This cartoon, which appeared in the 12/11/02 edition of the newspaper Al-Hayyat Al-Jadida, sums up the Palestinian experience as perceived by the cartoonist Omayya.
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There are three poignant images.
• The Key
In Palestinian society the ‘key’ represents the old houses the Palestinian refugees left in 1948 and to which they hope to return. Palestinian teens can still be heard today talking about their ‘village’ inside the Green Line which their grandparents left 54 years ago.
• The Child
The child is seen inheriting the key. The first Palestinian uprising was characterized by the ‘new generation’ leading the resistance against the Israelis. The older generation was perceived to have failed. The new generation is seen as more active and resilient. The second uprising saw one of the leaders of the ‘new generation’, Marwan Barghouti, attaining a position of influence. The cartoon is hinting the hope is in the generation to come, not the battered older generation.
• The Patches
The patches on the older man’s clothes represent scars from past conflicts. One often hears comments in the Palestinian street, radio, newspapers and television that the Israelis are not content with the fact that there are refugees. They then go and attack their refugee camps.
Israelis argue that the refugee issue has been exploited by the Palestinian and Arab leadership. They point to several plans to empty the refugee camps and establish towns in their place. All these plans have been scuppered by the PLO. Israelis argue that those Palestinians who have cooperated in the past have been branded as ‘collaborators’ and are executed. As for the fact that refugee camps have borne the brunt of the Israeli military response, the Israeli army maintains that the majority of suicide bombings and other terrorist activities come out of the refugee camps.