Bethlehem-Ma’an- Today marks the 37th anniversary of the assassination of Naji al-Ali, the political cartoonist of the revolution era. He was born in the village of al-Shajara in the northern Galilee, and was displaced 10 years later in 1948 to the Ein al-Hilweh camp in Lebanon.

The assassination of Naji al-Ali:

At approximately 1:53 p.m. on Wednesday, July 22, 1987, Naji al-Ali arrived at Exhaust Place A Street. S.W. 3 Then he walked across Draycott Avenue to Eves Street in central London where the offices of Al-Qabas International are located. After parking his car at the beginning of this street, he walked towards the newspaper’s office building, covering a distance of no more than (30) meters. One of his colleagues at the newspaper reported that he saw Naji walking towards the building from the window of his room overlooking the street, where a young man with ‘thick black hair’ was following him, wearing a light blue ‘denim’ jacket. Several seconds later, he heard a gunshot, after which he looked out th
e window and found Naji lying on the ground, while he saw the young man he was following fleeing to an unknown direction on the narrow Eves Street.

According to the British police at the time, the ‘unidentified young man’ who shot Naji Al-Ali walked alongside him and fired at Naji’s face from close range, where the bullet penetrated his right temple and exited from the left.

After the arrival of Scotland Yard police to the scene of the accident, Naji was transferred in an ambulance that was delayed due to heavy traffic to St. Stephen’s Hospital. A spot of blood had collected under Naji’s body, and he was still holding his car keys in his right hand and his day’s fees under his left arm. He was admitted to the intensive care unit immediately upon his arrival at the hospital, in a state of complete coma. The next day, he was transferred to Charing Cross Hospital.

The statement attached to a picture of Naji reads: “A call for help. Shots fired. At 1:53 p.m. on Wednesday, 22/7/1978, this man (Naji) stopped his
car in Exhaust Place, 3rd A.C.W. 3, then walked across Draycott Avenue to Eves Street where he was shot.

On Saturday, 29/8/1987, 38 days after Naji al-Ali was shot by a treacherous bullet, various Arab and international news agencies reported the news of Naji al-Ali’s martyrdom, as a result of his wounds in Charing Cross Hospital in London, as a result of heart failure after attempts to save him had failed since his injury. After that, the family of the martyr Naji al-Ali made an effort to fulfill his will to bury him next to his parents in the Ain al-Hilweh camp near the city of Sidon, but his will could not be fulfilled, so he was buried in Britain. He was buried

on Thursday 3-9-1987 in the Brookwood Islamic Cemetery located in the Woking area (30 miles from the British capital, London), and the Palestinian flag was raised over his grave, numbered 230190, as a temporary burial until the conditions were ready to transfer his remains to the Ain al-Hilweh camp later. The prayer was held over the body of the
martyr Naji al-Ali at 1:30 after the noon prayer in the mosque of the Islamic Cultural Center located in (Regent’s Arch) in central London.

Naji al-Ali’s study:

He studied middle school in Lebanon, then dropped out due to the difficulties he faced. He then joined a vocational school where he studied for two years. In 1960, he entered the Lebanese Academy of Drawing and attended it for one year, then dropped out due to persecution by the Lebanese security forces and was imprisoned several times.

In 1963, he traveled to Kuwait and worked for the Kuwaiti magazine Al-Tali’ah. From 1968 to 1975, he worked for the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Siyasa. From the beginning of 1974, he worked for the Lebanese newspaper Al-Safir, where he continued to publish until 1983.

In 1979, he was elected president of the Arab Cartoonists Association. In 1983,

he left Lebanon for Kuwait again and worked for the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Qabas, where he remained until 1985, when he moved to London and worked for the international newspaper
Al-Qabas.

He participated in many Arab and international exhibitions and published three books that included many of his drawings, and won many awards.

His drawings were distinguished by their unparalleled boldness, and during his lifetime he enjoyed a popularity that no other artist had ever achieved. He truly was a rare phenomenon in political caricature.

He was martyred on 8/29/1987 due to the wounds he sustained in the heinous assassination attempt on 7/22/1987

. After his death, a large group of critical works and studies were published that dealt with his life and works.

Hanthala:

Hanthala is a character created by Naji al-Ali who represents a ten-year-old boy. Hanthala’s drawing appeared in Kuwait in 1969 in the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Siyasa. In the years after 1973, he turned his back and clasped his hands behind his back. Hanthala became Naji al-Ali’s signature on his drawings. This drawing and this artist were loved by all Arab audiences, especially the Palestinian ones, especially since Hanthal
a is a likeness of the tormented and strong Palestinian despite all the difficulties he faces, as he has his back turned and

39;.

Hanthala was born on June 5, 1967, and Naji al-Ali says that Hanthala is like an icon that keeps his soul from slipping, and he is the drop of sweat that stings his forehead if he is cowardly or retreats.

Source: Maan News Agency