The New York Times opened up valuable space in its opinion section this weekend for the accused terrorist Marwan Barghouti.

Born in the Palestinian village of Kobar, Barghouti, 57, is currently serving five consecutive life sentences.

He was found guilty in 2004 for being personally responsible for a series of murders. Barghouti was also found to have organized an attempted car bombing on a crowded civilian center.

During his trial, he was also charged with being directly involved in more than 30 attacks that claimed the lives of dozens of civilians. He was exonerated of most of these charges.

None of the reasons for why Barghouti is currently in an Israeli prison are mentioned by the Times.

Rather, at the end of his rather lengthy op-ed, the U.S. paper describes the convicted murderer thusly: "Marwan Barghouti is a Palestinian leader and parliamentarian."

That's one way to put it.

The op-ed published this weekend is titled, " Why We Are on Hunger Strike in Israel's Prisons."

"Palestinian prisoners and detainees have suffered from torture, inhumane and degrading treatment, and medical negligence. Some have been killed while in detention," he wrote. "About 200 Palestinian prisoners have died since 1967 because of such actions. Palestinian prisoners and their families also remain a primary target of Israel's policy of imposing collective punishments."

"Through our hunger strike, we seek an end to these abuses," he added. "Rights are not bestowed by an oppressor. Freedom and dignity are universal rights that are inherent in humanity, to be enjoyed by every nation and all human beings. Palestinians will not be an exception. Only ending occupation will end this injustice and mark the birth of peace."

Barghouti was convicted in the early 2000s on five separate murder charges. He was also found guilty of organizing an attempt to drive a car bomb into the Malcha Mall in Jerusalem.

The Times awarding him space in their opinion section comes shortly after the paper riled some of its own staff by publishing an op-ed by former U.K. member of parliament Louise Mensch, whose notoriety in the U.S. has grown directly proportional to her willingness to accuse the Russians of controlling every aspect of her life.