Dr Mustafa Barghouthi Calls for a Unified Front for Palestine
In a compelling episode of the Arab Podcast, Palestinian physician and politician Dr Mustafa Barghouthi issued a clear call for unity across Palestinian, Arab and international movements following the launch of the Global Alliance for Palestine (GAFP). He argued that only a united front can “take solidarity to a higher level of precision and organisation” in the face of powerful pro-Israel lobbying and the continuing war on Gaza.
Barghouthi stressed that the new alliance is not a replacement for existing initiatives, but a framework to bring them together. It is designed to coordinate the work of local solidarity committees, student networks, trade unions, rights groups and the global BDS movement.
Its aim, he explained, is to pool knowledge and coordinate pressure so that demonstrations, boycott campaigns, divestment drives and legal actions reinforce one another and have a far greater impact.
“Every 17 minutes, a child in Gaza is killed or injured,” Barghouthi said, describing the crisis of famine and disease under blockade. “Gaza doesn’t need 100 or even 500 aid trucks – it needs a thousand trucks every single day. And above all, it needs the war to stop and the siege to end.”
The West Bank and Oslo’s Legacy
Speaking about the West Bank, he traced the current crisis back to the Oslo Accords, which he said opened the way for an explosion in settlement building, entrenched an “apartheid” system and laid the groundwork for annexation. He also warned of escalating settler violence and new laws aimed at extending Israeli “sovereignty” over large swathes of occupied territory.
The Urgency of Unity
Barghouthi argued that Palestinian divisions have weakened the cause internationally. He called for an inclusive framework that brings together all Palestinian groups with their allies abroad, insisting that successful movements are built on the principle: “no one dominates – everyone works together towards the common goal.”
He pointed to the UK as an example, where solidarity committees have multiplied and mass demonstrations have filled the streets of London and other cities. The new alliance, he said, hopes to channel and expand this kind of momentum worldwide.
Law and International Pressure
Beyond street protests, Barghouthi emphasised the need for legal and political action: using international courts, pursuing cases under universal jurisdiction, pressing for sanctions against Israeli leaders and settlers, and enforcing a full arms embargo.
The key challenge, he said, is turning widespread public anger – from London to Latin America and across the Global South – into concrete political decisions that halt weapons sales, deepen boycott and divestment measures, and ensure accountability for war crimes and ethnic cleansing.
Barghouthi expressed scepticism about repeated promises of a ceasefire. “They say ‘next week’ – but nothing changes,” he said. Piecemeal steps, he argued, cannot stop the devastation in Gaza, where people are dying from bombardment, hunger and disease. Only sustained, organised pressure, he insisted, can end the assault and occupation and open the way for Palestinians to claim their freedom and right to self-determination.
The full conversation is available on the latest episode of the Arab Podcast with Dr Mustafa Barghouthi, streaming now on Arab in UK (AUK) youtube channel.
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