Exhibition of Al Naji's cartoons on Palestinian struggle
United Arab Emirates-Palestine, Culture, 10/5/2001

A two-day cartoon exhibition by famous Palestinian artist, the late Naji Al Ali, opened on Wednesday at the Dubai Press Club, on the occasion of his death anniversary.

It includes 90 of his most important works during his 30-year campaign on behalf of the Palestinians, which were sent by his son in London.

Naji Al Ali was made famous by "Hanthala," the symbol of the child in his drawings.

"Hanthala is not a fat, spoilt, comfortable child. He is bare-footed like the other bare foot children from the refugee camps. Despite his looks, he has a pure heart with a conscience that smells like musk and amber, and I am ready to kill anyone who intends to harm him. His hands are clasped behind his back as a sign of rejection during the phase that this region is undergoing, with "solutions" offered by the USA and "the system," the late artist had said.

He added: "Hanthala was born at the age of ten and will always remain ten. At that age I left my country, and only when Hanthala returns to Palestine will he grow up and exceed the age of ten. The rules of nature do not apply to him."

Naji Al Ali's work was the medium through which he helped his country fight against Israel. In his caricatures, he has expressed the situation in his country, and what happens to his people.

He became very famous in the Arab world because of his work.

Naji Al Ali's talent was discovered by the late Palestinian author, Gassan El-Kanafani.

"I started to use drawing as a form of political expression while in Lebanese jails. I was detained by the Deuxi�me (the Lebanese intelligence service) as a result of the measures the Bureau were undertaking to contain political activities in the Palestinian camps during the sixties.

"I drew on the prison walls and, subsequently, Ghassan Kanafani, a journalist and publisher of Al-Huria magazine, saw some of those drawings and encouraged me to continue, and eventually published some of my cartoons," revealed Al Ali.

Al Ali returned to Beirut to work with Al Safeer newspaper, and there he produced a lot of good work during the civil war period.

He was shot in the head by a lone gunman on July 22, 1987, as he left the Al Qabas offices in Ives Street, Chelsea, London. He was in a coma for five weeks and on a life support machine in St Stephen's and Charing Cross Hospital in London. He died on August 30.

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