Naji Al-Ali ( Arabic: ناجي سليم العلي Nājī Salīm al-'Alī ; born c. 1938 - d.August 29, 1987 [3] ) is a Palestinian cartoonist , noted for political criticism of the Arab regimes and Israel in his works [4] . He is called the greatest Palestinian cartoonist and probably the most famous cartoonist in the Arab world [5] [6] .
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He painted more than 40,000 cartoons, which often reflected the public opinion of Palestinians and Arabs and were sharply critical comments on Palestinian and Arab politics and political leaders [3] [7] . He is best known as the creator of the Handala character depicted in his cartoons as a young witness to a satirized politics or event depicted [7] and has since become an icon of Palestinian disobedience. On July 22, 1987, while outside the London branch of al-Kabas , a Kuwaiti newspaper for which he painted political cartoons, [7] [8] al-Ali was wounded in the neck and mortally wounded. [9] Naji al-Ali died five weeks later at Charing Cross Hospital.
Naji al-Ali was born around 1938 in the Palestinian village of Al-Shajar, located between Tiberias and Nazareth , which is currently Il-Moshiah [10] . He lived in exile in southern Lebanon with his family after the 1948 Palestinian exodus at the Ain al-Hilve refugee camp near Sidon [11] , where he attended the Union of Christian Churches school. After graduation, he worked in the gardens of Sidon, then moved to Tripoli, where he attended a professional monastic school for two years.
Then Naji al-Ali moved to Beirut , where he lived in a tent in the Shatila refugee camp and worked on various industrial works. In 1957, having received the qualification of a car mechanic, he went to Saudi Arabia , where he worked for two years.
Content
Cartoonist and Journalist Career
In 1959, Naji al-Ali returned to Lebanon, and in the same year he joined the Arab Nationalist Movement (IDA), but was expelled four times in one year for lack of party discipline. In the period from 1960 to 1961, together with comrades from the IDA, he published the hand-written political journal Al-Sarha (“Scream”).
In 1960, he entered the Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts, but was unable to continue his studies there, as he was soon imprisoned for political reasons. After his release, he moved to Tire , where he worked as a teacher of painting at Jafaria College.
Writer and politician Gassan Kanafani during a trip to Ain al-Hilve saw some cartoons by Naji al-Ali and printed the first published drawings of the artist along with an accompanying article on September 25, 1961 in Al-Khurriya No. 88.
In 1963, Naji al-Ali moved to Kuwait , hoping to save up money to study art in Cairo or Rome . There he worked as an editor, cartoonist, designer, and producer of a newspaper in the Arab nationalist newspaper Al Taliya. Since 1968, he worked for Al-Siyas . During these years he returned to Lebanon several times. In 1974, he began working for the Lebanese newspaper Al-Safir, which allowed him to return to Lebanon for a longer period. During the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982, he was briefly detained by Israeli forces along with other residents of Ain al-Hilve. In 1983, he again moved to Kuwait to work for Al-Cabas, and in 1985 moved to London, where he worked in an international publication until his death.
Handala
Handala (Hansala [12] , Arabic. حنظلة ) - the most famous of the characters of Naji al-Ali [13] He is depicted as a ten-year-old boy, and first appeared in Al-Siyas in Kuwait in 1969. [13] . The figure has been turned back to the viewer since 1973. Hands folded arms behind his back [14] . The artist explained that a ten-year-old child represented his age when he had to leave Palestine, and he would not grow up until he returned to his homeland [15] ; his turned back and folded hands symbolize the character’s refusal from “external decisions” [14] . Handala wears torn clothes and walks barefoot, which symbolizes his fidelity to the poor. In later cartoons, he actively participates in the depicted action, and not just watches him [14] .
Handala has become the hallmark of Naji al-Ali, and remains a symbol of Palestinian identity and disobedience. Handala was also used as the web mascot of the Iranian green movement [16] . The artist noted that “He was the arrow of a compass, steadily pointing to Palestine. Not only Palestine in geographical terms, but also Palestine in its humanitarian sense is a symbol of a just cause, whether it is in Egypt, Vietnam, or South Africa ” [15] .
Murder
It is still unknown who opened fire on Naji al-Ali near the London office of the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Kabas on July 22, 1987, striking him in the right temple (or face [3] ). Naji al-Ali was subsequently taken to hospital and was in a coma until his death on August 29, 1987 [17] .
British police arrested Ismail Sowen, a 28-year-old Palestinian researcher from Jerusalem who lived at Hull University , and found in his apartment a cache of weapons that they said was intended for terrorist attacks throughout Europe; he was only charged with possession of weapons and explosives. Police initially said that Shroud was a member of the PLO , although the organization denied any involvement [18] [19] .
