Naji al-Ali
Encyclopedia
Naji Salim al-Ali was a Palestinian
cartoonist
, noted for the political criticism of Israel
in his works.
He drew over 40,000 cartoons, which often reflected Palestinian
and Arab
public opinion and were sharply critical commentaries on Palestinian and Arab politics and political leaders. He is perhaps best known as creator of the character Handala, pictured in his cartoons as a young witness of the satirized policy or event depicted, and who has since become an icon of Palestinian defiance. On 22 July 1987, while outside the London
offices of al-Qabas
, a Kuwait
i newspaper for which he drew political caricatures, Naji al-Ali was shot in the face and mortally wounded. Naji al-Ali died five weeks later in Charing Cross Hospital
.
, located between Tiberias and Nazareth
and now over-built by the Israeli settlement of Ilanya. He was exiled in the south of Lebanon
with his family after the 1948 Palestinian exodus
(the Nakba), and lived in Ain al-Hilweh
refugee camp
near Sidon
, where he attended the Union of Christian Churches school. After gaining his Certificat he worked in the orchards of Sidon, then moved to Tripoli
where he attended the White Friars' vocational school for two years.
Naji al-Ali then moved to Beirut
, where he lived in a tent in Shatila refugee camp
and worked in various industrial jobs. In 1957, after qualifying as a car mechanic, he travelled to Saudi Arabia
, where he worked for two years.
(ANM), but was expelled four times within one year for lack of party discipline. Between 1960 and 1961, along with comrades from the ANM, he published a handwritten political journal Al-Sarkha ('the cry').
In 1960, he entered the Lebanon Academy of Arts, but was unable to continue his studies there as he was imprisoned for political reasons soon afterwards. After his release he moved to Tyre, where he worked as a drawing instructor in the Ja'fariya College.
The writer and political activist Ghassan Kanafani
saw some of Naji al-Ali's cartoons on a visit to Ain al-Hilweh and printed the artist's first published drawings along with an accompanying article in Al-Hurriya no. 88 on 25 September 1961.
In 1963 Naji al-Ali moved to Kuwait
, hoping to save money to study art in Cairo
or Rome
. There he worked as an editor, cartoonist, designer and newspaper producer on the Arab nationalist Al-Tali'a newspaper. From 1968 on he worked for Al-Siyasa
. In the course of these years he returned to Lebanon several times. In 1974 he started working for the Lebanese newspaper Al-Safir, which permitted him to return to Lebanon for a longer period. During the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982, he was briefly detained by the occupying forces along with other residents of Ain al-Hilweh. In 1983 he once more moved to Kuwait to work for Al-Qabas and in 1985 moved to London where he worked for its international edition until his death.
In 1984 he was described by The Guardian as "the nearest thing there is to an Arab public opinion".
Naji al-Ali published three books of his cartoons, in 1976, 1983 and 1985, and was preparing another at the time of his death.
In 1979, Naji al-Ali was elected president of the League of Arab Cartoonists. In 1979 and 1980, he received the first prize in the Arab cartoonists exhibitions held in Damascus
. The International Federation of Newspaper Publishers awarded him the "Golden Pen of Freedom" posthumously in 1988.
Handala, also known as Handhala is the most famous of Naji al-Ali's characters. He is depicted as a ten-year old boy, and appeared for the first time in Al-Siyasa in Kuwait
in 1969. The figure turned his back to the viewer from the year 1973, and clasped his hands behind his back. The artist explained that the ten-year old represented his age when forced to leave Palestine and would not grow up until he could return to his homeland; his turned back and clasped hands symbolised the character's rejection of "outside solutions". Handala wears ragged clothes and is barefoot, symbolising his allegiance to the poor. In later cartoons, he is actively participating in the action depicted not merely observing it.
