Once again, convicted Palestinian terrorist Marwan Barghouti is trying to “lead” his people from inside an Israeli prison. If his win in primaries in the West Bank on Friday provides any insight into the Palestinian popular mood, it is that they are still addicted to terrorist “leaders” like Barghouti. According to the BBC:

He [Barghouti] is serving five life terms in an Israeli jail for the killing of four Israelis and a Greek monk.

Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said there was no chance of Barghouti getting an early release.

Barghouti, 46, won 34,000 out of 40,000 votes - affirming his status as one of Fatah’s most popular politicians, say correspondents.

From his prison cell where he has been since his sentencing in 2004, Barghouti has continued to play an important role as a political figure.

In a post-modern, revisionist, touchy-feely view of the world, one could look at Barghouti in the one-man’s-terrorist-is-another’s-freedom-fighter sense, but this is just moral murkiness. When The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), a subsidiary of the Economist Newspaper, released its Index of Political Freedom for the Middle East last week, it put Israel in first place. The Jurist states unequivocally of Israel that:

The judiciary is independent. …

Israeli law provides for an independent judiciary, and the Government respects this provision.

Barghouti was indicted, tried, convicted, and sentenced in open court in a transparent democracy, something that the Arab world knows little of, except most recently in Lebanon and Iraq. If Palestinians do not understand the rule of law, this is a great sadness, but not Israel’s fault.

Israel must not release Barghouti, not matter what “world opinion” demands. No doubt the wheels are turning in the apologist camp — I can only wait with baited breath to hear a “Free Barghouti” hit song.

One murderer, Arafat, finally died. The Palestinian Authority cannot be led by another terrorist.