Photo by: Ali (via Middle East Institute)
PALI FACT
Handala
Handala–the Palestinian child who remains 10 years old–is a national symbol depicting the Palestinian struggle and quest for justice. Cartoonist Naji Al-Ali, forcibly expelled from his village at the age of 10, created the character in 1969 to represent his experience as a refugee.
Evidently, Handala became an icon of Palestinian refugees in the ongoing Nakba. A national , then a global symbol, Handala remains relevant to this day to elucidate the resilience, dignity, and bitterness of the Palestinian people.
Naji Al-Ali’s signature character appears in most of his cartoons. With his back turned and hands clasped behind his back, his posture invites us to witness the unjust western solutions for Palestinians. Naji was assassinated on August 29, 1987 but his work remains a potent reminder to carry on the Palestinian message.
“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.”
Naji Al-Ali
Handala: a Symbol of Palestinian Resistance
Photo by: Ali (via fineartamerica for Munir Alawi: Handala on the Wall)
MUNPAL EVENTS
Nakba: The Palestinian Catastrophe
May 15, 1948 marks the Nakba or “catastrophe”. It commemorates the forced displacement and ethnic cleansing of more than 600 Palestinian villages, towns and cities; resulting in the largest refugee crisis with more than 750,000 Palestinian refugees. Seventy-four years later, the ethnic cleansing of Palestine continues.
“We have triumphed over the plan to expel us from history.”
Mahmoud Darwish
Photo by: Ali (via Middle East Monitor)
Be sure to check out: Stories of Palis (Issue I) from the MUNPAL GAZETTE.