I apologize to Khalil and to our readers for the delay in publishing this interview, which was conducted by emails. I originally hoped to have the interview ready about 15 days ago, but the horrific attacks on Gaza and all the time I have been spending updating the blog and trying to keep up with all the news, comments, protests, etc have caused this delay.
Many of our readers who admire Khalil’s work have been asking questions about him and some had not heard of him before seeing his cartoons here. So, I was delighted when he agreed to have this interview which will give all of us a better idea who this highly creative cartoonist is. Khalil was kind enough to supply a photograph for this interview.
His most recent book of cartoons, Mission Accomplished, has garnered great reviews by the likes of Ralph Nader, Cynthia McKinney, Publishers Weekly, among many others. You can check it out at http://www.bendib.com/book/
PP: Please give us a brief biographic introduction
Khalil: I was born during the famous Battle of Algiers some 50 + years ago, into the worst possible war atmosphere, which gave me my instinctive identification with all oppressed people in the world in general, and with the Palestinians in particular. My family barely escaped being wiped out by the French and I was born a war refugee. I had two uncles who were tortured by the French, one of whom died of it, but then, not one Algerian family was spared in those years. One and a half million Algerians perished in the genocidal war waged by the French colonial state against the natives of Algeria. We Algerians feel the nightmare of colonialism continues, unabated, in Palestine, under “new management”... And we can’t accept it.
PP: How long have you been doing political cartoons? Do you do other types of cartoons: Comics? Commercial?
Khalil: My first drawings as a kid (3 years old,) were of courageous Algerian soldiers saluting the banned Algerian flag. I was already obsessed with politics. So I think I was ALWAYS a political cartoonist, in a way...
PP: Your cartoons appear in Muslim Observer and Corp Watch; where else?
Khalil: They appear in over 1,700 small and mid-size newspapers across the country, all those small enough to be “under the radar.” They also occasionally appear in the New York Times, USA Today, LA Times and other large papers. But large corporate newspapers can’t really stand me, because my cartoons point out their lies and propaganda. Among my regular clients are many Muslim newspapers, Black newspapers, progressive and environmental magazines, and web sites. Minuteman Media News Service is the news service that distributes my cartoons weekly to 1,700 papers.
PP: Do you always use black and white in your cartoons? Why?
Khalil: I only do them in color if my clients specifically ask for color (Corpwatch, mostly). It takes more time to color them and it isn’t necessary in 99% of the papers, which have strictly black and white editorial pages.
PP: What is your political philosophy/ ideology?
Khalil: I don’t like to pigeonhole or typecast myself and I am critical of ALL narrow ideologies. Being from a Third World, Arab Muslim country but living in the West, in the belly of the imperial beast so to speak, I’m able to see political events from both sides of the issues. That is, with both eyes, which gives me a well-rounded perspective, whereas most of my colleagues in the US are blind in one eye and only see things with their Western, Eurocentric eye.
PP: If there is one unifying theme, what is your message in the cartoons? What do you hope to achieve?
Khalil: Denouncing injustice and hypocrisy would be the common, underlying theme to most of my cartoons. Pointing out the yawning gap between the official discourse (the propaganda) and the actual deeds, which usually fly in the face of the rhetoric. Palestine is the perfect example: the gap between the Zionist lies according to which Israel is the eternal victim and their genocidal deeds and policies against the native Palestinians. Since 99% of our media is helping to spread that propaganda, I see it as my special duty and mission to debunk those lies. The same thing with Islamophobia, etc... And, sadly, I’m the only one in North America who dares to do that. All other cartoonists are either asleep at the wheel or complicit.
PP: Can you amplify on your cartoons in defense of Islam and standing up against attacks on Muslims?
Khalil: Islmaophobia has replaced anti-Semitism (ironically, many Zionist Jews now are the leaders of this old form of hatred called anti-Semitism, and it is now directed against Muslims and Arabs instead.) Since no other cartoonist in this country dares or bothers to denounce this horrible form of discrimination and vilification, it makes it, by default, my job to ring the alarm.
