PLEASE RESPECT THE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS OF ALI FARZAT AND OF OTHER CARTOONISTS WHOSE WORK YOU ACCESS. Of course, you may use the cartoons in class (including print-outs) under the fair use provisions of US copyright law. But explain to your students the importance of respecting these rights. They should not reproduce any of these cartoons in ways that would infringe on the rights of their creators.
INTRODUCTION
My drawings reflect their origins. I devoted my cartoons to contemporary ideals: Freedom, Democracy, Love, and Peace. I pitted them against contemporary evils: Injustice, Repression, Dictatorship, Terrorism, Environmental Degradation, Corruption. Yet my drawings also reflect the sub-surface work space where they took shape. They have come to embody the simple and yet complex ambiguity of their creation.
Ali Farzat (1)
Cracking down and cracking fingers. That’s what pro-Assad thugs were doing in late August–when they pulled Syrian cartoonist Ali Farzat from his car and beat him up. They broke his fingers, intentionally, to convey a hard-line message: stop using your talented hands to subvert the authority of President Bashar al-Assad’s government. After telling Farzat that this was "just a warning," they dumped him on the side of the road. But Farzat was lucky enough to end up in a hospital bed (rather than the morgue). Three weeks later he was still recovering in the hospital. (2)
Farzat, age 60, is an internationally acclaimed cartoonist, famous for "skewering the mismatch between rhetoric and reality in the Arab world" (3). He grew up in Hama, where his first drawing appeared in a local newspaper when he was only 12 years old. In the 1970s he began publishing cartoons in Syria’s state-controlled newspapers. Eventually, his work would be banned (and he would be banned from traveling to) Jordan, Iraq, Libya, and Yemen. But his cartoons continued to appear in print in Egypt, Kuwait, and other Gulf states. (4)
In 1988 Farzat’s cartoons were part of a large exhibit at the Arab World Institute in Paris, partly sponsored by the Iraqi government. When the Iraqi ambasador toured the exhibit and saw Farzat’s "The General and the Decorations," he found it highly offensive–because he assumed that the general handing out the worthless medals was none other than Saddam Hussein. The ambassador demanded the removal of the cartoon, but the dispute was resolved and it remained part of the exhibit. Intentionally, Farzat had drawn an an archetypical military dictator–not a caricature of Saddam–but this explanation did not appease Saddam, who threatened to kill him. The whole incident is just another example of Saddam’s paranoia. His threats did not prevent Farzat from drawing a series of cartoons that did feature caricatures of Saddam–in which Farzat relentlessly satirized the Iraqi dictator, whom he loathed (5).
When Bashar al-Assad assumed the presidency in 2000, for a short time he loosened the tight restraints on political expression that had been imposed by Hafez al-Assad (his father). During this interlude, referred to as the Damascus Spring, Farzat was allowed to to publish a satirical magazine, Al-Dumari (The Lamplighter). Assad and Farzat, who had met prior to this time, are described as being friends--and it seems that, due to this pre-existing relationship, Farzat got away with more than he might have expected. When Al-Dumari hit the newsstands it was a runaway hit–the first independent publication (of any kind) since since the Baathist takeover in 1963! Syrians liked it because it told the truth. In July 2003, however, the hammer of censorship came smashing down when Farzat’s license to publish Al-Dumari was suddenly revoked. After the shutdown, Farzat and his staff were interrogated by political security agents. (6)
Farzat’s international reputation kept growing. In 2002 he had received the Dutch Prince Claus award, which honors individuals and organizations "for their outstanding achievements in the field of culture and development" in work that makes a positive contribution to "the wider cultural or social field" (7). By 2005, when a collection of his cartoons was published as A Pen of Damascus Steel, he had already produced more than 15,000 cartoons. The book attracted the attention of American cartoonists, but when Farzat applied for a visa to do a US book tour, he was refused a visa by a US embassy employee, who asked him to provide proof that he was an artist (8). How ironic! A bureaucrat impeding the visit of a satirist famous internationally for skewering bureaucrats!
Farzat continued drawing–and he decided to stay in Syria, despite the danger of doing so. In 2007 the BBC and Al-Watan (a Kuwaiti newspaper) collaborated to produce a series of animated versions of Farzat’s cartoons. Farzat was pleased: people would now see his "characters moving and yelling to their hearts’ content" (9). Some of these animations are now available on YouTube (see RESOURCES or go to YouTube and search Ali Farzat). In 2008 Farzat’s cartoons were the centerpiece of an exhibit in Britain, sponsored by The Guardian, with the evocative title "Lighting Lamps" (10).
The Internet also provided Farzat with a venue for his work. While living in Damascus, he used his website and gallery to stimulate a semi-underground cultural conversation–though he could no longer publish his work in his own country (11). On August 25th he was driving home from his studio when the thugs intercepted him. The Syrian government shut down his website shortly after the attack, but it is now up and running again, with messages of support in Arabic.
Since the beginning of the uprising Ferzat had been drawing increasingly strident critiques of the Assad regime and the brutality of its crackdown on anti-government protesters. Previously he had refrained from drawing caricatures of either Hafez or Bashar Assad. Now he began to depict Bashar in caricatures so embarrassing that they must have greatly antagonized his former friend. One of these shows Assad as a puny figure in a military uniform, standing before a mirror (12). The image Assad sees is that of a hardy fellow, flexing his muscles. The contradiction here is marvelous: the cartoon’s message is that Assad is not only weak but delusional.
Another cartoon, more closely tied to a specific event, is "Lifting the Emergency Law" (a rare example of a Farzat cartoon with a caption). It shows Assad very busy--whitewashing the shadow of a security officer–while the officer himself remains untouched. This refers to Assad’s suspension of state of emergency procedures–which did nothing to change how the security apparatus was carrying out its tasks in the midst of a violent crackdown. (13)
On April 30th Farzat posted a cartoon showing a dictator perched inside the mouth of a cannon and shouting "Fire." It suggests the irony of the violence being perpetrated by the Assad government, but the cartoon’s dictator is not a caricature of Assad. One blogger’s interpretation is that it’s a warning: a dictator who sends troops to fire on his own people will surely end up bringing about his own demise. (14)
In an August 4th interview Farzat shared this observation: "The barrier of fear has been shattered because the [regime] has already played the card of killing people. What can it do beyond killing?" And when asked about an earlier comment by Assad, he answered, "I would like to tell him that all I have is this pen, and he has all these weapons–so who’s stabbing who?" (15). Then, just days before he was attacked, Farzat drew a cartoon showing Assad, suitcase in hand, trying to hitch a lift from Col. Qaddafi, who is speeding away in a military jeep (see discussion below). It is widely assumed that this cartoon crossed a red line, making it the proximate cause of Assad’s vicarious attack on his erstwhile.
