The anti-Israel movement in Hollywood and academia has found a new cause: securing the release of a Palestinian terrorist serving five life sentences for orchestrating deadly terror attacks against Israeli civilians, Marwan Barghouti.

High-profile actors including Benedict Cumberbatch, Mark Ruffalo, and Sir Ian McKellen joined some 200 other public figures in calling on the international community to pressure Israel to release the former Fatah leader from prison.

“We express our grave concern at the continuing imprisonment of Marwan Barghouti, his violent mistreatment and denial of legal rights whilst imprisoned,” the petition states. “We call upon the United Nations and the Governments of the World to actively seek the release of Marwan Barghouti from Israeli prison.”

The petitioners describe Barghouti as a “powerful symbol of unity and a long-time advocate for freedom and dignity for the Palestinian people” and claim that he has been “illegally held by Israel” for more than two decades.

The petition and its signatories are listed on a website dedicated to the campaign, which operates under the slogan “Free Marwan.” The site offers an account of Barghouti’s life, framing him as “a husband and a father” and a “nation builder” who has “consistently believed in a future rooted in international law.”

What the campaign omits from his biography is his conviction for orchestrating multiple deadly terror attacks during the Second Intifada that killed five people, including four Israelis and a Greek monk. A Tel Aviv District Court in 2004 found Barghouti guilty of directly ordering a June 2001 drive-by shooting on the road between Jerusalem and Ma’ale Adumim, a January 2002 shooting at a gas station near Jerusalem, and a March 2002 shooting at a restaurant in Tel Aviv.

The court also determined that Barghouti bore moral responsibility for numerous other terror attacks in which many more Israelis were murdered. He was sentenced to five consecutive life terms plus 20 years for his role in a failed suicide bombing attack. His name has repeatedly surfaced during hostage exchange negotiations, though the Israeli government has refused to release him.

Over two decades of imprisonment, Barghouti has remained popular among Palestinians, consistently topping polls as the favorite to lead the Palestinian Authority if elections were held. His supporters abroad have portrayed him as a peace-seeking leader who would help achieve a two-state solution.

Foreign policy analysts have cast doubt on that characterization. A 2017 report by the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center concluded that “the expectations of those who regard him as a potential partner for a peace agreement, a kind of Palestinian Nelson Mandela, are somewhat exaggerated” and that  Barghouti “is in no way a suitable partner for peace negotiations with Israel.”

“Given his criminal terrorist record from the era of the second intifada and his extremist views on Israel, which he has continually voiced while in jail, there is every reason to assume that releasing him would not contribute to or promote peace negotiations,” the center wrote. “Rather, releasing him may undermine the negotiations’ chances of success because he would raise extremist, unrealistic demands and encourage the continuation of the campaign of terrorism and violence against Israel.”

The chief political correspondent for Israel’s Channel 12 News, Amit Segal, responded to the petitioners by accusing them of “sanitizing the crimes of a serial killer.” He wrote on X: “Marwan Barghouti is a cold-blooded mass murderer, responsible for the brutal deaths of dozens of Israelis. To compare him to Nelson Mandela is a grotesque insult to history and humanity.”