Handala
SUZAN ALI (@artist.suzanali)
2025
Mixed media art on canvas
The name of this little boy, this very simple cartoon that is basically just a few lines drawn on paper, is Handala for a reason. The name comes from a plant that grows in the area, especially in the dry areas and it is called Handhal in Arabic. The Latin name for it is Citrullus Colocynthis (for the botanists among us) This plant produces a fruit that tastes very bitter. And this bitterness symbolizes the pain and sorrow of the Palestinian refugees who were displaced in 1948 and lost their properties, their lands, their homes and their future. This plant has very deep roots and even when you cut it very deep it usually grows back. Also very symbolic for the Palestinians who keep struggling and who are waiting and hoping for a return. They are rooted in the land, just like the handhal plant is deeply rooted in the land.
The cartoon of this little boy Handala was first drawn in 1969 by the political cartoonist Naji al Ali.
*This piece was featured in the art exhibition, Here the Birds’ Journey Begins, on April 26th, 2025.
“Every day Handala dies and another Handala is born again.”
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