Handala became the signature of Naji al-Ali's cartoons and remains an iconic symbol of Palestinian identity and defiance. Handala is also the web mascot of the iranian green movement.The artist remarked that "this being that I have invented will certainly not cease to exist after me, and perhaps it is no exaggeration to say that I will live on with him after my death".
(representing Palestinian suffering) and stone-throwing (representing the resistance of ordinary Palestinians) are also common in his work.
office of Kuwaiti newspaper Al Qabas on the 22 July 1987, hitting him in the right temple. Naji al-Ali remained unconscious until his death on 29 August 1987. Although his will requested that he be buried in Ain al-Hilweh beside his father, this proved impossible to arrange and he was buried in Brookwood Islamic Cemetery
outside London. British police
arrested Ismail Sowan, a 28-year-old Jerusalem-born Palestinian researcher at Hull University, and found a cache of weapons in his apartment that they said were intended for terrorist attacks around Europe; he was only charged with possession of weapons and explosives. Initially, police said Sawan was a member of the PLO
, though that organisation denied any involvement.
Sawan later confessed that he worked for both the PLO and the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad
, which he said was aware of the plot to kill the cartoonist. By refusing to pass on the relevant information to their British counterparts, Mossad
earned the displeasure of Britain, which retaliated by expelling at least one Israeli diplomat from London. A furious Margaret Thatcher
, then prime minister, closed Mossad’s London base in Palace Green, Kensington
.
Work on the fiberglass
and colored polyester
statue (with a steel inner support) took around five months. When finished, it was 275 centimetres (9 ft) tall, with an average width of 85 centimetres (33.5 in), and average thickness of 45 centimetres (17.7 in). The statue holds a rock in its right hand and a booklet of drawings in the left hand.
Shortly after being completed, the statue was damaged in an explosion caused by unknown assailants; like al-Ali the statue was shot in the left eye.
The statue was repaired and re-erected, but has subsequently disappeared.
.
Palestinian people
The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...
cartoonist
Editorial cartoon
An editorial cartoon, also known as a political cartoon, is an illustration containing a commentary that usually relates to current events or personalities....
, noted for the political criticism of Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
in his works.
He drew over 40,000 cartoons, which often reflected Palestinian
Palestinian people
The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...
and Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
public opinion and were sharply critical commentaries on Palestinian and Arab politics and political leaders. He is perhaps best known as creator of the character Handala, pictured in his cartoons as a young witness of the satirized policy or event depicted, and who has since become an icon of Palestinian defiance. On 22 July 1987, while outside the London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
offices of al-Qabas
Al-Qabas
Al-Qabas is a daily Kuwaiti newspaper published by Dār al-Qabas lil-ṣaḥāfah wa al-ṭibāʿah wa al-nashr. The paper's editor, Mohammed Al-Sager, is a winner of the International Press Freedom Award of the Committee to Protect Journalists "for courageous reporting on political and human rights...
, a Kuwait
Kuwait
The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...
i newspaper for which he drew political caricatures, Naji al-Ali was shot in the face and mortally wounded. Naji al-Ali died five weeks later in Charing Cross Hospital
Charing Cross Hospital
Charing Cross Hospital is a general, acute hospital located in London, United Kingdom and established in 1818. It is located several miles to the west of the city centre in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham....
.
Early life
Naji al-Ali was born in 1938 or thereabouts in the northern Palestinian village of Al-ShajaraAl-Shajara
al-Shajara is a former Palestinian Arab village depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. It was located 14 kilometers west of Tiberias on the main highway to Nazareth near the villages of Lubya and Hittin....
, located between Tiberias and Nazareth
Nazareth
Nazareth is the largest city in the North District of Israel. Known as "the Arab capital of Israel," the population is made up predominantly of Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel...
and now over-built by the Israeli settlement of Ilanya. He was exiled in the south of Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
with his family after the 1948 Palestinian exodus
1948 Palestinian exodus
The 1948 Palestinian exodus , also known as the Nakba , occurred when approximately 711,000 to 725,000 Palestinian Arabs left, fled or were expelled from their homes, during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and the Civil War that preceded it. The exact number of refugees is a matter of dispute...
