“This character represents insurgency, refusal and struggle,” says Egyptian columnist Nadi Hafez of al-Qabas newspaper, where Ali worked for a long time. “And it satirizes the politics around the Palestinian cause, or the politics of the Arab world, or indeed international politics when it comes to the Palestinian cause.”
Handala didn’t turn his back to the reader until 1973, after the Yom Kippur War, when a coalition of Arab countries led by Egypt and Syria fought Israel in October of that year. At the time, there was a push by countries including the U.S. for a settlement of the conflict. By turning Handala’s back to the world, Ali was expressing his rejection of solutions from foreign nations imposed on Palestinians.
“The overpowering image is Handala silently watching things going on,” says cartoonist and journalist Joe Sacco, author of the graphic novel Palestine. “He is silent, but he is observing, and it is clear to the reader that he is knowing, he knows what’s going on. He knows there is hypocrisy.”
During times of upheaval between Israel and Palestinians, Ali sometimes showed Handala engaged in activities that signify resistance, like throwing rocks, although there has been criticism of the way he depicted Israeli soldiers.
“The rights of resistance are understood, and when that is expressed through Handala, I think that is just a sign of incredible frustration about diplomacy, peace talks that generally lead nowhere,” Sacco says.
Who was Naji al-Ali, Handala’s creator?
Born in 1938 in the Palestinian village of al-Shajara in Galilee in what is now northern Israel, Naji al-Ali drew more than 40,000 cartoons during his career and was equally critical of Israeli and Arab governments.