Expressions of Solidarity
Cartoonists around the globe have reacted to assault on "one of their own" by drawing cartoons to express their outrage and to show support for Farzat. Washington Post blogger Michael Cavna has posted some of the best of these on Comic Riffs (see RESOURCES). The set includes cartoons by Rick McKee and Nate Beeler (both also posted on the AAEC site, as noted in RESOURCES). Here you will find a very effective cartoon by the Egyptian cartoonist Sherif Arafa, showing Farzat in his hospital bed, with each finger curled around a paint brush. This cartoon confirms my assumption that Farzat’s spirit remains unbroken.
Several excellent solidarity cartoons (including Arafa’s) have been posted or re-posted on a Facebook page called "We Are All Ali Farzat." The title is intended to mind people of the Facebook page "We Are All Khaled Said," put up for the young man whose death at the hands of the police helped to foment the Egyptian uprising (16).
A WARNING: If you search the web or Google Images, be careful that you do not attribute cartoons expressing solidarity with Farzat to Farzat himself. In most cases you can confirm that Farzat is the cartoonist by comparing the signature on the cartoon with that on his website. There is one particularly egregious example of confusion that you should be aware of. It is a cartoon showing Farzat in his hospital bed--signaling distain (and, in this context, defiance) towards his attackers, by raising a finger. Farzat did not draw this cartoon--though it has been mistakenly attributed to him. It was simply a clever, well-intentioned expression of support: a fellow cartoonist is projecting his sense of how he would feel in similar circumstances (but, I might add, not inconsistent with Farzat’s sense of humor). (17)
The American Association of Editorial Cartoonists issued a strong statement, calling the attack on Farzat "an attack on the right of people to express themselves" and predicting that the assault on Farzat would backfire:
It’s an act of a desperate regime foolishly thinking that its violence and efforts to intimidate will keep a cartoonist from criticizing the regime’s repressive behavior. Instead, it only sets hundreds of hands to drawing the clear conclusion that those behind the brutal repression have lost all legitimacy. (18)Of course, Farzat is so widely respected that the AAEC’s prediction was a safe one. That hundreds of cartoonists would respond was also predicted by Rick McKee, in a cartoon which appeared in the Augusta Chronicle on August 27th. It shows Assad beating Farzat–while surrounded by a host of cartoonists capturing the action on their sketch pads. Bill Day depicts Assad standing atop a battered Farzat–but Assad himself is already doomed, having been skewered by a large fountain pen with the label "World Cartoonists." The Italian cartoonist Giacomo Cardelli places Assad, bumped from a pedestal marked "Dictator" and hiding under an umbrella marked "Censured"–as he tries to protect himself from a hail of sharpened pencils. Among those tying the assault directly to Assad is Nate Beeler, in a cartoon in the Washington Examiner on August 30th. (All of these cartoons are part of the Cavna collection on Comic Riffs.)
In Egypt, where Farzat’s work is very well-known and he has many friends, an exhibit was assembled at Cairo Atelier. It includes Farzat’s recent cartoons, with a focus on those excoriating the Assad regime, and a great variety of tributes to him and displays of solidarity. Osama Kamal, writing in Al-Ahram, called it "one of the fruits of the revolutionary wave called the Arab Spring" because the contributors were able to express themselves so freely. Several of the cartoons conveying the outrage of their creators are so graphic in their depiction of violence that a viewer may may find them unsettling (19). These offerings seem contrary to Farzat’s own preference for non-violent resistance–as suggested in the last cartoon posted on his website prior to August 25th (see discussion below).
Teaching Global Current Events with Cartoons
This post is aimed at using Farzat’s cartoons as a resource for integrating current events into the classroom–events in Syria or more broadly those of the Arab Spring. The next step, when appropriate, might be discussing the why and how people seek to overthrow repressive, authoritarian regimes (backtracking, in a history class, to any number of uprisings and revolutions). However, a few general tips on bringing editorial/political cartoons into the classroom are in order.
Online you can find good advice about using cartoons in the classroom, but much of it is geared towards using cartoons by Americans, created for American audiences and dealing with American issues. These resources are useful because they introduce the basic elements that students will need to recognize and then analyze as they explore the meaning of any cartoon. Nevertheless, we need additional strategies when expecting students to interpret a cartoon that originated in unfamiliar territory. For this purpose online guides to using historical political cartoons are more helpful than the more general tips.
Perhaps the best all-purpose guide is Jonathan Burack’s, which I highly recommend because does such a good job of defining and explaining the key elements: visual symbols, metaphors, manipulation of relative scale (exaggeration and distortion), irony as humor and as essential to meaning, caricature, and stereotypes (20). He explains that an image may reverse the surface meaning of a caption, creating humor at the same time that it helps to determine the meaning. As for irony, Burack observes that it "always entails a contradiction." While he makes a careful distinction between caricature and stereotype, I would emphsize that stereotyping is an integral part of creating generic characters.
If students have little interest in world affairs, tossing them a cartoon created in what for them is a foreign (even exotic) setting may only serve to further disengage them. So when selecting cartoons, especially for middle school students, make clarity and universality your top criteria. The goal, after all, is to stimulate interest in topics that, otherwise, students might just groan about. If the exercise is too frustrating, you’ll hear a lot of complaining.
It may help to admit how difficult it can be for anyone to grasp the message of a cartoon created outside one’s own cultural or political comfort zone. When trying to understand such a cartoon, we all do a better job with more information. At times, students may need priming with current events resources (video clips or news articles). We can also reassure students by explaining that for any cartoon there will always be different layers of interpretation. While we may see generic characters (types, archetypes) and a broad theme, a "hometown" audience will see the cartoon’s particularities and, given its particular points of view, may jump to a much narrower interpretation. For example, if a cartoon in a local newspaper shows a caricature of a corrupt bureaucrat, local people might look at it and think immediately of a particular government minister–because rumors about corrupt practices in that ministry are circulating on the street.
"Cold encounter" analysis too often results in frustration, confusion, misunderstanding, and simplistic interpretations. At a minimum, we should help students recognize that every cartoon does have a particular context (time, place, cultural milieu) and that discovering that context is challenging but rewarding. As students go about their analysis, they can and should make inferences, but they also need to remember that inferences are really hypotheses. Therefore, they need to check them out by bringing more information to the task of analyzing them. Of course, this suggests that a cartoon may be an excellent stepping-stone to a research project.
At other times (with a different set of objectives), it may be better to begin with a focus on the cartoon as a drawing, asking students to identifying its parts and what it seems to be about. Taking apart the condensed meaning of a cartoon requires skills that improve with practice (21). It is easier to teach these skills if a cartoon has a universal message, obvious and easily grasped by students, and appropriate to their general knowledge about how the world works.
Farzat’s Cartoons in the Classroom
Farzat’s work is highly accessible, however, and that’s why I strongly recommend it--even if current events in Syria wouldn’t normally be part of your classroom’s agenda. Indeed, the "universality of Farzat’s satire" is nearly always mentioned in discussions of his work. Farzat himself has explained that he works this way intentionally because he wants to reach a larger audience in the Arab world and beyond. He sees his work as "part of a comprehensive human art that touches the feelings of people all over the world" (22). Moreover, he affirms what I said above about different layers of meaning: "My drawings are not anchored to a certain place and time, although they spring from local concerns and pains." That’s why he usually avoids adding text to his cartoons, so that they may be "humane art talking in all languages" (23). Since he’s a master at conveying satire with little or no text, most of the time you won’t have to translate dialogue balloons, labels, signs, or captions.
