Naji Salim

Hussein Al-
Ali
Naji Salim Hussein Al-
Palestinian
Ali, born in 1936, is cartoonist
a Palestinian cartoon- Naji Al-Ali
ist, distinguished by
harsh criticism in his
Student work: Mayar khalaf
drawings, and is con-
sidered one of the
most important Pales-
tinian artists. He has
forty thousand car-
toons...

His life and upbringing
His exact date of birth is not
known, but it is likely that he was
born in 1937 in the village of Al-
Shajara, located between Tiberi-
as and Nazareth. After Israel oc-
cupied Palestine, he immigrated
with his family in 1948 to south-
ern Lebanon and lived in the Ain
al-Hilweh camp, then he emigrat-
ed from there when he was ten
years old, and from that Then he
never knew stability. After he
stayed with his family in the Ain
al-Hilweh camp in southern Leb-
anon, the Israeli forces arrested
him as a boy for his anti-
occupation activities, so he
spent most of his time inside the
cell drawing on its walls.
His drawings
The Palestinian journalist and writer
Ghassan Kanafani had seen three
works of Naji’s drawings during a visit to
him in the Ain al-Hilweh camp, so he
published his first painting of him,
which was of a tent with a waving hand
on top of it, and it was published in
“Freedom” magazine, issue 88, on Sep-
tember 25, 1961 AD.
In the year 1963 AD, he traveled to
Kuwait to work as an editor, paint-
er, and newspaper director. He
worked in the Kuwaiti Vanguard,
the Kuwaiti Politics, the Lebanese
As-Safir, the Kuwaiti Al-Qabas, and
Al-Qabas International.
Handala
Hanzala is a character created
by Naji Al-Ali who represents a
ten-year-old boy who turned his
back in the years after 1973 AD
and held his hands behind his
back. Hanzala is a symbol of the
tortured and strong Palestinian,
despite all the difficulties he fac-
es. He is an honest witness to
the events and does not fear an-
yone. Handala was born on June
5, 1967 AD, and Naji Al-Ali says
that Handala is an icon that rep-
resents defeat and weakness in
Arab regimes.