page_title: Handala
section_title: Legacy
hierarchical_section_title: Handala / Legacy
caption_attribution_description: Liberty
context_page_description: Handala, also Handhala, Hanzala or Hanthala, is a prominent national symbol and personification of the Palestinian people.
  The character was created in 1969 by political cartoonist Naji al-Ali, and first took its current form in 1973. Handala became the signature of Naji al-Ali's cartoons and remains an iconic symbol of Palestinian identity and defiance. The character has been described as "portraying war, resistance, and the Palestinian identity with astounding clarity".
  The name comes from Citrullus colocynthis, a perennial plant local to the region of Palestine which bears a bitter fruit, grows back when cut and has deep roots.
  Handala's impact has continued in the decades after al-Ali's 1987 assassination; today the character remains widely popular as a representative of the Palestinian people, and is found on numerous walls and buildings throughout the West Bank, Gaza and other Palestinian refugee camps, and as a popular tattoo and jewellery motif. It has also been used by movements such as Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions and the Iranian Green Movement.
context_section_description: Al-Ali stated in an interview prior to his assassination that: "Handala, whom I created, will not end after I die. I hope that this is not an exaggeration when I say that I will continue to live in Handala, even after I die". Current usages of the Handala motif include:
  Graffiti on numerous walls, buildings and souvenir shops throughout the West Bank (notably on the Israeli West Bank barrier), Gaza and other Palestinian refugee camps
  A primary symbol of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement
  A popular tattoo and jewellery motif
  The web mascot of the Iranian green movement
  In Israeli artwork, particular alongside the Israeli character Srulik
caption: Graffiti on the Israeli West Bank barrier in Bethlehem: Handala and Liberty as "Pietà"
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "", "Image Make": "Panasonic", "Image Model": "DMC-TZ7", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "PMB", "Image DateTime": "2010:11:19 22:58:22", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "680", "GPS GPSVersionID": "[2, 3, 0, 0]", "GPS GPSLatitudeRef": "N", "GPS GPSLatitude": "[31, 43, 9699/1000]", "GPS GPSLongitudeRef": "E", "GPS GPSLongitude": "[35, 12, 6501/500]", "GPS GPSTimeStamp": "[14, 6, 32]", "GPS GPSStatus": "A", "GPS GPSMapDatum": "WGS-84", "GPS GPSDate": "2010:11:19", "Image GPSInfo": "10392", "Image PrintIM": "[80, 114, 105, 110, 116, 73, 77, 0, 48, 50, 53, 48, 0, 0, 14, 0, 1, 0, 22, 0, ... ]", "Image Tag 0xC6D2": "[0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, ... ]", "Image Tag 0xC6D3": "[0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, ... ]", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "10716", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "7965", "Thumbnail YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/250", "EXIF FNumber": "33/10", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "320", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2010:11:19 17:06:32", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2010:11:19 17:06:32", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "4", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "86/25", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "41/10", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "3776", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2520", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "10362", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "0", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "25", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "High gain up", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal"}