ALI FERZAT

Renowned Syrian cartoonist Ali Ferzat vows to return to cartooning in Syria as soon as his fingers have healed and he has retrained them to draw again. On August 25, he was ambushed by security services, who beat him, focusing on his face and hands, intending to send a message that he should not draw the cartoons he’d been drawing. The cartooning custom in Syria was to use symbols to represent the powerful when attacking them. But since April 2011, Ferzat deployed recognizable caricatures of President Assad and other leaders.

Ironically, Ferzat had been encouraged to champion freedom and modernization by the same Assad before he became President. Thinking the heir apparent supported him, Ferzat started Al-Doman (the lamp igniter), an independent magazine.

“But the fun was soon over,” reported Jannie Schipper at Radio Netherlands Worldwide. "When the regime realized after a few months that Al-Domari was not afraid of publishing sharp criticism, the censorship got worse.” After two years, the magazine ceased publication.

Ferzat is convinced that the insurgents in Syria will win: "The response of repression and security that the regime has chosen, has failed. Now, people face the deadly weapons with bare chests."           

Once he has retrained his fingers, Ferzat, who is recovering in Kuwait, will return to Syria. That's not a choice, he says. "I don't own a supermarket that I can freely open and close. Drawing cartoons is my only profession. The art is a gift from God, and I must continue to bring my message."