Farzat’s symbols are often fairly easy to decipher, drawing as they do on the "issues and problems than any human could suffer in this world" (24). His favorite targets are cruel and egotistical dictators, rigid and overbearing bureaucracies, and incompetent and corrupt officials. Well, the world has plenty of those: just flip through any major newspaper or click on Google> News> World. And would any of us deny that rigidity, incompetence, and corruption exist in the world’s democracies–as well as in the so-called developing nations?
Yet, practically speaking, it is true that Farzat’s fondness for generic characters did protect him (to some degree, until the assault), allowing him to remain in Syria despite his satiric barbs aimed at the government. He survived "by fashioning his cartoons deftly enough to make their point, but obliquely enough to allow him to deny an ill intent" (25). But as his run-in with Saddam Hussein illustrates so clearly, this strategy has its risky side, too, when a dictator or his cronies see themselves reflected in those characters. It is what got his work banned in a number of countries. And in interviews he has mentioned two attempts at his life (26).
An effective way to kindle students’ interest in what is happening in a distant, foreign place is connecting current events with real people, whose lives intersect with an event or process of change. Nearly every classroom has its amateur cartoonists, who fill notebooks with drawings while they are supposed to be taking notes or beginning their homework. Farzat’s story and work is a way to tap into the interests of these students.
Farzat’s personal story is as accessible to students as his drawings. It is amazing that his first cartoon was published in a newspaper at age 12. His fascination with caricature began when, at age five, he watched a house painter, who sketched caricatures on the walls of his family’s home Hama, before painting over them (27). For two decades he defied Saddam Hussein and put himself at risk--by drawing caricatures that did depict Saddam in all his nefarious infamy. Since March he has championed the Syrian uprising in his cartoons and in his advocacy for the protesters.
Perhaps hearing Farzat’s story will spark a sense of connection, even solidarity, with those intrepid cartoonists whose work has meaning beyond that of mere entertainment–those who risk their lives or livelihoods whenever they dare to share their work in a public space. What I’ve discovered while looking online for material about Farzat is that a great deal of camaraderie exists among cartoonists, now linked by the Internet into a global community.
Two Amazing Cartoons for Students to Analyze
Two of Farzat’s cartoons are prime candidates for classroom analysis: "The General and the Decorations" and "Assad Tries to Hitch a Ride". (Access both on the Voices page put together by Marilyn Turkovich, listed in RESOURCES).
THE GENERAL AND THE DECORATIONS
This is Farzat’s favorite cartoon. It’s the one that got him into so much trouble–because it offended Saddam Hussein--but that’s why Farzat likes it so much (28). The "general" is a dictator dressed in a millitary uniform, dishing out medals to a hungry man, who is receiving them in a begging bowl.
When I first encountered this cartoon, I suspected that the beggar’s misery reflected the impact on Iraqi people of the sanctions imposed during the 1990s--while Saddam was building his palaces. I had to revise my interpretation when I learned about its role in the 1988 exhibit. What I’d missed was the drawing’s "war-torn backdrop" and the way the general himself was "dripping in medals and battle ribbons" (29). While the general was drawn as an archetypical dictator, the context that inspired it was almost certainly the Iran Iraq war of the 1980s, in which Iraq had been the aggressor. By 1988 the conflict was winding down, but it had devastated Iraqi economy. Saddam had only cheap baubles to reward those who had suffered during the war years. For the Iraqi officials at the Paris exhibit the cartoon’s context was obvious, given the baggage they brought to it, and so they felt quite justified in accusing Farzat of deliberately "parodying Iraq during Iran/Iraq war" (30). Finding this out gave me a a much deeper appreciation of "The General and the Decorations."
In a sense my first impression wasn’t that far off-base. This cartoon is still a powerful indictment of military governments that ignore the basic needs of their people,. It resonates with ordinary people who feel that they have received little of intrinsic value for their (often coerced) sacrifices. This certainly applied to the situation in Iraq, particularly after the First Gulf War, when Saddam kept building massive monuments and putting up statues of himself in a restricted-by-sanctions economy. But the Farzat’s cartoon remains valid today as a rebuke aimed at any and all such selfish autocrats. Farzat has always insisted that he did not intend to depict any particular autocrat: "I portrayed their oppressive behavior, which made every single one of them a target for my pen." It was (still is) so effective because "every Arab dictator thinks [it] is a depiction of him." (31)
This cartoon lends itself to teaching the skill of "comprehending historical references and images" (32). The first step is having students explore a cartoon’s theme and message: what is it about? The next step is asking whether any of its parts or details might refer to something more specific: does it seem to refer to a specific event or set of circumstances in the past? And if it does, what might it be? Finally, send students off to do the necessary research to confirm their suspicions–or to revise their interpretations. In this way a cartoon with a historical reference can be a jumping off point for a student research project, beginning with what was happening in the world or region or country X when the cartoon was created.
ASSAD TRIES TO HITCH A RIDE WITH QADDAFI
This is probably the cartoon that, for Farzat, broke the proverbial camel’s back (and thus broke his fingers). As the Assad government’s response to the uprising became more and more violent, Farzat began drawing recognizable caricatures of Bashar Assad. Published shortly after Libyan rebels had seized Col. Muammar Qaddafi’s compound in Tripoli (when Qaddafi had almost certainly fled the city), it had a blunt message: Assad, you’ll be fleeing next, just like Qaddafi, but you probably won’t have a get-away jeep at your disposal.
First, ASK students if they know who the main figures are? If they don’t remind them of what’s happening in Libya and Syria. In any case, show them photographs of Qaddafi and Assad and invite students to compare them. NEXT, looking at the cartoon from an artist’s point of view, what features of these men did Farzat distort when drawing their caricatures?
There is a the third figure in the cartoon, but I’m not sure what he is supposed to represent–though I think he is a generic type of some sort. Here’s a clue: it seems that Assad’s holstered firearm is aimed at him. Is he an intimidated (too afraid to stay in Syria) Assad loyalist? Perhaps he represents the suited-and-educated faction of the opposition? This is less likely, however, because Farzat has long been an advocate of democracy (though also a critic of ineffective, living-in-exile, opponents of the regime). The relative scale of the figures may be the critical element since this figure is a little man, much smaller than Assad, and standing behind him. So the little man is more likely to be a stand-in for all of Assad’s cronies.
Despite its direct link to current events and a very obvious message, "Assad Tries to Hitch a Ride" has a more subtle subtext. It depicts Assad, by training an ophthamologist, as much weaker than Qaddafi and suggests that at the end (when the regime collapses) the army will abandon him. This reflects the fact that Assad has never had as much control over the army as Qaddafi did. The message? Only cowards flee and Assad is a weak coward. A message that would have enraged Bashar.