(the Nakba), and lived in Ain al-Hilweh
Ain al-Hilweh
Ain al-Hilweh is the largest Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon with over 70,000 refugees, located on the outskirts of the port of Sidon. Because Lebanese Armed Forces are not allowed to enter the camp Ain al-Hilweh has been called a "zone of unlaw" by the Lebanese media...
refugee camp
Refugee camp
A refugee camp is a temporary settlement built to receive refugees. Hundreds of thousands of people may live in any one single camp. Usually they are built and run by a government, the United Nations, or international organizations, or NGOs.Refugee camps are generally set up in an impromptu...
near Sidon
Sidon
Sidon or Saïda is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located in the South Governorate of Lebanon, on the Mediterranean coast, about 40 km north of Tyre and 40 km south of the capital Beirut. In Genesis, Sidon is the son of Canaan the grandson of Noah...
, where he attended the Union of Christian Churches school. After gaining his Certificat he worked in the orchards of Sidon, then moved to Tripoli
Tripoli, Lebanon
Tripoli is the largest city in northern Lebanon and the second-largest city in Lebanon. Situated 85 km north of the capital Beirut, Tripoli is the capital of the North Governorate and the Tripoli District. Geographically located on the east of the Mediterranean, the city's history dates back...
where he attended the White Friars' vocational school for two years.
Naji al-Ali then moved to Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
, where he lived in a tent in Shatila refugee camp
Shatila refugee camp
The Shatila refugee camp is a long-term refugee camp for Palestinian refugees, set up by UNRWA in 1949. The camp is located within the Lebanese capital Beirut. As of December 2003, it housed 12,235 registered refugees...
and worked in various industrial jobs. In 1957, after qualifying as a car mechanic, he travelled to Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
, where he worked for two years.
Career as a cartoonist and journalist
In 1959 Naji al-Ali returned to Lebanon, and that year he joined the Arab Nationalist MovementArab Nationalist Movement
The Arab Nationalist Movement , also known as the Movement of Arab Nationalists and the Harakiyyin, was a pan-Arab nationalist organization influential in much of the Arab world, most famously so within the Palestinian movement.-Origins & Ideology:The Arab Nationalist Movement had its origins in a...
(ANM), but was expelled four times within one year for lack of party discipline. Between 1960 and 1961, along with comrades from the ANM, he published a handwritten political journal Al-Sarkha ('the cry').
In 1960, he entered the Lebanon Academy of Arts, but was unable to continue his studies there as he was imprisoned for political reasons soon afterwards. After his release he moved to Tyre, where he worked as a drawing instructor in the Ja'fariya College.
The writer and political activist Ghassan Kanafani
Ghassan Kanafani
Ghassan Kanafani was a Palestinian writer and a leading member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. He was assassinated by car bomb in Beirut, allegedly by the Mossad.- Early years :Ghassan Fayiz Kanafani was born in 1936 in the then Acre , British Mandate of Palestine...
saw some of Naji al-Ali's cartoons on a visit to Ain al-Hilweh and printed the artist's first published drawings along with an accompanying article in Al-Hurriya no. 88 on 25 September 1961.
In 1963 Naji al-Ali moved to Kuwait
Kuwait
The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...
, hoping to save money to study art in Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
or Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
. There he worked as an editor, cartoonist, designer and newspaper producer on the Arab nationalist Al-Tali'a newspaper. From 1968 on he worked for Al-Siyasa
Al-Siyasa
Al-Siyasa is a daily newspaper published in Kuwait. Naji al-Ali worked on it from 1968 to 1974. A recent editor is Ahmad Al-Jarallah Al-Siyasa was also a newspaper in Egypt that was mouthpiece for the Egyptian Liberal Constitutionalist Party in the 1910s and 1920s. Muhammad Husayn Haykal was...
