Dr Mustafa Barghouti is the secretary general and cofounder of the Palestinian National Initiative (PNI), and founder and chairman of the Palestinian Medical Relief Society (PMRS). As presidential candidate in the 2005 elections for the Palestinian Authority, Barghouti lost to Mahmoud Abbas in a contest that — like all elections since the creation of the provisional self-government body with 1993’s Oslo Accords — took place under highly undemocratic conditions. Since then, Barghouti has been a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council and served as the minister of information in the short-lived Palestinian unity government in 2007.

A former member of the Palestinian People’s Party (formerly the Palestinian Communist Party), Barghouti has been a lifelong democracy activist and an advocate for radical nonviolent resistance. One of the leading voices for the political unity of the Palestinian people, he has worked tirelessly for decades to bring together the “three components” — Palestinians living in the Occupied Territories, in Israel, and in diaspora — into a single political project.

In a recent conversation with Leena Dallasheh for Jacobin, Barghouti insists that the powerful demonstrations seen in recent weeks in historic Palestine are just the beginning of a growing resistance movement. They discuss Palestinian unity and the ultimate goal of creating a Palestinian national project, as well as international strategies to advance the cause of Palestinian liberation.