In a history class, challenge students to find examples of historical figures that might replace Assad and Qaddafi (33). Students may wish to draw cartoons featuring their replacements. Remind them to include details that will help an audience identify the cartoon’s historical references.
Other Cartoons for the Classroom
A number of other Farzat cartoons, available online, could be used for various purposes in the classroom. Those critical of the Arab world’s dictators would easily fit into any discussion of the Arab Spring OR, for that matter, of any authoritarian government past or present in a world history or global studies class. Others could be used to teach students to identify the key elements of political cartoons, especially exaggeration, symbolism, and caricature. Here are five more (the titles are my own, just for the sake of convenience), with suggestions about how to use and present them.
1) "Big-Eared Bureaucrat" (created before mid-1998) is among the earliest examples of Farzat’s work available online (34). Its target is certainly the faceless bureaucrat–since a large ear has replaced not only figure’s face but his entire head. He’s speaking into a telephone receiver but Farzat is playing with contradiction here. He’s all ears but like the typical bureaucrat, he hears nothing (that’s what Farat seems to be implying). The humor comes from the combinatin of exaggeration and contradiction. Middle school students would probably find this very funny. You could ask them if the big-eared fellow could represent them (updated of course to show a cellphone attached to the ear).
There’s nothing specifically Syrian, Arab, or Middle Eastern in this cartoon–though audiences in the region would have quickly connected it to their own red-tape nightmares (when applying for personal documents, business licenses, etc.). But people in many countries have had experiences with officials who listen and then do nothing at all to solve their problems. I’ve had a few episodes myself of being transferred from one customer service agent to another–back and forth–until I gave up in frustration. So this cartoon, despite its having a political sub-text, resonates much more broadly.
2) "Torturer Takes a TV Break" is a cartoon with an obvious, highly disturbing message (35). While the prisoner dangles from wrist-shackles attached to the wall, the fellow who’s been torturing him sits close to a TV screen, watching it intently. The TV program appears to be a soap opera (very popular on Arab TV stations). ASK: How can you tell that the prisoner has been tortured? What do the severed hand and foot tell us? ASK: What emotions is the torturer experiencing? Did they notice that he’s crying? What made that tear roll down his cheek?
Farzat thinks that it is this cartoon’s symbolism, more eloquent than any commentary, that makes it so effective:
I drew a cartoon depicting the prevalence of torture in Arab countries. It showed a toruer inflicting great pain on a jailed prisoner, tearing him apart with whips and saws, yet, at the same time watching a romantic television program that made him cry profusely. I think that symbolism inthis case is more eloquent than naming a specific region and this strikes the oppressers at their core. (36)The message of "Torturer Takes a TV Break" would be relevant in almost any far-ranging discussions of human rights abuses, past or present, so there are ample opportunities to show it in class–as a way to get a conversation started. For example, in a class taking up Abu Ghraib it speaks not only to issues raised in the US (the whole matter of torturing detainees) but also helps us see why what happened at Abu Ghraib has had a long-lasting impact on Iraqi public opinion (37). Iraqi outrage over Abu Ghraib was rooted in "the prevalence of torture in Arab countries."
This cartoon also points a finger at the hard-heartedness and ability to compartmentalize that make it possible for one human being to torture another. I’d go a bit further and suggest that its target is also a society’s fixation on frivolous entertainment, on vicarious emotions, on TV celebrities–while real people suffer on the sidelines, unattended.
3) "Man Waiting by Railroad Tracks" is one of Farzat’s most popular cartoons (38). Perhaps this is because audiences anywhere relate to the hapless figure, whose situation is beyond relief. The message is simple and direct. A man with a suitcase is standing alongside a segment of railroad tracks. That the tracks are only a short segment is the key to cartoon’s message: the man is waiting for a train that’s not coming (from either direction) because there are no tracks–and even if somehow a train did appear, it couldn’t take him anywhere.
ASK: Who does this man represent? Could he be a stand-in for the Syrian people at large, patiently waiting for change? But given Farzat’s strategy of using generic figures, he could represent the people of any Arab country–for that matter, of any country where a large portion of the population is disaffected. In other words, many potential audiences, worldwide, could project their own discontent onto this forlorn figure. Indeed, it speaks to the mood of many Americans right now about the government’s inability to deal with our problems (for example, where is the jobs train?).
ASK: If the cartoon is about change that is nowhere in sight--not coming down the "tracks"–not even sitting on them, what changes do you think the man (if he represents ordinary people) is waiting for? Are there any clues in the cartoon? Not really, so the audience can project economic or social changes–instead of, or in place of, political changes. This is significant, given the stagnant economies in many countries in the Arab world and in other countries with authoritarian governments.
Although Farzat did not give this cartoon a caption, he did have a specific literary reference in mind. ASK (if he question is appropriate, for example in an advanced literature class): What work of literature is this cartoon alluding to? Farzat, revealing that it was inspired by Samuel Beckett’s "Waiting for Godot," says he created it as "an allegory of the lack of political change in his region" (39). So this cartoon is a good example of a cartoon with a specific literary allusion. Though its overt message is not dependent on that allusion, knowing that Farzat is making it, intensifies that message. It tell us about the deep and broad pool of potential references that Farzat is drawing upon in his work.
4) "Woman’s Husband Holds the Keys" is a great cartoon for a lesson with a gender theme (40). It’s clever and amusing. Farzat is obviously poking fun at (but no doubt also serious about) how men in the Arab world restrict women by putting locks on their freedom to speak, listen, think, and act independently. Of course, many women manage to evade these restrictions, yet men in these patriarchal societies do hold the keys (power in the family, power in politics) to true gender equality (as they do in any patriarchy).
I’d consider using this cartoon when introducing the concept of patriarchy. There is nothing particularly Islamic about either the woman or the man in this cartoon (they could easily be archetypes of 1950s America). Its versatility comes from its depiction of the condition of women in a patriarchal system--as manifested anywhere, at any time period. ASK: How have men sought to silence women in the past? How do they still manage to do so today?
5) "Love Weighs More Than Hate" is the last cartoon Farzat posted online before the August 25th attack (41). It is composed of three symbols: a double-pan balance scale, labeled Syria; a heart with the word "love" (in English) in the left pan; and a large missile in the right pan. The metaphor here is Syria’s future hanging in the balance. Which is heavier, thus more valuable, more potent? Farzat’s answer is the smaller heart of love, much heavier the larger missile (perhaps it’s just a a hot-air balloon?). The contrast in size is thus an important element in this cartoon. The context in which it appeared is also highly significant–the "unholy" violence perpetrated by the Assad regime during entire month of Ramadan. Farzat was thus proclaiming his belief in the power of love and giving hope to a battered people.
The Predicament of the Artist in an Unjust Society
"The cartoon should have a moral purpose." That’s what the Newshour Lesson Plan states very clearly (42). Of course, every cartoonist will define that purpose according to the circumstances in which he or she is working. A good political cartoon will open up a space for informed, critical thinking. Burack agrees, and so do I. And in an interview Farzat says that when a cartoon is successful, "after it is published, people would say ‘This is what we were thinking about and want to say, but we do not have the means of expression’" (43).
