Teen's cartoon outrages Palestinian elders<\/p>\n
By Khalil Abed Rabbo<\/p>\n
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AFP): A teenager has raised the anger of
\ntop Palestinian self-rule officials and security services with a
\nsimple cartoon he submitted to his local paper that struck one of
\nthe most sensitive nerves in Palestinian society.<\/p>\n
Alaa al-Malki, 17, sent his pen and ink cartoon to an issue of
\na weekly youth supplement of the Al-Ayyam newspaper which dealt
\nwith the issue of \"returnees,\" the PLO officials and their
\nfamilies who returned to the territories with the start of self-
\nrule in 1994.<\/p>\n
The drawing depicts a wealthy woman decked out in western
\nclothes shouting abuse at a porter straining under her day's
\nshopping, telling him, \"Come on! Hurry! How disgusting!\"<\/p>\n
And the porter says to himself, \"Talk about arrogant! What is
\nshe, a returnee?\"<\/p>\n
It was that sentence in the cartoon published 10 days ago that
\nhad the phones ringing off the hook at Al-Ayyam -- and not just
\nfrom incensed \"returnees.\" The cartoon became an issue for
\nnational security.<\/p>\n
\"I didn't realize so many important people read the weekly
\nedition,\" said the page editor Sirin Halila. \"The phone has not
\nstopped ringing since it came out.\"<\/p>\n
Al-Ayyam's editor in chief received an angry call from the
\nself-rule intelligence services condemning the publishing of the
\ndrawing.<\/p>\n
Halila got a call from the governor of Ramallah, where the
\nnewspaper is based. \"He told me that this sort of sensitive
\ncartoon should not be published again. I said that it expressed
\nan opinion and that we wanted an open debate.\"<\/p>\n
\"He told me in no uncertain terms, 'Don't do it. This subject
\ncannot bear discussion',\" she said.<\/p>\n
At the center of the storm, Malki insists he meant no harm.<\/p>\n
\"I didn't mean to insult anyone. I've heard all these stories
\nabout returnees who insult policemen for giving them a ticket or
\npark their flashy cars in forbidden areas,\" he told AFP.<\/p>\n
\"I just thought this was an issue which ought to be discussed
\nopenly,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He said his only fear when he drew the picture was what his
\nclassmate Dina, who returned from Algeria with her family, would
\nthink.<\/p>\n
\"Returnees face problems as well,\" said Dina, 17. \"Not all of
\nus own luxury cars. Some of us left everything behind to come
\nback here and settle.\"<\/p>\n
For most Palestinians, \"return to the homeland\" is the central
\ntenet of their cause. Indeed when the Al-Ayyam asked its young
\nreaders to submit articles or drawings on the subject, all the
\nsubmissions were romantic praises of The Return.<\/p>\n
All except Malki's, which sent the sobering message that the
\nreturn of some of the exiles has caused social tension, not
\nnationalist glory.<\/p>\n
For the returnees who spent so long abroad and came back to a
\nland where their social ties were diminished, resident
\nPalestinians seem provincial, religiously conservative and
\nclosed-minded.<\/p>\n
For the residents, the returnees, who were allowed to import
\nduty free cars and are often stereotyped as living in luxury
\nvillas, seem to flaunt their wealth, and are perceived as lording
\nover the self-rule bureaucracy.<\/p>\n
\"This sort of social clash was to be expected. Most returnees
\nlived abroad in an atmosphere of cultural openness. Residents
\nhave been living under occupation which has closed them off,\"
\nsaid a university professor -- a \"resident\" -- who refused to
\ngive his name.<\/p>\n
Ghassan Zaqtan, a poet and a returnee, said easing the
\ntensions was a matter of time. \"Each side needs time to get used
\nto the other. This is just a difference in lifestyles, not a
\nchasm.\"<\/p>\n
\"Returnees live for years abroad with a romantic picture of
\nthe homeland. Then they got here and found it was just a normal
\ncountry. Residents dreamed of the romantic PLO fighters. Then
\nthey found they were just normal people,\" he said.<\/p>",
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