Paul Adams, the BBC’s Diplomatic Correspondent, chose to mark the occasion of the UK’s recognition of the nonexistent “State of Palestine” by authoring a 2,000 word article where he portrays a convicted mass murderer to be its best candidate for president.

Here’s the problem: Adams doesn’t just misrepresent who convicted terrorist Marwan Barghouti really is, but he also fails to explain why Hamas demands Barghouti’s freedom.

In “Recognising Palestinian statehood opens another question – who would lead it?” Adams writes, “[Barghouti] has always denied the charges but has been in an Israeli prison since 2002.”

Barghouti was arrested and indicted as the mastermind of the murder of a Greece-born priest named Georgios Tsibouktzakis (Father Germanos), as well as a string of other murders.

Barghouti had the opportunity to contest the charges and prove his innocence. But he refused to deny culpability and declared that the “Zionist” court had no right to prosecute him.

That makes sense, since — in Barghouti’s view — murdering Jews is the proper thing to do.

On May 20, 2004, Barghouti was convicted of the murders of Father Germanos and four other innocent people. He is serving five consecutive sentences of life imprisonment. Nowhere in his article does Adams state that Barghouti was convicted. Instead, Adams hides the truth and writes just that Barghouti was “arrested and charged.”

For many years, various journalists and others have been puffing up Barghouti, saying that he’s the only figure in the Palestinian Arab world who is popular enough to serve as head of the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the president of “Palestine.”

Well, if that’s true, what does that tell us about Palestinian Arab society right now, given that their most popular consensus candidate is a convicted mass murderer?

Adams writes: “Despite being a senior member of Fatah, which has long been in conflict with Hamas, [Barghouti’s] name is thought to feature prominently on the list of political prisoners Hamas wants freed in return for Israeli hostages held in Gaza. But Israel has not given any indication of a willingness to release him.”

One of the things that may be motivating Hamas to work for Barghouti as a replacement for current PA leader Mahmoud Abbas is the assumption that Western politicians believe Barghouti to be someone they will be able to collaborate with.

Another rationale for why Hamas wants Barghouti out of Israeli prison is that Hamas fully knows that if he were to become president of a future Palestinian state, he would be a Hamas supporter — and Hamas could one day reclaim power, whether with bullets or ballots.

Hamas believes, and with good reason, that its terrorists will be able to quickly wrest power from the PA’s Palestinian Security Services, or whatever successor organization takes its place, based on the fact that it was able to overpower Fatah in Gaza in 2007 and effectively eliminate it as a force there.

Hamas has only grown in its effectiveness and resourcefulness over the last 18 years, as October 7th proved.

Finally, Hamas can assume that its own goals and Barghouti’s are more closely aligned than not. Both want to see an end to the existence of an Israeli state. This basic agreement abates any differences, if they exist at all, over religion, culture, economics, and political systems.

Even if he were to oppose Hamas, Barghouti will not have the power or strength to defeat them. Hamas’ control of a large swath of land alongside Israel guarantees what Hamas has already pledged: never ending war.

Any agreements that a Barghouti government would make with Israel would be broken by Hamas when it would take power. Europe’s gamble that Barghouti can stop Hamas is a dangerous fantasy.

What would Israel look like today if it had been nine miles wide on October 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked?

Every map of a “two-state solution” requires an Israeli withdrawal to the nine-mile-wide borders of 1949-1967. The reason those lines are inevitable is that PA cities such as Tulkarm and Qalqilya are nine miles from the Mediterranean — and Barghouti is not going to give up those cities.

Nine-mile-wide borders mean that Israel’s strategic mid-section would be virtually indefensible. Israel’s major cities and Ben Gurion Airport would be within easy rocket range of Hamas terrorists stationed on the “Palestine” side of the border. If Israel’s soldiers chased those terrorists across the border, Israel would become the target of severe international condemnation. The United Nations would almost surely threaten sanctions, as would the European Union. And who would prevent “Palestine” from importing Iranian missiles or “volunteer” soldiers from Yemen?

The West needs to recognize this reality and accept the fact that the world has changed. A “two-state solution” as envisioned in the past, means a situation in which Israel will be threatened with an October 7 every single day. That is something no reasonable government can accept, least of all Israel.

Moshe Phillips is national chairman of Americans For A Safe Israel, AFSI,  (www.AFSI.org), a leading pro-Israel advocacy and education organization.