What is Ali Farzat’s motive? In his own words it is "the talent I have together with my love of quarreling against injustice and corruption" (44). In Alaa Al Aswany’s words it resides in Farzat’s ability to "sum up the world in a drawing that makes us think of and feel the ugliness that surrounds us and yearn for the beauty of truth and justice" (45). This assessment echoes the "informed, critical thinking" purpose that teachers seek to cultivate in the classroom.
Cartoonists, like other artists and intellectuals in an unjust society, especially those working in a repressive political environment, face a host of moral dilemmas. In 2002 Allen Douglas described the what had been, for decades, the predicament of the Arab world’s cartoonists:
Everything is under censorship. So what the cartoonist tries to do is to negotiate between his own position and the government’s, and to figure out how much he can get away with at any given time. (46).For all of his adult life Farzat has had to contend with the restrictions imposed by an authoritarian government. This made him a keen observer of the behavior of the Arab world’s tyrants and of the consequences of tyranny in the lives of ordinary people. He has devoted his life to making a difference, using his talent to provoke the kinds of conversations that might lead to "Freedom, Democracy, Love, and Peace."
When asked whether caricature could do more to bring about change than other art forms, Farzat replied: "I think so because of its popular desirable specifics, that is sarcasm, brevity, quick circulation among the people, its ability to weaken the adversary (during the sarcastic confronting and embarassing the opponent when he makes a wrong decision." People will experience a sense of relief as well as enthusiasm, "feeling that such caricature is standing with them and on their behalf" (47). If political cartoonists have an ability to speak "truth to power" in ways that reach a broad audience, perhaps they also feel a heavy burden of responsibility. It may be the satire, irony, and humor in their drawings that relieve some of their anxiety
What is the responsibility of an artist in society? Should artists seek to shape public policy, engage in social activism, take political positions, or get involved in politics? What can an artist do to bring about social or political change? Should an artist ever compromise with a repressive government? These questions of values and motives are appropriate in a fine arts class–as well as in the more expected venues, humanities and history classes.
ACTIVITIES
PLEASE RESPECT THE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS OF ALI FARZAT AND OF OTHER CARTOONISTS WHOSE WORK YOU ACCESS. Of course, you may use the cartoons in class (including print-outs) under the fair use provisions of US copyright law. But explain to your students the importance of respecting these rights. They should not reproduce any of these cartoons in ways that would infringe on the rights of their creators.
PRIME students for reading/discussing/writing/researching activities by showing or reading in class any of the following:
- Al Jazeera English news brief (August 25th)
- Another news source, with more information, such as the articles by Nour Ali and Nada Bakri
- Ali Ferzat speaking on Al-Arabiya TV on August 4th (pause at the cartoon, to begin discussion)
PREPARE STUDENTS for analyzing and intepreting political cartoons by distributing, reading, and discussing "The Cartoon Analysis Checklist."
SHOW either "General with Decorations" or "Assad Trying to Hitch a Ride" or another Farzat cartoon satirizing a dictator. ASK: What do you think this cartoon is about? Guide students from a more generic understanding to a sense of how the cartoon relates to recent Arab history (that is, the dictatorships of Hosni Mubarak, Muammar al-Qaddafi, Bashar Al-Assad, Saddam Hussein).
SHOW "Assad Trying to Hitch a Ride" and tell students that this cartoon is different from most of Farzat’s work because it contains caricatures of recognizable figures. Who are they? When do you think he drew this cartoon? Why do you think he drew it?
SELECT Farzat cartoons with fairly obvious political themes. Ask every student to WRITE a caption for at least one of them. This would work as an in-class small group activity or as homework. DISCUSS students’ interpretations of the cartoons, then SHARE their captions, and EVALUATE how well the captions fit (or don’t fit) those interpretations. Use the "Cartoon Evaluation Sheet" and/or your own set of questions.
CARTOON SCAVENGER HUNT: Provide students with a list of online sources of Farzat cartoons (OR allow advanced students to search independently but explain the need to verify that the cartoon is indeed Ferzat’s work by checking the signature). Ask them to look for examples that fit one of the listed categories. Students may print the cartoons for a "hard copy" poster OR put them in a PowerPoint slideshow. This could be a group activity, with each group assigned a different category. Here are some possible categories:
- visual punning
- humor or satire arising from a contradiction
- corrupt officials and bureaucrats behaving badly
- authoritarian leaders pretend that democracy exists in their countries
- human rights abused being abused by government agents
- motifs and themes of death/wounds and decay/trash/filth
- how living (trying to survive) in a dictatorship changes people
ART CLASS: After a brief analysis of a cartoon’s message, do a more detailed observation of Farzat’s techniques, both in the composition, style of drawing, use of exaggerated features, scale of different parts. What is it about the art itself that makes the caricature/s successful?
WORLD HISTORY: A Pen of Damascus Steel is the title of a published collection of Farzat’s cartoons. What is "Damascus steel"? Why was this a good title for this book? Students can explore the book at Google Books or find it in a library.
DISCUSS: Provide students with print-outs of Hassan Abdullah’s 2007 interview with Ali Farzat to read as homework. In class divide students into small groups, with questions to discuss, as preparation for a roundtable style discussion or for writing essays about Farzat (in which case they might want to consult other resource, esp. other interviews). Here are some possible questions:
- How did Ali Farzat become friends with Bashar Al-Assad? If they were friends, why did the Assad government shut down Al-Dumari (Farzat’s magazine)? Did shutting it down help or hinder those who were critical of the regime?
- What is Farzat's opinion of the Baath Party?
- Why are the caricatures in his cartoons "types" rather than identifiable figures? What formula did he come up with to specific types and still trick the censors?
- Why do most of Farzat cartoons lack text, dialogue, or captions? When and why would he make an exception?
- According to Farzat, what can cartoonists do that print journalists would find more difficult or more dangerous?
- At the end of the interview he says, "I fired the ‘enforcer’ that once controlled my thoughts." What is he revealing here about himself?
- From reading this interview, what have you learned about him that explains why the outpouring of support for him in the Arab world? (Answers should draw on ALL parts of the interview.)
RESEARCH: In a June 2007 interview Ali Farzat was asked about the future of the Assad regime. He predicted that "if they don’t recognize the dangers," there would be "a monumental crisis." This was nearly four years before the current uprising began. On what did he base this prediction? Find out what was happening in Syria in the year or so prior to this interview. Rather than just doing a Google search, go directly to online newspapers such as the New York Times or The Guardian. For more depth (advanced students) go to Syria Comment. WRITE a short essay, in the style of a news analysis piece, to explain what you have learned. A good assignment for a JOURNALISM or WORLD HISTORY CLASSES.