. In the course of these years he returned to Lebanon several times. In 1974 he started working for the Lebanese newspaper Al-Safir, which permitted him to return to Lebanon for a longer period. During the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982, he was briefly detained by the occupying forces along with other residents of Ain al-Hilweh. In 1983 he once more moved to Kuwait to work for Al-Qabas and in 1985 moved to London where he worked for its international edition until his death.
In 1984 he was described by The Guardian as "the nearest thing there is to an Arab public opinion".
Work, positions and awards
In his career as a political cartoonist, Naji al-Ali produced over 40,000 drawings. They generally deal with the situation of the Palestinian people, depicting suffering and resistance and harshly criticizing the Israeli state and illegal Israeli occupation, Palestinian leadership, and the Arab regimes. Naji al-Ali was a fierce opponent of any settlement that would not vindicate the Palestinian people's right to all of historic Palestine, and many of his cartoons express this opposition. Unlike many political cartoonists, specific politicians do not appear in person in his work: as he stated, "... I have a class outlook, that is why my cartoons take this form. What is important is drawing situations and realities, not drawing presidents and leaders."Naji al-Ali published three books of his cartoons, in 1976, 1983 and 1985, and was preparing another at the time of his death.
In 1979, Naji al-Ali was elected president of the League of Arab Cartoonists. In 1979 and 1980, he received the first prize in the Arab cartoonists exhibitions held in Damascus
Damascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...
. The International Federation of Newspaper Publishers awarded him the "Golden Pen of Freedom" posthumously in 1988.
Handala
Kuwait
The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...
in 1969. The figure turned his back to the viewer from the year 1973, and clasped his hands behind his back. The artist explained that the ten-year old represented his age when forced to leave Palestine and would not grow up until he could return to his homeland; his turned back and clasped hands symbolised the character's rejection of "outside solutions". Handala wears ragged clothes and is barefoot, symbolising his allegiance to the poor. In later cartoons, he is actively participating in the action depicted not merely observing it.
Handala became the signature of Naji al-Ali's cartoons and remains an iconic symbol of Palestinian identity and defiance. Handala is also the web mascot of the iranian green movement.The artist remarked that "this being that I have invented will certainly not cease to exist after me, and perhaps it is no exaggeration to say that I will live on with him after my death".
Other characters and motifs
Other characters in Naji al-Ali's cartoons include a thin, miserable-looking man representing the Palestinian as the defiant victim of Israeli oppression and other hostile forces, and a fat man representing the Arab regimes and Palestinian political leaders who led an easy life and engaged in political compromises which the artist fervently opposed. The motifs of the CrucifixionCrucifixion
Crucifixion is an ancient method of painful execution in which the condemned person is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross and left to hang until dead...
(representing Palestinian suffering) and stone-throwing (representing the resistance of ordinary Palestinians) are also common in his work.
Assassination
It is still not known who opened fire on Naji al-Ali outside the LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
office of Kuwaiti newspaper Al Qabas on the 22 July 1987, hitting him in the right temple. Naji al-Ali remained unconscious until his death on 29 August 1987. Although his will requested that he be buried in Ain al-Hilweh beside his father, this proved impossible to arrange and he was buried in Brookwood Islamic Cemetery
Brookwood Cemetery
Brookwood Cemetery is a burial ground in Brookwood, Surrey, England. It is the largest cemetery in the United Kingdom and one of the largest in western Europe.-History:...
outside London. British police
Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard is a metonym for the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service of London, UK. It derives from the location of the original Metropolitan Police headquarters at 4 Whitehall Place, which had a rear entrance on a street called Great Scotland Yard. The Scotland Yard entrance became...
arrested Ismail Sowan, a 28-year-old Jerusalem-born Palestinian researcher at Hull University, and found a cache of weapons in his apartment that they said were intended for terrorist attacks around Europe; he was only charged with possession of weapons and explosives. Initially, police said Sawan was a member of the PLO
Palestine Liberation Organization
The Palestine Liberation Organization is a political and paramilitary organization which was created in 1964. It is recognized as the "sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people" by the United Nations and over 100 states with which it holds diplomatic relations, and has enjoyed...
