Et tegnerikon var i byen

A CARTOONING ICON WAS IN TOWN

ENGLISH TRANSLATION IN ITALICS

Ali Farzat talende / Ali Ferzat speaking

Syriske Ali Farzat taler med hænderne. De samme hænder, som for lidt over et år siden blev lemlæstet, og gjorde ham til et af ikonerne på opgøret mod al-Assad.

I denne uge var han i København sammen med arrangøren af Syria Dox Box Festival, Orwa Nyrabia, der i efteråret blev arresteret i Damaskus og var forsvundet i to uger, før han igen kunne rapporteres at være i sikkerhed.

De var i byen for at modtage PL-Fondens pris for fremme af menneskerettighederne. De er stemmen, mens en pris som denne er et ekko ude fra verden, som prismodtagerne meget elegant formulerede det.

The Syrian cartoonist Ali Ferzat talks with his hands. The very hands that were maimed a little over a year ago and made him one of the icons of the confrontation with al-Assad.

This week he was in Copenhagen together with the organizer of Syria Dox Box Festival, Orwa Nyrabia, who was arrested in Damascus in the autumn and was missing for two weeks before he was reported to be safe.

They were in town to receive the PL-Fund Award for their promotion of human rights. They are the voice, while a price like this is an echo from the world outside, as the laureates put it very elegantly.

PL-Fondens formand, højesteretsdommer Poul Søgaard foretog prisoverrækkelsen
The president of the PL-Fund, Supreme Court Justice Poul Søgaard presented the ​​award.

På det direkte spørgsmål om det muligt religiøse - islamistiske - aspekt af oprøret, svarede tegneren i billeder, hvordan muslimer, jøder og kristne i hans hjemby Hama stod sammen og lod deres døre stå åbne, så demonstranterne vidste, at de hurtigt kunne gemme sig. Dokumentaristen derimod vendte spørgsmålet tilbage mod salen:

 - I er så sekteriske her i landet, udbrød Orwa Nyrabia. Spild ikke vores liv med den diskussion. Mennesker går til, mens I tænker i muslimer. Men dette handler om frihed. De yderligtgående er ikke et problem og slet intet problem i forhold til en diktator med blodige hænder. Det handler om at handle og at handle nu i dag. Og vi kan ikke klare dette alene.

On the direct question about the possible religious – i.e. Islamic - aspect of the rebellion, the cartoonist used verbal imagery how Muslims, Jews and Christians in Hama, his hometown, pulled together and let their doors remain open, so that the protesters knew they could hide quickly. The documentarist on the other hand directed the question back to the audience:

- You are so sectarian in this country, exclaimed Orwa Nyrabia. Do not waste our lives with that discussion. People die while you are thinking of Muslims. But this is about freedom. The extremists are not a problem and certainly not a problem in relation to a dictator with blood on his hands. This is about taking action and to act now today. And we cannot do this alone.

Ali Farzat tegner på en bund af mørke, idet han understreger lyset, poesien og sin baggrund i en urgammel civilisation. Selv hans motivverden af gru og vold udfoldes i en symbolsk parallelverden. En verden, der indtil al-Assads forrædderi forblev upersonlig. 

Det er til gengæld den eneste fortælling, hvor han tillader sig at vise vreden. Han har fortalt den igen og igen om dette at møde det menneske, som kunne gøre forskel, men som svarede med nonsens på det direkte spørgsmål om frihed. Forræderi forklædt som ansvarsfrihed. Hver gang fortalt med en vrede, at svaret var det forædderi, hvis chok gjorde hans tegnekunst konkret. Herfra fik Ali Farzats tegninger genkendelige ansigter.

Ali Ferzat creates his drawings on a base of darkness, while he emphasizes the light, the poetry, and his background in an ancient civilization. Even his motifs of horror and violence unfold in a symbolic parallel world. A world that until al-Assad's treachery remained impersonal.

It is, however, the only place where he allows himself to show anger. He has told again and again about his meeting with the man who could make all the difference, but who chose to respond with nonsense when confronted with the direct question of freedom. Treason disguised as his apparent freedom of responsibility. Ferzat states it every time with anger. Assad's answer was the betrayal and the shock of which made the cartoonist's art concrete. From then on Ali Ferzat gave his characters recognizable faces.

Tegneren Annette Carlsen har taget alle fotos - og er selv at se smilende i midten i de to sidste. Mange tak!  / All photos are courtesy of the cartoonist Annette Carlsen – she is to be seen smiling in the middle of the last two photos. Thank you!