60 Years is enough!
Take Handala to the Streets!!
“Handala was
born to survive… I will continue within him even after I die.”- Naji Al-Ali
On May 15, the international community will take to the streets to mark Al-Nakba
or the the defining moment in 1948, when two thirds of the
indigenous population of Palestine was ethnically Catastrophe, cleansed for the
establishment of the Jewish state of Israel. This day will be an
important opportunity to demand that the legally recognized Right to
Return for Palestinian refugees is upheld and that all Palestinians are
allowed to return to their homes, land and families from which they have been
exiled for 60 years.
Art has always accompanied political struggle and revolution. In the
face of oppression, and seemingly insurmountable odds, art and culture holds
communities together, often at great sacrifice. Handala, Naji Al-Ali's iconic little cartoon boy, a Palestinian refugee, stands as
a testament to the incredible ability of the Palestinian people to resist the
daily assaults by Israel on their ability to live a viable life and stand firm
in their steadfast demand for self determination. Handala beautifully
and powerfully reminds the world that the Palestinian people will never give up
their right to return
ACTION:
Throughout 2008, we envision
a sea of Handalas taking to the
streets and taking over global television screens as the international community stands with the Palestinian people. To enable this to happen we
have created easy to use downloadable images of Handala in a variety
formats including:
- A small pdf for hand held Handalas or face masks, widow posters or posters that kids can carry,
- Medium and large pdfs for stick posters, cutouts, and banners.
- Stencil templates
- And instructions for building a large scale and lightweight Handala puppet.
The website www.handala.org will also have background information on Naji Al
Ali’s and his Handala image, 100 cartoons, a fact sheet on the Right
of Return and links to international and national solidarity efforts that
are aligned with the calls of the Palestinian Popular Conference and the
Palestine call for Boycott, Divestments and Sanctions.
Key Follow up: All we ask in return is that anyone using the image at
the protests on May 15 or throughout the year, drop us an email afterward, commenting
(250 words max) on your experience using the images along with two or three
images of your action with Handala to put up on the website!!
To send photos,
comments, for more information about this project, or if you have any problems
with downloads, get in touch with us! handala6040@yahoo.com
Endorsed by:
the US Palestinian Popular Conference, the International Jewish
Solidarity Network and the Local Nakba Committee
We arrived Sunday evening to the town of Bir Zeit, just north of Ramallah. Our kind and generous hosts at the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music have done an amazing job at preparing for our mural work on the 100 ft. by 35 ft. facade of the building which once housed the women's dormitories of Bir Zeit University. The building has more than 50 rooms with 2-4 beds in each one and serves as a retreat for the music institute as well as other cultural educational and organizational use. 
