Celebrities including Benedict Cumberbatch and Annie Ernaux call for Marwan Barghouti release

A diverse group of western celebrities, including Benedict Cumberbatch, Delia Smith, Ian McKellen and Annie Ernaux, have called on Israel to release jailed Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti.

Barghouti, who is often referred to as the Palestinian Mandela, has been imprisoned by Israel since 2002, and is currently serving five life sentences. 

Repeated polling has shown the former leader of Fatah's paramilitary Al-Aqsa Brigades is the most popular Palestinian politician in the occupied territories and a potential future president.

The celebrities are signatories to a letter calling on the international community to pressure Israel to release Barghouti, citing the "violent mistreatment and denial of legal rights" he has experienced while in prison.

More than 200 people from different industries have currently signed the letter.

Annie Ernaux, winner of the 2022 Nobel Prize in Literature, called for the "immediate release" of the Palestinian leader.

"He embodies the possibility of peace which Netanyahu refuses, determined as he is to continue with the expansion of settlements in the West Bank," Ernaux said in a statement.

Actor Brian Cox echoed her call, citing Barghouti's mistreatment in an Israeli prison.

"Everyone that believes in freedom and dignity for the Palestinian people should join in the call for his immediate release," he said.

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Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade carried out several attacks during the Second Intifada in early 2002.

Israel arrested Barghouti after accusing him of organising the attacks. He was convicted in 2004 of several counts of murder - charges he has long denied.

He offered no defence in his trial, refusing to recognise Israeli jurisdiction over Palestinians in the West Bank.

Author and lawyer Selma Dabbagh, another signatory to the letter, said Barghouti’s trial had been "widely recognised as a sham".

"The body that represents parliaments around the world – the Inter-Parliamentary Union – undertook their own assessment and concluded it was deeply flawed," she said in a statement.

"Marwan’s release would be a critical step in allowing Palestinians to determine their own leadership, whatever shape that may take.”  

Blocked from release

The letter followed the launch of the new International Campaign to Free Marwan Barghouti on 29 November, as concerns mount over Barghouti’s treatment in prison.

Barghouti's access to family and legal visits has been severely restricted, with senior Palestinian figures accusing Israeli authorities of subjecting Barghouti to "isolation, torture and attempts to coerce, humiliate and beat him, putting his life in danger".  

In August 2025, a 13-second clip emerged of Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir threatening Barghouti in his cell.

It was the first public footage of Barghouti in nearly a decade.

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Sources close to Barghouti told Middle East Eye that the Israeli prime minister’s office unilaterally removed his name from a prisoner exchange list at the last minute during Gaza ceasefire negotiations earlier this year.

Some Israeli figures, including a former leader of the Shin Bet security agency, have called for his release.

Another signatory, British musician and producer Brian Eno, said that "cultural voices" could play a role in pressuring Israel, citing the campaign against apartheid South Africa.

"Just as global solidarity helped free Nelson Mandela, we all have the power to accelerate the day that Marwan Barghouti walks free," he said in a statement.

"His release would mark a turning point in this long struggle and bring much-needed hope to all of us.”