Carlos Latuff
A Cartoonist with an edge

In an appreciation of the solidarity work of international artists, Resistance Art is introducing a "World for Palestine" calendar series for international artists who are committed to the Palestinian struggle and social justice in the world. We begin our "World for Palestine" series with a talented and gifted cartoonist Carlos Latuff. Carlos is a Brazilian artist who devoted his art to fight oppression wherever it existed in the world. Carlos has been a professional artist since 1989. He started as an illustrator for a small advertising agency and then worked as a political cartoonist for trade union papers in 1990, but he has been drawing since he was a kid.
Based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Carlos has crafted a style that can be described as Political cartoonist with a unique courage that knows no compromise when it comes to supporting the struggle against oppression.

He has touched on issues like Apartheid in South Africa, the plight of Native Americans in the US and the oppression of Tibetans in China. But perhaps his most known series to date is "We are all Palestinians" in which he compares the actions taken by the Israeli government towards Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip directly to the Nazi's treatment of Jews.

Carlos visited Palestine for the first time in 1999. He was shocked by the brutal Israeli occupation practices against the Palestinian. He saw first hand the daily humiliation of the entire Palestinian population, imprisonment without charges, house destructions, the closure of cities that last for days and weeks, the Israeli settlers' barbaric attacks on Palestinian farmers, the targeted killing of Palestinian political activists, and the fear in children eyes of an occupation that has denied them their childhood. The visit transformed his views and his Palestine related cartoons; He became more forceful in exposing the Zionist lies about the nature of the Palestinian Israeli conflict. Because of his sharp condemnation of Israeli occupation, he was accused of anti-Semitism. In an Interview with the Jewish cultural scholar Eddy Portnoy, Latuff said, "regarding cartoons and anti-Semitism, I feel comfortable enough to make any comparison I think necessary that expresses my point. Metaphors are the key point to political cartooning. Of course Israel isn't building gas chambers in the West Bank, but surely we can find similarities between the treatment given to Palestinians by the [Israel Defense Forces] and the Jews under Nazi rule. It happens to be Israeli Jews that are the oppressors of Palestinians. If they were Christians, Muslims or Buddhists, I would criticize them the same way". He added in another interview "I produced political cartoons on different issues, both local (Brazilian) and international. My detractors say that the use of the Star of David in my Israel-related cartoons is irrefutable proof of anti-Semitism; however, it's not my fault if Israel chose sacred religious symbols as national symbols, such as the Knesset Menorah or the Star of David in killing-machines like F-16 jets. I can't be blamed for making an Israeli bomb-dropping warbirds adorned with a religious symbol, because that's the way Israeli air force planes are. To say my cartoons are a remake of the past anti-Semitic imagery is just another well-known strategy for discrediting criticisms regarding Israel.

His work on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict made him a target to the Israeli terror machine; to the point that the Likud party in Israel (the ruling party today) openly called for his assassination. On the Likud party official web site they called for "Neutralizing Lattuf by any means necessary". When Carlos was asked about the open call to "assassinate him, he said "Of course, we can expect anything from IsraHell. If they can carry on "selective killings" of Palestinians, and carpet Beirut with tons of bombs murdering hundreds of civilians, what is the big deal about "neutralizing" one cartoonist in Brazil? Death threats, cheap attempts to terrorize me, however, will not prevent me from supporting Palestinians in their struggle against brutal Israeli occupation. The most that Likud creeps can do is silence me with a bullet, but they will never be able to silence my art."

Carlos art is not for every taste. He does not cater to the views of the media. His art is made for people living in Gaza, in Baghdad, in the slums of Latin America, ordinary people, the populace. He hopes his art can boost the morale of people suffering and the freedom fighters in every corner of the planet. Touching the taboo of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is always controversial, especially when you take the side of the oppressed. Carlos art breaks the common perception of the issue and it challenges the mainstream version of the conflict. You can follow his work and fights for justice on the web
http://latuff2.deviantart.com/ & http://tales-of-iraq-war.blogspot.com

In solidarity
Mohammad Said
Resistance Art
 

Does Israel have the right to exist?
A very frequently used question designed to confuse and distort the fact of the Palestinian Israeli conflict; to which the so obvious answer is: Israel does not have the right to ethnically cleanse 750,000 Palestinian and steal 78% of Palestine (Known to the Palestinian as an Nakba) so it can have a place to exist. Israel does not have the right to imprison 1.5 million Palestinians in Gaza after she made them refugees. Israel does not have the right to inflect horror and atrocities against the Palestinian people on a daily bases so it can have a place to exist. Israel does not have the right to terrorize, to dispossess, to torture people in order to have a place" to exist". Israel does not have the right to take away other people's rights. The answer is as simple as that.

