Bashir Barghuthi (Arabic: بشير البرغوثي, 1931–2000) was a Palestinian Communist leader and journalist. Barghouti was born in the village of Dayr Ghassana in the Ramallah Governorate. He earned a BA degree in Economics from the American University in Cairo in 1956. Living in exile in Jordan, he founded the central organ of the Jordanian Communist Party al-Jamahir (The Masses) and joined the General Union of Palestinian Students (GUPS). In 1957 the paper was closed by Jordanian authorities, and Barghouti was incarcerated the Al-Jaffar prison. When freed in 1965, he was refused a journalist license by the Jordanian government, but continued to write under an assumed name. After 1967 he opposed the right of king Hussein of Jordan to speak on behalf of Palestinians.
