Mohd,
Given the subject matter of his cartoons (many of which were very critical of Palestinian leadership at the time) and the fact that Isma'il Hassan Sawan, a Palestinian student at Hull University was arrested and found with a cache of weapons (the British police couldn't prove he'd comitted the murder, though they strongly suspect he did), it seems clear that Naji al-Ali was slain by a Palestinian hoping to silence the artist.
It is the crudest variety of censorship, not unlike what happened to the director, Theo van Gogh who was murdered by Moslem radicals in 2004.
It's probably impossible to know the exact cartoon that triggered the muder. But such a cartoon might not exist, really.
A persuasive theory is that he was likely killed for his history of criticising Palenstinian leadership. But, of course, we are unlikely to ever know for sure.
he was assasinated probably because of a cartoon mocking rashidah mohran and he possible relationship with yaser arafat, a relationship that was not directly related to liberating palestine !
i'm just thinking now, am i at risk of assasination now ? :D
Veteran Palestinian political cartoonist assassinated in exile (1987)
Naji Salim al-Ali, 46, unquestionably the best-known Arab political cartoonist was gunned down on July 22, 1987, at broad daylight on a London street. The shooting was witnessed by hundreds of people during rush hour, but the assailant was able to escape, and to date, the Scotland Yard was not able to conclusively solve the case. After shooting al-Ali in the head at close range, the gunman swiftly walked to a car and drove away. Although Police gave him a high-speed chase, the assassin escaped. Speculations have been widely focusing on two scenarios: a. al-Ali angered Yassir Arafat with a cartoon about one of his alleged mistresses and ordered the cartoonist's assassination; b. Mossad, the Israeli secret service, arranged the liquidation of the cartoonist who drew many effective anti-Israeli cartoons. Al-Ali had received over 100 death threats from a wide variety of sources before he was killed. Very few regimes and groups in the Middle-East escaped his biting commentary. He condemned war and religious fanaticism, opposed Palestinian accesses as much as the Israeli occupation, and passionately advocated human rights. A few years before his murder he was quoted as saying: "I never felt fear, failure, or despair… I face armies with cartoons."
(Source: http://www.wittyworld.com/countries/england.html)
Ten months after Naji al-Ali was shot, Scotland Yard arrested a Palestinian student who turned out to be a Mossad agent. Under interrogation, the Jerusalem-born man, Ismail Suwan, said that his superiors in Tel Aviv had been briefed well in advance of the plot to kill the cartoonist.
By refusing to pass on the relevant information to their British counterparts, Mossad earned the displeasure of Britain, which retaliated by expelling two Israeli diplomats from London. A furious Margaret Thatcher, then prime minister, closed Mossad's London base in Palace Green, Kensington. Undeterred by the British reaction, Mossad used forged passports of another Western government to send its agents to Tunisia to lay the groundwork for the assassination of Abu Jihad.
Israel and Britain had been in contact for several months via diplomatic channels concerning Suwan's revelations that he had worked with the Mossad. Newspapers reported that the action was partially a result of accumulating British grievances against the Mossad, including the abduction of Mordechai Vanunu and the use of British passports, found in a phone booth in West Germany in 1987. However, despite the arrests by Scotland Yard and an investigation by MI5, the assassin's identity has never been revealed.
(Source: http://electronicintifada.net/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi/10/2929)
Hey Raymond,
Yesterday I tried finding out more about this posting but I certianly didn't come up with the second link you offered. Thank you for the time you took to provide it. It's the very thing I referred to when saying that our talking provides information in order to picque curiosity and to inform. Thanks again because I will admit I knew nothing about this until yesterday when Haitham posted the topic here. Information is after all the key to knowledge which can lead to well informed action.
It reamins unclear beyond any shaddow of doubt who killed this cartoonist.
It has been suggested, rather persuasively, that the idea that the killer was an Israeli agent was advanced/fabricated after the fact merely to provide cover for the crude irony of a Palestinian killing one of his territory's heros.
It would make sense, of course, to deflect the shame of it all. The fact that there remains some mystery only allows for the water to be muddied by those who might wish to do so.
In any case, it was certainly a vile act of censorship and it was most probably (and most sadly) comitted by a Palestinian.
Yes, very sad. But it is also unclear beyond any shadow of doubt whether the Israelis were or were not involved. Most sad, also, the fact that many Palestinians act as informants for the IOF, and that Palestinian workers have been hired to construct the concrete wall that is dividing Palestinian lands. But the truth is that these Palestinians are betraying their own people for money or other gain, and it is not far from the mark to guess that Israel's Mossad put a Palestinian up to assassinating Naji Salim al-Ali. But we'll never know the truth, will we?
{ 12 } Comments
I've always wanted to know, which cartoon led to Al Ali's death?
Any thoughts?
Thank you,
Moh'd
Two Palestinians made life difficult to live for Israel without Kalashnikov; Mahmoud Darouish through his poetry and Naji Al Ali with his cartoons.