RESOURCES: ALI FARZAT AND HIS CARTOONS
Interviews
Abdallah, Hassan. Interview with Ali Farzat. "‘I Don’t Compromise.’" Newsweek (June 28, 2007): http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2007/06/28/i-don-t-compromise.print.html
- Best interview in the list for use in the classroom (see ACTIVITIES).
Hawasli, Sabah. "Ali Farzat Interview by Sabah Hawasli." Dated April 26, 2006. Cune Press: http://www.cunepress.com/E2003/farzat/sabah_int_engl.htm
- For Hawasli himself, see http://sightlife.org/about/staff/admin.php
Davis, Scott C. Interview with Ali Farzat. http://www.cunepress.com/E2003/farzat/Davis_int_engl.htm
- Davis is the author of Road from Damascus (Cune Press, 2000).
"Syrian Cartoonist Ali Farazat Criticizes the Syrian Regime and Says: The Barrier of Fear Has Been Shattered." Excerpt from interview on Al-Arabiya TV (August 4, 2011). MEMRI (August 17, 2011): http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/5577.htm
- Video with English subtitles
- Excerpt begins with comments on how the Syrian public’s view of Hizbullah has changed–so you might want to omit this (just pause, using transcript as a guide; restart in class)
- Briefly, the video shows a cartoon so the cartoonist can comment
- MEMRI = Middle East Media Research Institute
Ali Farzat Cartoon Sources
Ali Ferzat. http://www.ali-ferzat.com/
- Logo shows signature at it appears on cartoons
- Last cartoon posted before the attack (heart vs. missile on scales)
- Video of events held in support of Ferzat
- Photos of Ferzat in hospital bed and of his bloody clothes
- Cartoon (by supporter) showing a defiant Ferzat in hospital bed, giving finger signal [preview before showing in class]
- All material on this site is copyright protected (but fair use should apply in the classroom).
- Google Books shows 5 cartoons (only 2 when I returned later for another view) on the "About This Book" page; scroll past "Related Books" to "Selected Pages"
- URL: http://books.google.com/books?id=dvqS5_gUN48C&dq=ali+farzat&lr=&source=gbs_navlinks_s
- Google Books limits number of pages but I was able to view all of Chapter I: Terror Dictators (pp. 19-49), which includes two sections targeting Saddam Hussein
- Includes information about Farzat’s status as "dean of Arab political cartoonists" and quotes Farzat’s preface
- Scroll down to see 7 cartoons
- News, background, 7 cartoons; good place to start or build a lesson around it
- Collection of 8 cartoons (5 of those discussed in this post)
- Slideshow of 28 pages (page with a title precedes each cartoon but source of these titles in unclear); a good place to explore the range of Farzat’s work.
- Poster with portrait of Farzat in center–framed by 12 cartoons: http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2011/1065/_ee1.htm)
- Shows Farzat at work in his studio
- Scroll to end for link to slideshow of dozens of Ferzat cartoons (6:16 mins)–with occasional commentary/chanting in Arabic (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=zCRVZYOO6HY#!)
- Slideshow of about 40 cartoons
- "Drudgery" theme will appeal to students who think they’ve got too much homework!
- Links to other Farzat animations, see esp. one with the environmental pollution theme: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvzjRfHU-mk&NR=1
- One cartoon, from early on in the Syrian uprising, with link to Al-Arabiya interview excerpt (see above). So you could show the cartoon, ask for comment, and then show the interview. How does listening to the interview change your understanding of the cartoon?
- Shows Col. Muammar Gaddafi of Libya, escaping in jeep--with President of Assad of Syria holding suitcase and trying to hitch a ride; paired with a Chip Boy cartoon (see note in next section)
Cartoons in Support of Ali Ferzat
FACEBOOK : We Are All Ali Ferzat. http://www.facebook.com/Supporting.Ali.Ferzat
- Make sure that students realize that the name of this page is an allusion to Khaled Said, the iconic Egyptian figure
- Most wall messages in Arabic but scroll through for solidarity cartoons (including one from Colombia); Sherif Arafa’s cartoon is also posted here (see Cavna, below)
Cavna, Michael. "ALI FERZAT GALLERY: Eight Eye-Catching Cartoons to Support Beaten Syrian Artist." Washington Post (August 31, 2011): http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/comic-riffs/post/ali-ferzat-gallery-eight-eye-catching-cartoons-to-support-beaten-syrian-artist/2011/08/30/gIQAXjrjrJ_blog.html
- See esp. Sherif Arafa’s cartoon, showing Farzat in hospital bed with each of his fingers curled around a paint brush (supports "unbroken spirit")
- Rick McKee's cartoon--also at http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/display.cfm/102538/
- Second cartoon is Chip Bok’s response to the assault on Farzat, an indictment of the Assad regime; this is a two panel drawing: on the left, hands as M. C. Escher’s drews them; on the right hands as Assad might draw them.
- Allusion to Escher’s work makes this an ideal RESOURCE for an ART classroom.
- Patterson, a cartoonist living in New Orleans (Louisiana, USA), shows two versions of a solidarity cartoon–plus one by Farzat (bureaucrat reading a decree–while impoverished, hungry man eats from end of the unfurled scroll)
"Syrian Cartoonist Ali Farzat Beaten." Al Jazeera English (August 25, 2011): http://stream.aljazeera.com/story/syrian-cartoonist-ali-farzat-beaten
- Brief text but shows photo of Farzat in hospital, his last cartoon before the beating, and tweets that might interest students.
Bakri, Nada. "Political Cartoonist Whose Work Skewered Assad Is Brutally Beaten in Syria." New York Times (August 25, 2011): http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/26/world/middleeast/26syria.html?scp=1&sq=ali+farzat&st=nytNYT
"AAEC Condemns Attack on Syrian Cartoonist Ali Ferzat." American Association of Editorial Cartoonists (August 30, 2011): http://news.editorialcartoonists.com/aaec/2011/08/aaec-condemns-attack-on-syrian-cartoonist-ali-ferzat.html
Kobeissi, Kamal. "Egyptian Artists Exhibit in Support of Syrian Cartoonist." Trans. from Arabic by Sonia Farid. Al Arabiya (September 14, 2011): http://english.alarabiya.net.save_print.php?print=1&cont_id=166851
"Syrian Troops Snatch, Beat Up Cartoonist: Activist." Al Watan Daily (August 26, 2011): http://alwatandaily.kuwait.tt/PrintArticle.aspx?id=124106
- Photo of Farzat at work in Damascus on August 14, 2011
- Farzat has been a steady contributor to the Arabic print edition of the Kuwaiti newspaper Al Watan (as noted in the interview with Abdallah)
Background, Discussion, and Opinion
Jehl, Douglas. "Damascus Journal: Poking Fun Must Be Artfully Done." New York Times (January 31, 1998): http://www.nytimes.com/1998/01/31/world/damascus-journal-poking-fun-must-be-artfully-done.html?scp=2&sq=ali+farzat&st=nyt
- A snapshot of Syria and Farzat’s work while Hafez al-Assad was president (his son Bashar assumed that office in 2000)
Halasa, Malu. "Funny Precarious." The Guardian (July 26, 2002): http://www.guardian.co.uk./media/2002/jul27/pressandpublishing.weekendmagazine/print
Kennicott, Philip. "Where the Defense Can’t Afford to Rest." Washington Post (October 31, 2004): http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12529-2004Oct30.html
- Focus is on Anwar Bounni, a lawyer and human rights advocate, who’s name appears in recent news about Syria; in 2004 Farzat his client
Facebook (2010): http://lt-lt.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=134834626557422&1&index=2
Isaacs, Dan. "Hoping for Media Freedom in Syria." BBC News (March 25, 2005): http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4381739.stm
- Photo of Farzat and 3 cartoons; "General and the Decorations"; Torturer Watching TV"; and "Praying Shoes"
"Cartoons as Way of Dialogue in the Virtual World." The Damascus Bureau (November 10, 2011): http://www.damascusbureau.org/?p=1348
Bar’el, Zvi. "Neighbors/Stars of the Revolution." Haaretz (July 13, 2011): http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/features/neighbors-stars-of-the-revolution-1.372954
- Feature article considers songs/slogans of martyred activist Ibrahim Kashush, the caricatures of Ali Farzat, and the activism of actress Kinda Alloush–making it an excellent resource for a discussion of the "political role" of the artist and the conseqences for those who take it up in difficult circumstances.