Sowan later admitted that he worked both in the PLO and in the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad [20] . The second suspect, arrested by Scotland Yard , also said he was a double agent. [21] It later turned out that Mossad had two double agents working in the London PLO combat teams, and they knew about the murder in advance. [21] Refusing to pass on the relevant information to his British counterparts, Mossad aroused discontent in Britain, which took revenge on having expelled three Israeli diplomats, one of whom was an embassy attache identified as an agent. [21] Enraged, Margaret Thatcher , then prime minister, closed Mossad's London base at Palace Green, Kensington. [22] [23] On April 22, 1989, police found a gun used in the murder at the Hallfield Mansion in Paddington , a 7.62 Tokarev pistol [17]
Unit 17 , acting on the orders of Yasser Arafat , is also allegedly responsible for his murder. [6]
In August 2017, detectives resumed investigating his murder case 30 years after his death [24] [17] .
Media
In Egypt, a film was made about the life of Naji al-Ali, where the main role was played by the Egyptian actress Nur el-Sheriff [25]
Camille al-Turab al-Falastini ( Naji al-Ali, All Palestinian Soil ), Mahmoud Abd Allah Kallam, Bisan Lil-Nashr Val-Tawzi-Val-Alam, Beirut, 2001.
Notes
- ↑ Library of Congress Name Authority File
- ↑ SNAC - 2010.
- ↑ 1 2 3 Palestine: commemorating the political cartoonist Naji al-Ali .
- ↑ Handala.org: About Naji Al-Ali . www.handala.org .
- ↑ To escape repression, critics are leaving the Gulf , The Economist (July 20, 2017). Date of treatment July 21, 2017.
- ↑ 1 2 Can a murder that happened three decades ago now be solved? , The Economist (August 31, 2017).
- ↑ 1 2 3 Farsun, 2004, p. 111.
- ↑ Harlow, 1994, p. 167.
- ↑ Black, Jan, (March 10, 2008) “The Figure of Disobedience” Keeper
- ↑ Naji al-Ali: Remembering the Palestinian cartoonist 30 years later . Step Feed (July 25, 2017).
- ↑Harlow, 1994, p. 168.
- ↑ Have you heard of Naji Al-Ali . wh24.ru.
- ↑ 1 2 Faber . Pens and swords , The Guardian (July 11, 2009). Date of treatment September 17, 2014.
- ↑ 1 2 3 Ashley. Discourse, Culture, and Education in the Israeli-Palestinian Council 49 The Connection between Palestinian Culture and the Conflict . Netanya Academic Center . Date of treatment September 17, 2014.
- ↑ 1 2 Naji Al-Ali. A Child in Palestine: The Cartoons of Naji Al-Ali . - Verso Books, 1 January 2009. - ISBN 978-1-84467-365-0 .
- ↑ Shirin Sadeghi. QODS DAY: Protesters Transform Jerusalem Day Into Iran Day (Neopr.) - 2009. - 18 September.
- ↑ 1 2 3 Police reinvestigate 1987 London murder of Palestinian cartoonist . The Guardian (August 29, 2017).
- ↑ David Pallister, “Arab in arms finds charge”, The Guardian , August 18, 1987
- ↑ Palestinian Journalist Dies of Wounds in London , The New York Times (August 30, 1987).
- ↑ Cleans, Francis (June 18, 1988) " Britain orders the Israeli diplomat to leave the country." The New York Times . Received August 31, 2010
- ↑ 1 2 3 https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/mi5-was-feuding-with-mossad-while-known-terrorists-struck-in-london-1101024.html . The Independent . Date of treatment September 17, 2014.
- ↑ Gardham, Duncan (February 17, 2010) The Hamas Murder in Dubai: A Sticky Relationship The Daily Telegraph
- ↑ The Daily Telegraph , London, April 5, 1998
- ↑ 30 years later: London police resumes investigation into the killing of the legendary Palestinian cartoonist . newsru.co.il .
- ↑ El Tayeb, Atef, Director. Nagi El Ali (1991).
Links
- liva.com.ua VICTIMAL KILLING OF A CARICATURIST
- I am from Ain al-Helva - excerpts from an interview with Radwa Ashur in the summer of 1984 in Budapest. Posted in Al Ahram .
- Naji al-Ali: Palestinian Eternal Conscience - Arjan El Fassed, Electronic Intifada (July 22, 2004)
- BBC this day al-Ali assassination webpage .
- Al Jazeera English's "Street Talk" takes a look on Naji al-Ali, June 7, 2007 on YouTube .
- Creitmeir, Nadine (2012). Der Nahostkonflikt durch die Augen Hanzalas. Stereotypische Vorstellungen im Schaffen des Karikaturisten Naji al-Ali , Berlin, Klaus Schwartz. ISBN 978-3-87997-402-3 ISBN 978-3-87997-402-3
- Farsun, Samikh K. (2004). Palestinian culture and customs . Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-32051-9 ISBN 0-313-32051-9
- Harlow, Barbara (1994). Writers and murders. In Sidney J. Lemella and Robin D. G. Kelly (eds.). Imaginary home: class, culture and nationalism in the African diaspora (pp. 167-184). Verso. ISBN 0-86091-585-9 ISBN 0-86091-585-9
- Naji al-Ali