Mohd,
Given the subject matter of his cartoons (many of which were very critical of Palestinian leadership at the time) and the fact that Isma'il Hassan Sawan, a Palestinian student at Hull University was arrested and found with a cache of weapons (the British police couldn't prove he'd comitted the murder, though they strongly suspect he did), it seems clear that Naji al-Ali was slain by a Palestinian hoping to silence the artist.
It is the crudest variety of censorship, not unlike what happened to the director, Theo van Gogh who was murdered by Moslem radicals in 2004.
It's probably impossible to know the exact cartoon that triggered the muder. But such a cartoon might not exist, really.
A persuasive theory is that he was likely killed for his history of criticising Palenstinian leadership. But, of course, we are unlikely to ever know for sure.
Haitham,
Thank you :)
indeed, Naji Al-Ali was a phenomenal cartoonist.
Mohd Tahboub,
?This one:
http://www.alsakher.com/images1/n.gif
He was my hero.
naji al ali
majed abo sharar
and……and…
killed by fateh.
m. thabob
he was assasinated probably because of a cartoon mocking rashidah mohran and he possible relationship with yaser arafat, a relationship that was not directly related to liberating palestine !
i'm just thinking now, am i at risk of assasination now ? :D
Veteran Palestinian political cartoonist assassinated in exile (1987)
Naji Salim al-Ali, 46, unquestionably the best-known Arab political cartoonist was gunned down on July 22, 1987, at broad daylight on a London street. The shooting was witnessed by hundreds of people during rush hour, but the assailant was able to escape, and to date, the Scotland Yard was not able to conclusively solve the case. After shooting al-Ali in the head at close range, the gunman swiftly walked to a car and drove away. Although Police gave him a high-speed chase, the assassin escaped. Speculations have been widely focusing on two scenarios: a. al-Ali angered Yassir Arafat with a cartoon about one of his alleged mistresses and ordered the cartoonist's assassination; b. Mossad, the Israeli secret service, arranged the liquidation of the cartoonist who drew many effective anti-Israeli cartoons. Al-Ali had received over 100 death threats from a wide variety of sources before he was killed. Very few regimes and groups in the Middle-East escaped his biting commentary. He condemned war and religious fanaticism, opposed Palestinian accesses as much as the Israeli occupation, and passionately advocated human rights. A few years before his murder he was quoted as saying: "I never felt fear, failure, or despair… I face armies with cartoons."
(Source: http://www.wittyworld.com/countries/england.html)
Ten months after Naji al-Ali was shot, Scotland Yard arrested a Palestinian student who turned out to be a Mossad agent. Under interrogation, the Jerusalem-born man, Ismail Suwan, said that his superiors in Tel Aviv had been briefed well in advance of the plot to kill the cartoonist.
By refusing to pass on the relevant information to their British counterparts, Mossad earned the displeasure of Britain, which retaliated by expelling two Israeli diplomats from London. A furious Margaret Thatcher, then prime minister, closed Mossad's London base in Palace Green, Kensington. Undeterred by the British reaction, Mossad used forged passports of another Western government to send its agents to Tunisia to lay the groundwork for the assassination of Abu Jihad.
Israel and Britain had been in contact for several months via diplomatic channels concerning Suwan's revelations that he had worked with the Mossad. Newspapers reported that the action was partially a result of accumulating British grievances against the Mossad, including the abduction of Mordechai Vanunu and the use of British passports, found in a phone booth in West Germany in 1987. However, despite the arrests by Scotland Yard and an investigation by MI5, the assassin's identity has never been revealed.
(Source: http://electronicintifada.net/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi/10/2929)
Hey Raymond,
Yesterday I tried finding out more about this posting but I certianly didn't come up with the second link you offered. Thank you for the time you took to provide it. It's the very thing I referred to when saying that our talking provides information in order to picque curiosity and to inform. Thanks again because I will admit I knew nothing about this until yesterday when Haitham posted the topic here. Information is after all the key to knowledge which can lead to well informed action.
It reamins unclear beyond any shaddow of doubt who killed this cartoonist.
It has been suggested, rather persuasively, that the idea that the killer was an Israeli agent was advanced/fabricated after the fact merely to provide cover for the crude irony of a Palestinian killing one of his territory's heros.
It would make sense, of course, to deflect the shame of it all. The fact that there remains some mystery only allows for the water to be muddied by those who might wish to do so.
In any case, it was certainly a vile act of censorship and it was most probably (and most sadly) comitted by a Palestinian.
Yes, very sad. But it is also unclear beyond any shadow of doubt whether the Israelis were or were not involved. Most sad, also, the fact that many Palestinians act as informants for the IOF, and that Palestinian workers have been hired to construct the concrete wall that is dividing Palestinian lands. But the truth is that these Palestinians are betraying their own people for money or other gain, and it is not far from the mark to guess that Israel's Mossad put a Palestinian up to assassinating Naji Salim al-Ali. But we'll never know the truth, will we?
Indeed Rayomond, the waters are muddy enough in this case to allow for a variety of imaginative theories.
i love those cartoons…they provoke u in a subtle way..
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