, though that organisation denied any involvement.
Sawan later confessed that he worked for both the PLO and the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad
Mossad
The Mossad , short for HaMossad leModi'in uleTafkidim Meyuchadim , is the national intelligence agency of Israel....
, which he said was aware of the plot to kill the cartoonist. By refusing to pass on the relevant information to their British counterparts, Mossad
Mossad
The Mossad , short for HaMossad leModi'in uleTafkidim Meyuchadim , is the national intelligence agency of Israel....
earned the displeasure of Britain, which retaliated by expelling at least one Israeli diplomat from London. A furious Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
, then prime minister, closed Mossad’s London base in Palace Green, Kensington
Kensington Palace Gardens
Kensington Palace Gardens is a street in west central London which contains some of the grandest and most expensive houses in the world. It was the location of the London Cage, the British government MI9 centre used during the Second World War and the Cold War.A tree-lined avenue half a mile long...
.
Commemorative statue
A statue of Naji al-Ali by the sculptor Charbel Faris was erected at the northern entrance of Ain al-Hilweh camp, where Naji was raised for most of his youth years and presumably where he got most of his inspirations.Work on the fiberglass
Fiberglass
Glass fiber is a material consisting of numerous extremely fine fibers of glass.Glassmakers throughout history have experimented with glass fibers, but mass manufacture of glass fiber was only made possible with the invention of finer machine tooling...
and colored polyester
Polyester
Polyester is a category of polymers which contain the ester functional group in their main chain. Although there are many polyesters, the term "polyester" as a specific material most commonly refers to polyethylene terephthalate...
statue (with a steel inner support) took around five months. When finished, it was 275 centimetres (9 ft) tall, with an average width of 85 centimetres (33.5 in), and average thickness of 45 centimetres (17.7 in). The statue holds a rock in its right hand and a booklet of drawings in the left hand.
Shortly after being completed, the statue was damaged in an explosion caused by unknown assailants; like al-Ali the statue was shot in the left eye.
The statue was repaired and re-erected, but has subsequently disappeared.
Media
A movie was made about the life of Naji Al Ali in Egypt, and the main role was assigned to the Egyptian actor Nour El-SherifNour El-Sherif
Nour El-Sherif is a contemporary Egyptian actor. His birth name is Mohamad Geber Mohamad ِAbd Allah .El-Sherif was born in the working-class neighbourhood of Sayeda Zainab in Cairo ....
.
External links
- I am from Ain Al-Helwa extracts from an interview with Radwa AshourRadwa Ashour-Life:She graduated from Cairo University with a BA in 1967, and MA. in 1972, and from University of Massachusetts, Amherst with a Ph.D. in 1975.She teaches at Ain Shams University.She married Palestinian poet Mourid Barghouti in 1970....
, during the summer of 1984 in Budapest. Published in Al-AhramAl-AhramAl-Ahram , founded in 1875, is the most widely circulating Egyptian daily newspaper, and the second oldest after al-Waqa'i`al-Masriya . It is majority owned by the Egyptian government....
. - Naji al-Ali: The timeless conscience of Palestine - Arjan El FassedArjan El FassedArjan El Fassed is a Dutch politician, and former human rights activist and development aid worker. As a member of GreenLeft he has been an MP since June 17, 2010...
, The Electronic Intifada (22 July 2004) - Site dedicated to Naji al-Ali - English.
- Site dedicated to Handala.
- Site dedicated to Naji al-Ali - in Arabic, English section under construction as of 14 September 2005.
- BBC ON THIS DAY webpage on Mr al-Ali's assassination.
- Al Jazeera English's "Street Talk" takes a look on Naji al-Ali, 07 June 2007.