Abbas Takes Exception to Satirical Depiction of the PA’s Relationship to Israel

It would seem that the Prison Authority of the West Bank, presided over by the Quisling Abbas, has taken exception to the cartoons of the ‘virulently anti-Israel’ (according to The Times of Israel) Baha Yassin.

Clearly his cartoons depicting the relationship of the PA with Israel, in sexual terms, were too close for comfort.

In this cartoon, Al-Ali comments on sectarianism. The image shows a man asking another man: “Are you Muslim or Christian? Sunni or Shiite? Druze or Alawite?

There was another cartoonist, the great Naji al Ali who drew a cartoon that was unflattering towards a female friend of Yasir Arafat.  A few weeks later, 22^nd July 1987, Naji al Ali was assassinated on the streets of London.

See Najial-Ali: The timeless conscience of Palestine

Tony Greenstein

PA seeks arrest of Gaza cartoonist over drawing of ‘sex’ with Jews

Abbas sucking on Zionism's teat

Virulantly anti-Israel caricaturist Baha Yassin accused of insulting Palestinian women after depicting intercourse between Fatah leaders and Israel

By Lee Gancman December 14, 2015, 12:50 am 8

Cartoon by Bahaa Yassin accuses the West Bank and its security agencies of collaborating with Israel (Bahaa Yassin/courtesy/Palestinian Media Watch)

The Palestinian public prosecutor in the West Bank recently issued an arrest warrant for Gaza-based cartoonist Baha Yassin, in response to complaints that he insulted the Palestinian flag and women in one of his recent pieces.

Although the arrest warrant was issued on December 1, reports of the move only emerged Sunday when a copy of the document was given by one of the plaintiffs to Palestinian media.

Naji al Ali depiction of Menachem Begin with Pyramids for muscles

Known for his political, often violent caricatures, Yassin sparked public outcry last June when he posted a picture on his Facebook page depicting the West Bank as a woman dressed in yellow — a color associated with Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah party — engaged in sexual intercourse with a stereotypical ultra-Orthodox Jewish man, symbolizing Israel.

The image, which accused the Fatah party of collaborating with the Jewish state, was considered insulting by many Palestinians across the political spectrum, who objected to its overt sexual imagery.

Yassin’s caricatures commonly portray intense violence and openly advocate for the killing of Israelis. He is known for praising terrorist attacks in his drawings, such one he posted in November 2014 following a terror attack on worshipers at a Jerusalem synagogue that left five men dead.

In the wake of the negative reaction, Yassin took down the caricature and replaced it with one of a West Bank woman standing proud with a bloodied knife after having stabbed a Jew and rebuking another lady representing Fatah saying “I will avenge my children and avenge you, O [Palestinian] Authority of shame!”

Bahaa Yassin’s modified cartoon (Bahaa Yassin Facebook page)

At the time, Hamas’s interior ministry spokesman, Iyad el-Bozom, panned the first cartoon on Facebook and said Gaza rulers intended to take legal action against the artist for “offending our people, their resistance and their struggle.”

Naji al Ali with his famous trade mark character '‘Hanthalah'

In the end Hamas seems to have not followed through with its threats, but that did not stop a group of three particularly incensed West Bank residents taking on the case.

One of the plaintiffs, Hassan Salim, told Al-Watan news on Sunday that they filed the initial complaint against Yassin because his drawings “insulted Palestinian women” and “show contempt for the Palestinian flag.”

The latter refers to an image posted by Yassin on his Facebook page of a donkey combined with the Palestinian flag. “The Palestinian flag is a symbol for freedom for every Palestinian and free man in the world. These drawings belittle the Palestinian flag and damage its symbolism and sacredness,” Salim said.

An image created by Palestinian cartoonist Bahaa Yassin showing a donkey combined with the Palestinian flag (Facebook)

According to Salim, the district court in Ramallah held a session last Thursday where they demanded Yassin’s referral to the Palestinian Public Prosecutor’s office for trial. According to Salim, Yassin is to be arrested if he enters any area under Palestinian Authority sovereignty and if he does not do so he is to be tried in absentia.

The woman represents the first intifada

Luckily for Yassin, the arrest warrant issued bears little weight as the Ramallah court does not have jurisdiction in the Hamas controlled Gaza strip where he resides.