Art of the Resistance
By: Nada Chehade
Tags: Refugees, Withoutborders, Immigration, Palestine, Oppression

The Assassination of Naji Al Ali

Naji Al-Ali — the man behind Handala- is a political cartoonist who was born in 1938 in a village called Galilee in Palestine, one of the hundreds that were destroyed in the ‘Nakba’ that gave birth to the state of Israel in 1948.

In 1948, two out of every three Palestinians were expelled from their homes when Israel was established. They have not yet been allowed to go home and remain refugees, and the kids of refugees, till today.

Like thousands of Palestinians, Naji Al Ali was forced to leave home and take refuge in one of the worst refugee camps in neighboring Lebanon, Ain el Hilweh. He was ten years old when he was forced to leave home.

“Life in the camp was unbearable, full of daily humiliation, ruled by poverty and despair”- Naji Al Ali

The symbolism of Handala — the little boy character — reflects the artist’s stance as a ten-year-old who never got to grow up, but saw the world for what it is.

The world that allowed this to happen.

He is bitter; he is sarcastic; he is raw.

Handala never faces the viewer in any of the sketches; it is as if he is watching his own sketch in disbelief- mocking the action- and sometimes, he even takes part in the sketch.

Handala refuses to show us his face until he goes home.

For Naji Al-Ali, it was not simply about exposing the brutality of the US and Israeli occupation; but also the complicity of the Palestinian leadership and Arab leaders in general.

Naji Al Ali’s art reflected the voice of the people — the Palestinian struggle and the sentiment of the Arab public- which was against Palestinian oppression.

At a time when freedom of speech was heavily censored in the Arab region, Naji Al Ali’s sketches were able to express the in-expressible to the viewer through simple drawings.

He stayed true to the character and himself to the end, criticizing the corrupt elite on both sides with back turned against oppression, until his assassination in 1987, which remains unsolved.

Naji Al Ali was shot in the face at point-blank range while on his way to deliver his cartoons to work right outside the office that he worked for in London. He had taken refuge in the UK by that time.

Like millions of refugees, Naji Al Ali never returned to his homeland, and Handala remains ten- years old till today, unable to show us his face.

“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. His hands are clasped behind his back as a sign of rejection at a time when solutions are presented to us the American way.” -Naji Al Ali

Naji Al-Ali is still the most influential artist that ever graced the Arab world; his assassination proves it. His artworks inspired entire nations to stand up against oppression. His little boy caricature became a beacon of justice and a symbol of refugees' right to return home.

A year after his murder, the International Federation of Newspaper Publishers awarded him the Golden Pen Award and described him as “one of the best cartoonists since the 18th century”. He produced over 40,000 sketches in his lifetime.

Naji Al Ali’s love to depict the struggle of ordinary people fighting for their liberty, and his satirical criticism of repression lives on.