Al Aswany, Alaa. "God Bless Your Hands, Ali." Egypt on the Brink: World Affairs Journal (September 2, 2011): http://www.worldaffairsjournal.org/new/blogs/aswany/God_Bless_Your_Hands_Ali
- Al Aswany, author of The Yacoubian Building (first English edition, 2004; adapted into a splendid but bitingly satiric film in 2006) and Chicago (drawing on the 17 years he lived in that city; English edition, 2008), is one of the Muslim world’s most influential writers
- An excellent essay for POV analysis
Berger, Marie-Jeanne. "Solidarity Exhibit with Farzat Reflects Violence as Resolution." Al Masry Al Youm (October 1, 2011): http://www.almasryalyoum.com/node/500939
- Al Masry Al Youmis Egypt’s leading independent newspaper
- Berger reviews the Cairo Atelier exhibit and discusses Farzat’s work, contrasting his subtle approach with the "escalation of violence within the works of these illustrators responding to his attack."
Kamal, Osama. "The Unbeatable Art of Ali Farzat." Al-Ahram Weekly (September 22-28, 2011): http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2011/1065/entertain.htm
Miller, David E. "Assad Gets the Picture as Satire Comes to YouTube." The Jerusalem Post (September 25, 2011): http://www.jpost/LandedPages/Print/Article.aspx?id=236909
Cartoons in the Arab World
Douglas, Allen. Arabic Comic Strips: Politics of an Emerging Mass Culture. Indiana University Press, 1994.
- Short review at http://www.meforum.org/853/arabic-comic-strips-politics-of-an-emerging-mass; Table of contents at http://www.comicsresearch.org/entries/douglas.html
- See Chapter 6, "Syria: The Party-State and its Strips," for the situation in Syria during the presidency of Hafez Assad.
- Students might enjoy reading parts of this, esp. the short "Introduction" (begins with an anecdote about walking into a bar in Amman–and mentions The Simpsons and South Park)
RESOURCES: CARTOONS IN THE CLASSROOM
Taylor, Jackie. "Teaching With Political & Editorial Cartoons." Change Agent (n.d.): http://www.nelrc.org.changeagent/cartoons.htm
- Emphasis on teaching skills needed to decipher cartoons
- Under "How to Get Started" see the five steps of Daryl Cagle’s strategy
- List of links to other current resources
- Presents a framework for interpreting cartoons including a discussion of "Common Pitfalls"
- PDF files for six handouts, each tied to an item in "The Cartoon Analysis Checklist" (click link or go directly to http://teachinghistory.org/files/Cartoon_Analysis.pdf).
- "Introduction to Teaching Political Cartoons" (for teachers) and "Handout #1: A Brief History" are the most useful parts.
"Profiles." The Association of American Editorial Cartoonists: http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoonist/
- Go here to learn more about what may be shaping the POV of a cartoonist whose work you have selected for a classroom activity.
- Thanks to John Maunu for this reference–which prompted me to explore other other online resources.
RESOURCES: WORLD CARTOONS ONLINE
"Best World Cartoons of the Week." MSNBC:
http://cartoonblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/10/03/8126983-best-world-cartoons-of-the-week
- Part of Daryl Cagle’s MSNBC blog; Cagle is the most widely syndicated US-based cartoonist.
- Skip over abundant US-themed cartoons to find excellent about global events and themes (take the time, it’s worth it).
- Some entries pull together a set of cartoons , such as "Happy Birthday Berlusconi" (from Slovakia, Austria, Canada, France, Netherlands [X-rated], Spain, and Italy)
- Access related items by using the tags and browse the archives!
NOTES
1) From the preface to A Pen of Damascus Steel, as quoted in Cune Press's press release Facebook (see RESOURCES). Two transliterations of Farzat’s name appear in media sources. I decided to use Farzat as it is more common in online media) rather than Ferzat (although that is how it appears in the logo on his website). Also he published a book using the Farzat spelling. When searching on the web, try BOTH spellings.
2) For accounts of the assault see RESOURCES: ALI FARZAT AND HIS CARTOONS: News. I have searched in vain for more recent information about his condition (perhaps news is being squestered to protect him).
3) "Ali Farzat: Syrian Political Cartoonist," Voices (August 27, 2011).
4) Osama Kamal, "The Unbeatable Art of Ali Farzat," (September 2011); Douglas Jehl, "Damascus Journal, New York Times (January 31, 1998); Alaa Al-Aswany, "God Bless Your Hands, Ali" (September 2, 2011).
5) "Ali Farzat Interview by Sabah Hawasli" (April 26, 2006), Cune Press. For the cartoon series, see Chapter I in A Pen of Damascus Steel (2005). Farzat supported US invasion of Iraq, a matter of some controversy, as it would seem from his interview with Scott C. Davis, Cune Pressb (n.d.). See also post-invasion cartoon showing a miniature Saddam, skittering out of the pants’ leg of a giantic military uniform at http://www.panorientnews.com/upimg/news/cate1_110218170903.jpg.
6) For Al-Dumari as part of the Damascus Spring, see esp. Brian Whitaker, "Cartoonist Gives Syria a New Line in Freedom," The Guardian (April 2, 2001). Interview with Hassan Abdallah, "‘I Don’t Compromise,’" Newsweek (June 28, 2007). Alaa Al-Aswany, "God Bless Your Hands, Ali," (September 2, 2011). To keep the Al-Dumari experiment going Farzat was willing to bend slightly; see Malu Halasa, "Funny Precarious," The Guardian (July 26, 2002). Dan Issacs, "Hoping or Media Freedom in Syria," BBC News (March 25, 2005). Ferzat refers to the interrogation in the interview with Sabah Hawasli (2006). Note that the transliteration is sometimes Al-Domari, Al-Doumari, or Addomari.
