Handala, the refugee child

This is Handala. He is a refugee child. He has  no homeland. He was born of the imagination of Naji Al Ali, a cartoonist.

Naji was born in 1938 in a small Palestinian village called Al Shajara between Tiberias and Nazareth. The village no longer exists. There is now in place an illegal Jewish settlement. In 1948, during the Nakba, he was a boy of 10 years old. He was forced into exile with his family to Lebanon where he lived in the Ain Al Hiweh refugee camp. Naji also lived in the Shatila refugee camp, where several years later there was a terrible massacre.

After graduation he became a journalist and cartoonist who became known throughout the Arab world. He drew over 40,000 cartoons. Through them he recounts the injustices and wrongs done to the Palestinian people. He also highlights the tenacity and resilience of the people. And he denounces the ambiguity and corruption in the Arab world. Finally, he points out the brutality of the Israeli occupation.

He was assassinated in 1987 in London. Handala is his most famous character.

 
Here's what Naji says about Handala: "His name is Handala and he promises the people he will always be true to himself. I drew him like a child who is not beautiful, his hair comes from the hedgehog who uses his quills as a weapon. Handala, a child, is not fat, happy, relaxed or pampered. He is in rags and barefoot as are the children in the refugee camps. Even if his life is rough, he still smells of amber. He turns his back on his audience and his gaze is turned towards Palestine. His hands clasped behind his back, symbolizing the rejection of solutions carrying the American ideology.

At first Handala was a Palestinian child, but his conscience developed into that of a nation and then that of global humanity. Handala means bitterness. Handala is also the name of a shrub, very bitter and very tough, which grows in the desert.
  
Handala was born at 10 years old and he will always be 10 years old. At this age, I left my homeland, and Handala will begin to grow up when he returns to Palestine. The law of nature does not apply in his case. He is unique. Things will return to normal when he returns home."

Handala, may you return in the coming days to present and explain some important moments in the history of Palestine. Do not miss it.