The winding year saw the rise of figures and phenomena that promise to be of crucial importance this year. Al-Ahram Weekly keeps track of a changing vista Despite the five lifetime prison sentences he is now serving in an Israeli jail, many see as the future leader of Palestine. When the Al-Aqsa Intifada broke out in 2000, indeed, it was he who led the marches through checkpoints. He was a powerful speaker, spurring on the resistance at funerals and rallies; and, to a far greater extent than milder figures like Mahmoud Abbas and Ahmed Qurei -- closer allies of Yasser Arafat -- his invective and support for the use of force has gained him a popular following in the West Bank and Gaza. But not until April 2002 was Barghouti arrested, on charges of killing 26 people and belonging to a terrorist organisation; he first appeared at court in August of that year. Though Fatah's West Bank leader, he had been closely identified with the militant Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, which sealed his fate by declaring him its leader in a 2002 statement. Of the Intifada leaders, Barghouti who first became politically active at Bir Zeit University, was among very few who became prominent in the Arafat administration. In 1996, he was elected to the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) with overwhelming support. It did not prevent him from launching a campaign against human rights abuses by, and corruption within, the Palestinian Authority. Barghouti spent six years in Israeli jails before he was finally deported in 1987, and he first became involved with the PLO as a liaison officer in Amman and Tunis. He settled in Ramallah following the Oslo Accords in 1994, and despite his militant stance, he is to head a newly unified list of Fatah candidates in the latter's bid to defeat Hamas in the upcoming parliamentary elections next month. His being in prison has only strengthened his position as the Palestinians' uncontested leader. Indeed Abbas was able to run as the Fatah candidate for the Palestinian presidency only because Barghouti, operating from prison, removed his own name from the ballot box. Barghouti will almost certainly be released in the wake of the permanent-status agreement, shortly to take place, and once free, he will be able to help Abbas lead the areas under PA control. If the Israelis are interested in a strong Palestinian partner capable of administering law and order and standing up to Hamas, this is their opportunity. Nor is he about to abandon Fatah: on Friday Barghouti apologised for the faction's recent failures, urging Palestinians to give it another chance. In this and other ways he typifies a new generation of Palestinian leaders who, pitting themselves against the so-called old guard -- who are frequently accused of corruption -- are perhaps Fatah's only chance of maintaining the support of the Palestinians. By Sherine Bahaa