7) For more information about this award and its 2011 recipients, go to http://www.princeclausfund.org/en/programmes/awards.
8) Interview with Sabah Hawasli (2006).
9) Interview with Abdallah (2007). For examples see RESOURCES.
10) Ian Black, "Through a Cartoon Darkly," The Guardian (June 29, 2011).
11) "Cartoons as Way of Dialogue in the Virtual World," The Damascus Bureau (November 10, 2010).
12) Mentioned in "Ali Farzat: Syrian Political Cartoonist," Voices (August 27, 2011).
13) Also mentioned in "Ali Farzat; Syrian Political Cartoonist."
14) "Ali Farzat Speaks Out on Syrian Uprising," Comics Reporter (August 18, 2011. Since the dictator resembles Saddam Hussein, Farzat may be making an allusion, suggesting that Assad, like Saddam, will suffer an ignominious fate. See Mounadil Djazairi at http://blogspot.com/2011/04/une-dessine-bien-inspire-du.html (in French).
15) The interview aired on Al-Arabiya TV. An excerpt with English subtitles and transcript has been posted on MEMRI (see "Syrian Cartoonist Ali Farazat Criticizes the Syrina Regime" in RESOURCES). Nour Ali, "Syrian Forces Beat Up Political Cartoonist," The Guardian (August 25, 2011).
16) Go to "Facebook: We Are All Khaled Said." See "Beating Death of Egyptian Businessman Khalid Said Spotlights Police Brutality" Christian Science Monitor (June 18, 2010): http://www.csmonitor.com/layout/set/print/view/print/308543; Mike Giglio, "‘We Are All Khaled Said’: Will the Revolution Come to Egypt?" The Daily Beast (January 22, 2011): http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2011-01-22/we-are-all-khaled-said-will-the-revolution-come to egypt/p/
17) See "Updated: Ali Ferzat Responds to His Beating" (August 26, 2011): http://graphicpolicy.com/2011/08/26/ali-ferzat-responds-to-his-beating-in-syria. Not too surprising that this cartoon has gone viral on Web. That it is not being out-of-step with Farzat’s humor see Nour Ali, "Syrian Forces Beat Up Political Cartoonist," (August 25, 2011): to criticize the regime’s promised (but never delivered reforms), Farzat drew "a picture of an official with rosebuds in his speech bubble–and a turd on his head."
18) "AAEC Condems Attack on Syrian Cartoonist Ali Ferzat," American Association of Editorial Cartoonists (August 30, 2011). For more reactions in US newspapers, browse at http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/browse.cfm?datefrom=2011-01-01&keywords=ferzat&submit=Go
19) Osama Kamal, "The Unbeatable Art of Ali Farzat," Al-Ahram Weekly (September 22-28, 2011). Marie-Jeanne Berger, "Solidarity Exhibit with Farzat Reflects Violence as Resolution," Al Masry Al Youm (October 1, 2011).
20) Jonathan Burack, "Interpreting Political Cartoons in the History Classroom," Teaching History. Checklist URL: http://teachinghistory.org/files/Cartoon_Analysis.pdf). Burack is a regular contributor to the AP World History listserv. I knew about his Mindsparks social studies materials, but finding this guide online helped me a great deal in writing of this post. Thanks!
21) Jackie Taylor, "Teaching With Political & Editorial Cartoons," Change Agent (n.d.): http://www.nelrc.org/changeagent/cartoons.htm
22) On Farzat’s universality, see esp. Maly Halasa, "Funny Precarious," (2002); Alaa Al Aswany, "God Bless Your Hands, Ali, (September 2, 2011). Quote from the interview with Scott C. Davis (2005).
23) Interview with Scott C. Davis (2005).
24) Interview with Sabah Hawasli (2006).
25) New York Times (July 23, 2003), as quoted in Cune Press’s press release.
26) Interview with Sabah Hawasli (2006).
27) Interview with Sabah Hawasli (2006).
28) Interview with Hassan Abdullah (2007).
29) Maulu Halasa, "Funny Precarious," (2002).
30) Malu Halasa, "Funny Precarious," (2002).
31) Interview with Hassan Abdallah (2007).
32) "Introduction to Teaching Political Cartoons (for teachers)," a PDF part of "LESSON PLAN: Analyzing Election Cartoons," NewsHour (2004?).
33) An activity that Jackie Taylor ("Teaching With Political & Editorial Cartoons") suggests for any cartoon with a caricature of a historical figure.
34) Cartoon #8 in The Guardian collection, #7 in the Cune Press set. Since Douglas Jehl (1998) refers to it, it would have been drawn while Hafez Assad was President of Syria.
35) Cartoon is #2 in Voices collection, #3 in The Guardian set. For a brief analysis see Dan Isaacs, "Hoping for Media Freedom in Syria," BBC News (March 25, 2005).
36) Interview with Hasan Abdallah (2007).
37) I drafted this paragraph on October 6th, after reading how memories of Abu Ghraib are affecting US/Iraqi negotiations about the possibility of US troops remaining in Iraq after 2011–the major issue being whether US troops should be granted immunity from Iraqi law. See Tim Arango and Michael S. Schmidt, "Iraq Denies Immunity to U.S. Troops After 2011," New York Times (October 6, 2001):
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/05/world/middleeast/iraqis-say-no-to-immunity-for-remaining-american-troops.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=iraq&st=cse
38) Cartoon #2 in The Guardian collection; #1 in the Creative Syria set. Although drawn prior to the Damascus Spring, it was once again highly relevant in 2004 (when Farzat was no longer able to publish Al-Dumari).
39) Farzat explained the allusion to Beckett’s play when speaking with Philip Kennicott; see "Where the Defense Can’t Afford to Rest," Washington Post (October 31, 2004).
40) Cartoon #6 in The Guardian set, page 16 in the Creative Syria set. On Arab female cartoonists, see Hannah Pakray, "Bound by Tradition but Reaching for Change: the Plight of Female Cartoonists of the Arab World," Cartoonists Rights (August 12, 2009): http://cartooonistsrights.com/index.php?option=com_content&task+view&id=96&Itemid=44
41) "On the Scales of Syria" (on Farzat’s website on August 24, 2011): http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2011/farzat090911.html. I discussed it briefly in an earlier post, "Syria: Six Months and Counting" (September 21, 2011): http://historylynx.blogspot.com/2011/09/syria-six-months-and-counting.html.
42) Go to "LESSON PLAN: Analyzing Election Cartoons," NewsHour (2004?) and click "Introduction to Teaching Politcal Cartoons (for teachers)."
43) Interview with Sabah Hawasli (2006).
44) Interview with Scott C. Davis (2005).
45) Al Aswany, "God Bless Your Hands, Ali," (2011).
46) As quoted in Malu Halasa, "Funny Precarious," (2002).
47) Quotation from the interview with Sabah Hawasli (2006). For Farzat on the power of cartoons in the Arab world, see also the interview with Abdallah (2007).