Everyone and for that matter everything have "the right to exist". If one reviews the relevant universally accepted rights. One should not miss the very first point which is the right of the Palestinian people to keep their own country, if this is an accepted right for the Palestinians!! Then when Israel is stealing Palestinian land on a daily bases and creating an apartheid system in Palestine; it is Israel who started the hostilities, not the other way around. Sequencing the Palestinians as the aggressors and the Zionists as the victims is a very vicious perversion of the facts. But who perpetrated this odious shift? Who benefited from that monumental fraud by breaking the simplest laws of logic and human decency?

What happened to the Jewish people in Europe was an absolute evil, and all humanity specially the Jewish people should work hard to insure that this kind of crime and atrocities never happen to any one again. It is very sad and wrong for the victims become the oppressors. What Israel and its Zionist elite are doing to the Palestinian people is an absolute evil. What happened (and still happening right now) to the Palestinians people and to Palestine is an absolute wrong, two wrong never make a right. Or is there a very special class of people who enjoy very special "rights", which annihilates other people's most basic rights? Is this horrible human cost that the Palestinian ends up having to pay in order to ensure that Israel has a special right to exist?
The only way that "that right of Israel to exist" could be special if it implies the right to exist in someone else's country and in order to do so: the right to wipe Palestine off the map and the right to do all other necessary horrors to Palestinians who don't want to be dispossessed of their country, of their lives, of their most basic human rights. Of course, these issues are far away from being addressed and always denied for the benefit of Israel to have the right to exist. If the Palestinians do not have the same rights, then this situation is one of the most repugnant case of double standards, once more, the Israel's core argumentation is an insult to our collective intelligence, but again there is nothing to stop the reaping of its benefits. Will you be for or against the RIGHT of Israel to exist at your place in your own country? And when they are forced to, they'll condescend to negotiate with you some leftovers of what they stole from you at the first place. This obviously rhetorical question was just to make one approaches how one of the millions of Palestinians could feel
And by the way are you a Palestinian Nakba denier?
 

-Resistance Art

 

 

Naji Al-Ali & 60 years of dispossession

In a simple and forceful way, Naji cuts though all lies and disguises and brings the truth to the masses. Naji is perhaps best known as the creator of the character Handala, who is depicted as a ten-year old boy and appeared for the first time in Al-Siyasa newspaper in Kuwait in 1969. The figure turned his back to the viewer from the year 1973, and clasped his hands behind his back.

“He is an icon that stands to watch me from slipping. And his hands behind his back are a symbol of rejection of all the present negative tides in our region.” Naji Al-Ali

Handala remains an iconic symbol of Palestinian identity and defiance.

We dedicate the “Colors of Palestine” 2008 Wall Calendar to the memory of Naji Al-Ali. Noted for the sharp     political criticism in his work. On July 22, 1987 he was shot in the face, at point blank range, as he left the London office of the Al Qabbas newspaper where he worked. He died after laying in a coma for 5 weeks.

 In the year 2005 more than 170 civil organizations in Palestine called on the world to help them with their struggle against Israel apartheid in Palestine, they called for Boycott, Divestment and sanction campaigns against the racist state of Israel. Naji believed in ordinary people and their ability to change their reality, he was convinced if we mobilize the poor, the hungry and the marginalized they will change the course of history.  Resistance art calls on you (the citizens of the world) to boycott apartheid Israel, and to assist the Palestinian refugees to go home and live in dignity and peace on their land. Let's make 2008 the year of justice for the Palestinian people.

Culture and art are the soul of human civilizations. Throughout history, culture and art have always been the celebration of freedom under oppression. The blooming of Palestinian culture and art under harsh and thorny conditions is a true example of the strength and defiance of the Palestinian character. The Palestinian art and artists have come a long way over the years and are beginning to enjoy international fame. Palestinian artists ought to be recognized for their creativity, talents, and persistence.

Resistance Art is a Palestinian initiative to celebrate the diversity and richness of Palestinian art and culture. As John Lennon said, "Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding is all you see." It takes courage to face life with eyes open. We, at Resistance Art, are happy to present to you a small window to the Palestinian people and culture. We would like to extend our thanks and gratitude to all Palestinian artists, who have been very supportive of this initiative.

 

With your help and support we hope to accomplish the goals we have set for ourselves.

-Resistance Art