Naji al-Ali’s Icon of Resistance, Exile, and Palestinian Identity
Naji al-Ali (1938–1987) is considered one of the most important and courageous cartoonists in the Arab world. A Palestinian, refugee, artist, and dissident, his life was marked by exile, censorship, and ultimately, violence. But above all, it was defined by a child: Handala, his most famous creation, which over time became a universal symbol of resistance, dignity, and memory. Handala is a ten-year-old boy who, barefoot and dressed in rags, is always drawn from behind, his hands clasped behind his back, facing a horizon signed by destruction. He never shows his face, and he will not show it until he can return to his home in Palestine. He is a child who refuses to grow up as long as his land remains occupied, as long as his people live in exile, as long as justice remains only a dream. Naji al-Ali once explained that Handala was not merely a character, but the collective conscience of the Palestinian people: “When he can return to Palestine, Handala will grow up. Then he will turn around, and only then he will show his face”. This image, so simple yet so powerful, encapsulates the entire tragedy of the Palestinian people. Handala turns his back on the world, just as so many have turned their backs on the Palestinians. Yet in his stillness there is a silent strength, the strength of resistance, of waiting, of a dignity that refuses to bow.
A mural depicting Handala, the most famous character by Naji al-Ali
The illustration by 83 Italian comic artists united to call for a ceasefire. December 2023.
An artist in exile
The life of Naji al-Ali was, like the one of his character, a long journey through exile. Born in 1938 in al-Shajara, a small village in Galilee between Tiberias and Nazareth, he was forced to flee with his family to Lebanon during the Nakba of 1948, the exodus of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians that followed the creation of the State of Israel. Raised in the Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp, al-Ali developed both a deep political awareness and an extraordinary artistic talent, which he refined through his studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Beirut. His drawings first appeared in the ‘60s in Arab magazines such as Al-Hurriyya and As-Siyasat, the latter being the first to publish the character of Handala. Over time, his satire became increasingly fierce and universal: he criticized not only the Israeli occupation but also the corruption and hypocrisy of Arab and Palestinian leaders. For him, truth had to be spoken without fear, even at the cost of threats, intimidation, and imprisonment. He was in fact jailed several times and eventually forced into exile. In 1985, he left the Middle East and sought refuge in London, but even there he found no safe haven: in 1987 he was shot in the head outside the offices of the newspaper he worked for, al-Qabas International. He died five weeks later, after falling into a coma, and to this day, his assassination remains a mystery, despite the London police reopening the case in 2017 in an attempt to shed light on it. In 1988, Naji al-Ali was posthumously awarded the Golden Pen of Freedom by the FIEJ (Fédération Internationale des Éditeurs de Journaux, now WAN IFRA), an important recognition.
The tribute of Italian cartoonists and “Falastin Hurra”: when art becomes resistance
Nearly forty years after al-Ali’s death, his legacy is more alive than ever. In December 2023, 83 Italian comic artists decided to pay tribute to his message with a collective gesture of great symbolic power: they drew 83 Italian comic characters, all seen from behind, silent, just like Handala. Tex Willer, Dylan Dog, Corto Maltese, Diabolik, Valentina, Lupo Alberto, and many others: all turned away, all witnesses to a shared pain, in a protest against war and as a call for an immediate ceasefire. This simple illustration became an act of artistic, and above all, human solidarity. Today, that visual dialogue between Italian and Palestinian artists continues with the exhibition “Falastin Hurra”, hosted at the MAMRE Foundation in Turin from October 10th to November 3rd 2025, in co-production with the Nazra Palestine Short Film Festival. The exhibition gathers comics, illustrations, and graphic works from across the Arab and Mediterranean worlds. It is a visual journey through the history, memory, and resilience of a people, told through art, representing not only suffering but also hope.
The exhibition Falastin Hurra poster, October 10 - November 3, 2025 at the MAMRE Foundation in Turin.
A universal symbol
Over the years, Handala has transcended borders and generations. He has appeared on murals around the world, from Beirut to Naples, on T-shirts, book covers, flags, and posters, becoming a symbol for all oppressed peoples, for every child deprived of their childhood. A simple yet deeply meaningful illustration has thus become a call to conscience. In Naji al-Ali’s vision, Handala will neither grow up nor show his face until he can return to Palestine, when it will be a homeland for a people, not a battlefield. And so, as we look at him, at that small, faceless figure seen from behind, we cannot help but wonder, with a mix of hope and sorrow: will we ever see Handala’s face one day?
