A Palestinian boy flashes a victory sign while others hold pictures of Marwan Barghouti

RAMALLAH, West Bank, October 3 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - "You can put Marwan Barghuti on trial, but you can't try the Intifada" said a loudspeaker, as hundreds of Palestinians marched Thursday, October 3, in Ramallah to support a hometown hero on trial in Israel.

Meanwhile, various demonstrations also in support of Barghuti were staged in the West Bank and Gaza.

Draped in Palestinian flags and carrying portraits of the West Bank chief of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, they marched into the city's central square behind a banner demanding "freedom for Marwan and all prisoners," Agence France-Presse (AFP) said.

"When I see this crowd, I am proud of my brother and of the Palestinian people," said Barghuti’s brother, Muqbel.

"Marwan is becoming the symbol of the Intifada," the two-year-old uprising against Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories, said his brother.

Meanwhile, Marwan's wife, Fadwa, said she was going to hurry through the demo so she could get back to the television to watch her husband's trial in Tel Aviv.

"Marwan is still standing up and resisting the occupation. The Palestinians are doing the same. We are entering the third year of the Intifada with the same determination as we had at the beginning," she said, addressing the crowd by loudspeaker.

Palestinians chant slogans supporting Marwan Barghouthi during a demonstration in the West Bank City of Ramallah

Fliers were handed round the crowd with a declaration by Barghuti reiterating his refusal to deal with the occupation court and calling on all Palestinians to brave the curfews and carry on their lives to defy the occupation.

Barghuti, is accused by Israel of heading the Al- Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a Fatah off-shoot, which Israel claims killed dozens of Israelis.

He was abducted in Ramallah in April after the Israeli army first re-invaded the town, just north of occupied Jerusalem.

"We refuse this trial. We will never accept any decision taken by this court," said Fatah central committee member Sakher Habash. "We completely reject the accusations of terrorism, he added.

"Barghuti and the others are freedom fighters," he said

Barghuti's lawyers argued in court Thursday, October 3, that Israel had kidnapped Barghuti, also a member of the Palestinian legislative council, in violation of international law and an existing accord between Israel and the Palestinians.

Elsewhere in the West Bank, around 1,000 Palestinians held a demonstration in front of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem to mark the resumption of Barghuti's trial.

A senior member of the Palestinian Authority called for Barghuti's immediate release, along with that of all other Palestinian prisoners held in the Jewish state.

"The trial (of Barghuti) is null and void, since Israeli justice is not entitled to try a member" of the legislative council, or parliament, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat told AFP.

In other shows of support, 200 Palestinians staged a sit-in outside offices of the Red Cross in Gaza City, while 300 others demonstrated in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip.

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