians and destroy the roots of the Palestinian people.

"There is legal apartheid that grants immunity to Israelis who commit crimes against Palestinians," Barghouti wrote, adding that he is a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize in support of the Palestinian people's struggle for freedom.