“Political cartoons are vivid primary sources that offer intriguing and entertaining insights into the public mood, the underlying cultural assumptions of an age, and attitudes toward key events or trends of the times,” writes Jonathan Burack.
Naji Al-Ali is a Palestinian cartoonist who was assassinated for the honesty and dedication to truth he showed in his work. His commitment to the Palestinian struggle and the suffering of the Palestinian refugees made him a pioneering Arab cartoonist.
Handala
**The character of Handala is 10 years-old **
The Child Handala is my signature
everyone asks me about him wherever I go.
I gave birth to this child in the Gulf and I presented him to the people.
His name is Handala and he has promised the people that he will remain true to himself.
I drew him as a child who is not beautiful; his hair is like the hair of a hedgehog who uses his thorns as a weapon.
Handala is not a fat, happy, relaxed, or pampered child, he is barefooted like the refugee camp children, and he is an ‘icon’ that protects me from making mistakes.
Even though he is rough, he smells of Amber.
His hands are clasped behind his back as a sign of rejection at a time when solutions are presented to us the American way.
Handala was born ten years old, and he will always be ten years old.
At that age I left my homeland, and when he returns, Handala will still be ten, and then he will start growing up.
The laws of nature do not apply to him. He is unique.
Things will become normal again when the homeland returns. I presented him to the poor and named him Handala as a symbol of bitterness. At first he was a Palestinian child, but his consciousness developed to have a national and then a global and human horizon. He is a simple yet tough child, and this is why people adopted him and felt that he represents their consciousness.
Conclusion
The** New York Times** once wrote: **“If you want to know what the Arabs think of the U.S., look at Naji Al-Ali’s cartoons.” **Time Magazine said of Al-Ali: “This man draws with human bones.”
There is no doubt that with his death, the Arab world lost one of if not its best cartoonists. Naji Al-Ali was a man who lived according to his ideals and never forgot his people. It is ironic and shameful to find that a quarter century after his death, his drawings still tell the story of our bitter reality.