Naji Salim al-Ali (Arabic: العلي سليم ;Nājī Salīm al-‘Alī ناجيborn c. 1938 – 29 August 1987) was a Palestinian cartoonist, notedfor the political criticism of the Arab regimes and 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.[1] 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,[1] and who has since become anicon of Palestinian defiance. On 22 July 1987, while outside the London offices of al-Qabas, a Kuwaiti newspaper for which he drew political caricatures,[1] [2] Naji was shot in the face and mortally wounded.[3] Naji al-Ali died five weeks later in Charing Cross Hospital.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naji_al-Ali

Handa was an herb that tasted bitter like his life in poverty in camp. From this came a little bitter child with porridge pined hair, not stroke-able but able to strike at the heart of all wrongdoing and wrongdoers. From this bitterness derived the name Handala, the always bearing witness child.

Naji had to endure lots, seen any Arab prison, probably didn't miss one. His simpleness of drawing like a razorblade to the root of false hairs to rot them out, was amazing.He was a restless man,and when he married he was not like a boasting Arab his wife said,but as an humble guy telling the truth about the pros and cons about a marriage with him. She new the danger of being with him andat certain times becoming death threaths in Quwayt , she started ihis car first thing in the morning without him knowing, such dedication. M

Naji Al-Ali wrote:

"Hanthala, who I created, will not end after my end. I hope that this is not an exaggeration when I say that I will continue to live with Hanthala, even after I die."

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Naji al-Ali was one of the most prominent cartoonists in the Arab world. Sarcastic, poignant and perhaps too bold, al-Ali's cartoonswere drawn from his experience as a Palestinian refugee since childhood and clearly reflected his political stance, which was often critical of the Arab regimes.

The following extracts are drawn from an interview with Radwa Ashour, novelist and professor of English literature at Ain Shams University, during the summer of 1984 in Budapest.. It was published in the periodical Al Muwagaha in 1985, only two years before al-Ali was assassinated in London in 1987 at the age of 50.

Where do I begin? Perhaps from the day we left Palestine on our way to the Ain Al-Helwa camp in southern Lebanon. And from those looks in the eyes of our mothers and fathers that did not speak offacts, but expressed a sorrow which was the language in which we learned about the world, a language of anger that finds its outletsometimes in speech, sometimes in deeds. Most of the boys and girls of the fifties generation, to which I belonged, suffered a profound dejection. We would cast our eyes beyond our small prisonin Ain Al-Helwa, searching for some force of good that might come to our rescue. When the July 1952 revolution broke out, we poured out into the streets of the camp shouting,

"Long live the revolution!" and writing slogans on the walls. We were unable to do more than that, although we had dedicated ourselves and our lives to the revolution...Follow this link to read the rest: http://kanan48.wordpress.com/naji-al-...

I posted the collection originally on Vimeo, but later I added themusic.http://vimeo.com/kanan48Music: Munir Bashir."Taqsîm en maqâm: Nahawand-kabîr" by Munir Bashir ( • • )Category Nonprofits & Activism License Standard YouTube License

Naji al-AliMy signature, Hanthala: The Symbol of the Child by Naji al-Ali I had friends with whom I shared my work, protests, and prison...kanan48.wordpress.com

http://vimeo.com/104060774

Great documentairy, cartoonists , journalist and his wife and editors of the main papers he worked for, enabled to give their vision on Naji al-Ali.

Publications

• “Naji Al Ali - Caricatures”, Al Safeer Books, 1976 • “Caricature”, Arabic Information Center, 1983 • “Caricature”, 1985

After his death, several of his albums were published

• “Naji Al Ali in Cairo!”, Dar Al Mustaqbal Al Arabi o Sharqiyat, 1993 (Prepared by the Artist “MuhiAlDeen Al Labad”

• “Naji Al Ali - the gift that didn’t reach yet”, Amman – Jordan 1997

• “Naji Al Ali (1985-1987)”, Damascus – Syria 2008 • “A Child in Palestine”, 2009

Prizes

• First Prize in “Arab Caricatures” First Exhibition, 1979 • First Prize in “Arab Caricatures” Second Exhibition, 1980 • After his death “The International Newspapers Publishers” honors the artist and grants him “Golden Liberty Pen” award in 1988

• Chosen by the “Asahi” Japanese Newspaper to be one of world’s10 most famous cartoonists a collage from his work at truthport: http://www.truthport.net/naji.html

I made a cartoon about her, and after that I have received dozens of threats, blessings, and sympathy. Can you imagine that someone contacted me on behalf of Abu Iyad [co-founder of the PLO, assassinated by the Israelis in 1991], and told me how delighted he was with the cartoon, and said that I have done something that no other top official in the Organization could do. But he also said that I have crossed the red lines and that he was worried about me and asked me to take care of myself. So I told him: My brother, if I'd take care of myself, I wouldn't have enough time to take care of the rest of you."

Naji succumbed to his wounds in London on August 29, 1987. Throughthousands of cartoons he had left behind, he continues to live in us, that is unless we choose to forget him.

أنفيها " ل تمة وهي بالنياز، أنا. متهمهم لن '"تت'منحاز

العلي ناجي

"I am accused of being biased, and I don't denyit. I am biased towards the underdog."

Naji al-Ali

Explanation why he was killed!

Whileeveryonewith apass wouldhave runaway fromBeirutNaji wouldwant tostay allthe more,how couldhe abandonthis cityin despairit neededhim rightthere! M

This washis way ofprotestand of comfort at the same time.....M

Naji Al-Ali wrote:

"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 childwho is notbeautiful, hishair is likethe hair of ahedgehog whouses his thornsas 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 isrough, 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 anational 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." source with music and videos on Naji !http://vimeo.com/kanan48

The cock cannot crow any more as a warning, the enemy is asleep while the intifada is starting. M

Our women are Amazons and our children throw stones at in-dig-nation ! M

A picture can get you killed, but not the seed you have sown.

This is whereit seems toend inblood-revenge.M

Audience Award - Arab Screen Independent Film Festival 1999 Journalists Choice- Human Rights Film Festival Ramallah 2000In July 1987 the Palestinian cartoonist Naji Al Ali was shot by unknown assassin.The film traces his life and work from his birth in Galilee to hisdeath in London.It examines the forces that shaped Naji as an artist and as a human being, and shows how his experiences mirror that of other exiled Palestinians.

About the vimeo doc:العام من يوليو العلي 1987ف ناجي الفلسطين الفنان على النار أطلق

. سية ال ويتطرق ناجي أعمال يعرض الفيلم وفاته إل أدى ما لندن، بدينة . الت الظروف يعكس كما لندن بدينة وفاته إل بالليل ولدته منذ حياتهإل الفنية تربته تولت وكيف صادقا،، وإنسانا متميزا فنانا منه جعلت

الفلسطينيي لعانات .مرآة

Stars and stripes getting confused all over the world, as you can see nothing new on this earth! M

Sticks and stones can break my bones but words can never kill me, the saying goes, but in a certain way he was right, has been all the time. The actualities of his drawings still prove it. Althoughhe got more bitter and aggravated by his deployment to London, hisstatements are understood. Finally his own people understood whom they had lost. In London he said, it was cold like itś people, he missed the fire and the sun, as he laid down his pen the magic gun! M

Thanks for reading this hommage!

Madrason 6 0kt 2014 Bois le Duc , Brabant , The Netherlands.