"This occupation is the ugliest colonial occupation that humanity has known, but this occupation is dying" defiant Barghuti told the Israeli court

RAMALLAH, West Bank, June 6 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – The Palestinian Authority and the Arab League on Sunday, June 6, dismissed as "null and void" Israel 's five-decade jail term against Palestinian lawmaker Marwan Barghuti and demanded his immediate release.

"We reject this sentence and do not recognize this unfair decision," Palestinian Premier Ahmed Qorei told Voice of Palestine radio, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"Barghuti is a member of the Palestinian parliament and a national leader and the Israeli occupation forces have no right to sentence him."

A Tel Aviv court had earlier in the morning slapped five life terms and two additional 20-year terms against Barghuti for his alleged involvement in a series of "murders".

An Israeli court on Thursday, May 20, convicted Barghuti of several counts of "murder".

Palestinian Negotiations Minister Saeb Erakat said the court had no jurisdiction over the Palestinian legislator and called on " Israel to release him immediately."

He branded the verdict "illegal and invalid because the Israeli court has no power to sentence him as an elected member of the Palestinian Legislative Council."

Qaddura Fares, minister without portfolio in the Palestinian cabinet, also condemned the sentence as illegal.

"Everything was illegal from the beginning and the occupation is illegal so the decision is illegal," he told AFP.

He stressed that Israel 's real intention in trying Barghuti was to send a strong message to the Palestinians about their Intifada against the occupation.

Mohammed Barakeh, an Arab member of the Israeli Knesset who was present in court, compared the sentencing to the jailing of South African hero Nelson Mandela who became.

"Mandela spent 27 years in prison before becoming president of South Africa . Marwan Barghuti will spend much less time inside," he told AFP.

The Cairo-based Arab League echoed similar condemnation of the Israeli verdict.

"The sentence is null and void because the Israeli tribunal is illegal," Hussam Zaki, spokesman for the league's chief Amr Moussa, told AFP.

"History has taught us that people whose lands are occupied and whose rights have been trampled end up victorious," said Zaki.

The spokesman of the pan-Arab organization praised Barghuti as a "nationalist with a glorious past".

Triumphant Intifada

"We will continue on the same path as Marwan," said his wife Fadwa

Denying Israel a psychological victory, a defiant Barghuti vowed that the Palestinian Intifada would triumph, waving a victory sign.

As the Israeli judge started reading the sentence, Barghuti, who turned 45 on Sunday, interrupted and asked to speak.

They reluctantly agreed, letting him speak for five minutes, mostly in Arabic.

"The continuation of the Intifada is the only path to independence. This occupation is the ugliest colonial occupation that humanity has known, but this occupation is dying and they had better start preparing for its funeral," he told the court.

"No matter how many they arrest or kill, they will not break the determination of the Palestinian people," he said.

Barghuti's lawyer, Jawad Boulos, said his client would not be appealing the sentence as he had never acknowledged the legitimacy of the court since he was arrested in April 2002.

"There will be no appeal," Boulus told AFP. "We do not recognize this court and we will not legitimize it."

Barghuti's tearful wife Fadwa told reporters in Ramallah that she was deeply upset by the verdict but was also proud of her husband as a symbol of the Palestinian people.

"From the very beginning, this trial has been not only against Marwan but against the whole Intifada," she said.

"But we will continue on the same path as Marwan."

Barghuti was abducted by special Israeli forces near Ramallah in April 2002.

Two Palestinian rights groups, after visiting Barghuti, said he was being tortured and ill-treated by the Israeli security services.