PP: Your cartoons about the post 9/11 US; can you amplify on those? Attacks on Arabs and Muslims, loss of civil liberties, fear mongering, etc.
Khalil: Muslims and Arabs are only the most recent scapegoats in a long line of historically oppressed groups (Blacks, native Americans, Latinos, etc...) We are now the preferred “other” or “enemy,” for obvious reasons: our old countries are vulnerable and ripe for the taking. Witness what happens in Palestine, Iraq, Lebanon, Afghanistan, etc. But that weakness is only temporary, and eventually, no amount of military might or media propaganda will be enough to subdue those populations much longer. In the meantime, it is our job, here in the US, to make as many of our fellow Americans aware of what is truly happening, to educate the world, in order to hasten the demise of injustice and oppression.
PP: Your cartoons in defense of Palestine and the Palestinians; can you amplify on them?
Khalil: Just like the Algerians and so many others before them, the Palestinian people are a heroic people who will, after many painful sacrifices, prevail in the end and win back their land and their freedom. This is not the first time they have been occupied: Remember the Crusades? In the end they will triumph, there is no possible doubt about that. The only question is at what cost, sadly, as we can see before our very eyes in Gaza, as we do this interview.
PP: How recent is your experience with the Arab/ Muslim world? Have you lived or traveled there recently?
Khalil: I have never lost touch with my native North Africa. I go back to Algeria and Morocco, where I still have most of my friends and relatives, on a regular basis. I have never been to the Middle East, but have been a part of the Middle Eastern community in California and the rest of the country, and have been declared an “honorary Palestinian” many times over by my Palestinian brothers and sisters out here. Besides the cartoons, I have done several sculptures honoring Palestine: See my web site, www.studiobendib.com, under “Public art”. My first statue was a tribute to Palestinian-American peace activist Alex Odeh, whom I knew in LA and who was murdered in Santa Ana by a member of the JDL in 1985; another one is the monument commemorating the Deir Yassin massacre of 1948.
PP: Have you tried other creative mediums besides cartoons, such as writing, poetry, etc?
Khalil: I do sculptures, ceramics, paintings, and also quite a bit of political comedy these days (“Prez in the Fez”: www.bendib.com/video)
PP: Do you have something to say about the backwardness and helplessness of the Arab world today and the corruption of the Arab rulers and their subservience to the US? What is your advice to the ordinary citizen living in those countries; what should he/she be doing to improve their condition?
Khalil: Yes, we Arabs suffer from a double-whammy: the corruption and shameless despotism of our own rulers back in the old country as well as the naked opportunistic imperialist aggression coming from outside our countries: France, Great Britain, Israel and now even the US. So we have a double mountain to climb, but I have great faith in our future generations of Arab and Muslim Americans to catch up and rectify these problems, inshaAllah.
PP: How about Arab and Muslim Americans; what is your hope and message to them? What should they be doing or not doing?
Khalil: As I was saying earlier, the hope comes from both the young Arab and Muslim Americans. I regularly get invited to do workshops and lectures for groups of youngsters across the country, and seeing how bright and strong in their identity our youth is in this country gives much hope and encouragement. I truly believe that, in a generation or so (20 to 30 years) our community will have accumulated so many brilliant lawyers, doctors, engineers, inventors, entrepreneurs, artists, actors and journalists (just like in the old days of Andalusia,) that it will become impossible to tread on our communities anymore, either here in America or back in Palestine and the rest of the Middle East. I believe that we’re about to gradually reach critical mass, just like other American ethnic communities before us, and Islamophobia and the victimization of Palestinians and other Arabs will soon become a thing of the past. So my message to our younger ones, is keep studying and working hard, don’t forget who you are, and soon we’ll show the world what we’re capable of!
PP: This is an unfair question, but can you identify two or three of your favorite cartoons?
Khalil: I can’t really pick between my children (cartoons or even among my cartoon books), but here are three that I consider among my classics.
(Please click on the cartoons to enlarge)
PP: Thanks Khalil for granting us this interview. We will always keep our eyes open to catch your next great cartoon and to post it here on Palestinian Pundit.
