Ali Ferzat

Ali Ferzat was born back in 1951. He is a Syrian political cartoonist which has published around 15,000 drawings between Syrian ,Arab and international newspapers and has become one of the most sought after cartoonists in the world. 

Artists such as Charlie Hebdo’s team and Ferzat have lived power from below clearly as Hebdo’s artists death was one because he mocked prophet muhammad in some of their cartoons. The audience around the world was all asking “ How could someone holding a pen pose such a treat to another person…” Ferzat has encountered some brutalities in the shortcoming past where back in 2011 his fingers where shattered after criticising the Syrian president.

 Ferzat has been an ideal example of power from below and of political corruption, he is now exiled from the state of Kuwait because of his drawings and he puts the blame on “ the regime for the well understood message: ‘ Someone holding a pen can be seen as a threat’.” he also encountered Power from below also when he was threatened by Sadam Hussein himself, His work brought him fame but also got him a lot of enemies with politicians all round the states. He was also banned from Jordon in Libya. Ferzat thinks of his drawings as a “mission” and I think that if all the violence didn't stop him nothing will and states that “ I was born to be a cartoonist,to oppose to have differences with regimes that do these bad things.This is what I do”.

The problem with these artists is the fact that these artists can’t speak out their voice and opinions with drawings. The corruption and brainwashing is so evident in these states is very evident as the amount of deaths and vandalism done from not only politicians but mainly followers is unreal. as Ferzat once stated during an interview “I was not surprised about what happened. Those artists did not carry a gun or a weapon. They only carried a pen, just like I did. It appears that the pen is mightier than any weapon.”

References:

 "The Broken Fingers Of Syrian Cartoonist Ali Ferzat". from.sham.with love. N.p., 2016. Web. 13 Nov. 2016.