Barghouti (other spellings Barghuthi, Barghouthi, or Al-Barghuthi) (classical Arabic: البرغوثي al-Barghūthī) is the surname of a prominent Palestinian family. Many of its members are notable figures in Palestinian political and cultural life, and mainly come from Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate's most prominent villages of Deir Ghassanah, Aboud, Kobar and Bani Zeid.

Origin traditions

There are various traditions regarding the origins of the Barghouti family. According to Palestinian researcher Mustafa al-Dabbagh, the family is named after a person called Barghout and traces its roots back to the Bani Zeid clan which originated in the Arabian Peninsula, before eventually settling in Deir Ghassaneh, Palestine. Omar al-Saleh al-Barghouti, born in 1894, recounts a tradition that the clan traces its lineage to second caliph Omar ibn al-Khattab. Following the events involving Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr during the Umayyad period, they traveled from the Hejaz to Egypt, then moved to Tunisia, and later to Palestine to support Saladin in his conquest of the region.

List of notable members