Naji al-Ali

Who was Naji al-Ali?

Naji Salim al-Ali was a Palestinian cartoonist, noted for 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. 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, and who has since become an icon of Palestinian defiance. On 22 July1987, while outside the London offices of al-Qabas, a Kuwaiti newspaper for which he drew political caricatures, Naji al-Ali was assassinated by a double agent working for both the Israeli Mossad and the PLO. Naji was shot in the face and mortally wounded. Naji al-Ali died five weeks later in Charing Cross Hospital.