Handala

Handala is a cartoon character created by Palestinian political cartoonist Naji al-Ali in 1969, first appearing in the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Seyassah on July 13, 1969. He is depicted as a 10-year-old barefoot Palestinian refugee boy with spiky, hedgehog-like hair, wearing ragged clothes, and almost always shown with his back turned to the viewer and his hands clasped behind his back—a posture adopted from 1973 onward. This stance symbolizes rejection of foreign-imposed solutions to the Palestinian issue and reflects the world's neglect of the Palestinian struggle.

Handala’s age represents Naji al-Ali’s own age in 1948, when he was forced to leave his homeland during the mass displacement of Palestinians following the creation of the state of Israel. Al-Ali stated that Handala would remain 10 years old and would not grow up until he could return to Palestine, at which point he would begin to age normally. The character’s face is never shown, and al-Ali vowed that Handala would only reveal his face when Palestinian refugees are able to return to their homeland.

After al-Ali’s assassination in London on July 22, 1987, Handala’s legacy endured and expanded. The character appears widely in graffiti across the West Bank, Gaza, and Palestinian refugee camps, and is used in the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, as well as in tattoos, jewelry, and political art.

I grew up seeing Handala appearing in publications, stickers, pins and even hand drawn on napkins by children. And it is an honor to feature him on our products and hope our clients will share the honor by purchasing them.