The Arabic-English interpreter for the interview was Ali Waked.

WND: The Hamas terror organization won last month's Palestinian parliamentary elections by a large majority and will soon head the next government, replacing the long-ruling Fatah party. Some are calling on your husband, who boasts vast Palestinian support, to take the reigns of Fatah and steer it back to power. Many even argue your husband, a convicted murderer and terror group founder, can counter the extremism of Hamas and would be willing to talk with Israel. Does Hamas' victory help your husband's cause? Do you think it will lead to Israel releasing Marwan?

Marwan Barghouti (Al Ahram, Egypt)

FADWA BARGHOUTI: The detention of my husband and the decision to put him in jail is a political decision as well as his trial, which was also a political trial. Therefore I say that his release will be also a political one and it will take place as part of the breakthrough in the peace process. I don’t know if his release should be connected to the results of the elections, but for sure it is connected to the Israeli policy. If Israel wants to make real peace with the Palestinian people then it will be obliged to deal with Marwan Barghouti who, with his comrades, sacrificed his life and freedom for the Palestinian people. He is the representative of the Palestinian people. When he was arrested he was fighting for peace and for the freedom of his people.

WND: How can you claim Israel's arrest and trial of Marwan was political? He is the confessed architect of the Palestinian intifada. He has boasted about his involvement in planning a war that has led to thousands of Israeli and Palestinian deaths. What is political about arresting a man openly orchestrating violence? And why in the world would your husband's release be tied to the peace process?

BARGHOUTI: Marwan is not a terrorist, and Israel and the international community know very well the commitment of Marwan to peace. Yes, Marwan was also a fighter for his people's freedom. He believes in peace, but he believes also that the Palestinian people should combine between the fight for peace and the fight for freedom. He says they should fight for peace when peace is possible and fight against the occupation if his people who remain under the oppression of the occupation. He should be viewed as a Palestinian leader who is very committed to peace and ready to fight for it, but he is also a leader that does not give up his people's rights.

WND: The fighting you are talking about includes attacks against Israeli civilians. Your husband has a long history of violence. Even before his latest arrest, he has been imprisoned several times, including a four-year stint that began in 1978 for planning terror attacks against Israelis. He was arrested again in 1985 before being deported to Jordan in 1987, where Israel says he played a key role in starting the first Palestinian intifada. After he was allowed to return with the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993, Israel says he continued to plot and carry out attacks, later founding the Brigades along with Arafat, and planning the current intifada. What exactly has Marwan done that indicates he is fighting for peace?

BARGHOUTI: The fact that he was the head of the Fatah list, the fact that he won the primary elections of Fatah with 95 percent of the votes and the fact that the Fatah, which signed the Oslo peace agreement with Israel, chose him to head its list proves that Marwan is a fighter for his people, their freedom and for regional peace. Otherwise he would not have been elected.

WND: According to multiple polls of the general Palestinian population, your husband is the single most popular leader. Hamas is now in the process of negotiating the next government. There is speculation they might appoint a non-Hamas president to head the Palestinian Authority. Would your husband accept the position of PA president if Hamas offered it to him?

BARGHOUTI: My husband supports current President Mahmoud Abbas and has asked Abbas not to resign. The presidency of Marwan is not an issue that is raised because Abbas is the elected president. He was elected with a very high percentage of support and it is the right of the Palestinian people to ask Abbas to remain at the presidency. We just need to pray that Abbas, who was elected on the basis of a very clear political program, will succeed to deal with a parliament that will soon be controlled by government with a different political plan and that was elected by the same Palestinian people.

WND: Suppose Abbas retires or is asked to step down – and there is much speculation this will be the case – do you believe Marwan will then replace Abbas? Is he a potential future leader of the Palestinian people?

BARGHOUTI: All the polls show that Marwan is the most popular and authentic leader of the Palestinian people. The most important character trait of Marwan is that he is a simple man, the man of the street. He has always lived with the people, knows their sufferings and their needs. Marwan knows every street, every village and every city or refugee camp [in Gaza and the West Bank] and he is very familiar to his people who love him very much.

WND: There have been indications the United States and Europe have helped boost Marwan in certain ways in order to oppose Hamas. Prior to last month's Palestinian elections, Israel granted Barghouti permission to speak to the international and pan-Arab media, reportedly after the U.S. applied pressure. To your knowledge, does the U.S. or Europe favor Marwan's freedom?

BARGHOUTI: I visited 26 countries, including many European states. I met a lot of officials who feel solidarity with Marwan Barghouti. He is president of the French-Palestinian Friendship Club and has a lot of support, especially from France and the European parliament. We have in all these countries committees who act for the release of Marwan. As for the U.S., we have American lawyers who are part of our international campaign for my husband's release.

WND: Do you believe your husband will be freed? What will compel Israel to release a convicted murderer, terror-group founder and intifada planner?

BARGHOUTI: Of course I believe he will be released. I am very optimistic and it is this hope that leads me and leads my life. Because if Marwan would not be released, this would mean that there will not be a breakthrough in the peace process. Israel will release him once it will be convinced that it wants a true peace with the Palestinians. The last elections were a kind of referendum in which the Palestinian people said Marwan is our leader in spite of what happened.

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