Algerian-American cartoonist runs for U.S. presidency

[Al-khiyal]

For Algerian-American Khalil Bendib, humour is the best way to create a cultural dialogue. Through his cartoons, Bendib hopes to further people's understanding of Muslims, Arabs and North Africans:

Ever since he was a child in the Maghreb, Khalil Bendib has used drawings to express himself. Growing up in Algeria, he drew cartoons about local political movements. In the United States, he draws about issues he believes are not being fairly covered in the mainstream media, and says he hopes his cartoons can create a cultural dialogue.

Maghrebia: How did growing up in Algeria affect your desire to become a cartoonist?

Khalil Bendib: I was born in Algeria during the war of independence. My first drawings were of Algerians saluting Algerian flags. In Rabat, when I was three years old, before I returned to Algeria at six, I remember seeing children painting in the classroom, and I asked my parents if I could join them. I convinced my parents to enroll me in school when I was three. Because of that, I've always been two years younger than all of my classmates.

To be a political cartoonist, you have to love drawing, politics and humour. I grew up watching Hollywood comedies, which France imported to Algeria. Through France, we got to see a lot of American comedies in Algeria.

Maghrebia: What challenges did you face early in your career? Can you tell us the story of your first cartoon being published in Algeria?

Bendib: I published my first cartoon at 15. A friend knew an editor at the weekly Algerie Actualite. I published under an anonymous signature "Moi". I gave the editor six cartoons, five of which he published. When he saw the sixth one, he said to me, "Do you want to get me shot?"

I was poking fun at a socialist revolution in the 1970s. The state was confiscating land, and trying to convince the public that landowners were spontaneously donating their land. I drew a cartoon of an apartment dweller who doesn't have any land to donate, so he goes to the local authorities to donate his potted plant. That taught me a lesson: if that gets you shot, I don’t want to stay in this country as an artist.

I thought about going to France, but had had unpleasant experiences as a North African there. Then I thought about going to the United States, because that's where all of the modern political cartoonists started.

Maghrebia: The website of your cartoons, Bendib Cartoon - Independent, uncensored, free-speech Political Cartoons, is called "The pen is funnier than the sword". What's the story behind that?

Bendib: It's my non-violent philosophy. It's important to me as a Muslim, an Arab and a North African to tell our side of the story: we're normal. I choose to take the pen. It's my way of disagreeing.

Maghrebia: You've said your art helps me cope with life. How does that work?

Bendib: It helps me vent my frustration. I love this country. I'm an American citizen. But at the same time, I'm frustrated at the distortions of Muslims and Arabs. Islam is not a religion of violence.

Maghrebia: Even though you're originally from Algeria, your cartoons about Muslims and Arabs tend to focus on Palestinians and Iraqis. Have you thought about returning to drawing about North African issues – or is that area off the radar for most Americans?

Bendib: That's a problem. I'm based in America, and just finding out about what's going on in the Maghreb can be difficult. Even if I did the research, who would read my cartoons?

I don't know if it's possible to get people interested. I do cartoons relevant to my readers.

Maghrebia: Some cartoons, such as the Danish ones last year depicting the Prophet Mohammed as a terrorist, have caused political divisions, while others have given people a better understanding of culture. Where do you think your cartoons fit in and why?

Bendib: I think I'm the latter. I consider myself a lone voice providing a balance to bias in the mainstream media. I try to keep a dialogue going.

Maghrebia: What do you predict for the role of cartoonists in society?

Bendib: If it weren't for the Internet, I would be pessimistic. As news companies continue merging, there is less of a variety of opinions. The internet has been an important tool in democracy.

Maghrebia: Where do you see your career going?

Bendib: My career is blossoming. During the Danish cartoon controversy, the BBC and CNN wanted to know my opinion as a "Muslim cartoonist". When there are political conflicts, I have more material. But I'd rather be a less successful cartoonist and live in a more peaceful world.

The pen is funnier than the sword, says Algerian-American cartoonist

[Al-khiyal]

Khalil Bendib - 'The Pres in the Fez'

December 7, 2007 -- You won’t have to remove your shoes when you enter Khalil Bendib’s White House.

“I will not bring the mosque into the oval office,” promised the Algerian-Berkeleyan cartoonist, who’s mounting a run for the presidency.

“I want to be top dog in a top-dog country — master of the universe,” he told the Planet in an exclusive one-on-one interview in his light-filled north Berkeley home, surrounded by his sculptures, paintings and campaign signs. It would be unthinkable to run for a lesser office, such as mayor or governor, he said.

Unfazed by what might be seen as a technical lack of eligibility as a naturalized citizen — “I’ll ride Schwarzenegger’s coattails. After he has the law changed for him, I’ll pass him up,” Bendib said, ignoring the timing problem that may present for the 2008 election cycle. And undaunted by the lack of funds and a heightened prejudice against Arabs since 9/11, Bendib’s taking his “Pres in the Fez” campaign — inspired he says by Dr. Seuss’ Cat in the Hat — to the people.

He has a campaign stop December 13, 7:30 p.m., at La Pena, 3105 Shattuck Ave. Bendib will bring along copies of his newest book: Mission Accomplished: Wicked Cartoons by America’s Most Wanted Political Cartoonist, (Interlink Publishing Group, $17.95).

Cynthia McKinney and Howard Zinn’s accolades appear on the book cover. The forward is written by Norman Solomon. “This book refuses to accept … false choices. Bendib’s cartoons scramble a deck that has been stacked by the demagogues and crusaders who feel that they must diminish the humanity of others to exalt their own,” Solomon writes.

Unabashedly, Bendib admits marketing the book is behind the idea to run for president. When he saw photos of huge lines of people snaking around city blocks to buy Jimmy Carter’s and Bill Clinton’s books, “I thought — I have a book, too. I have got to become an ex-president. Unfortunately — and I’ve researched it — in order to become an ex-president, you have to be President first,” he said.

The first thing Bendib would do as president is get rid of the influence of money, which, he says, has corrupted politics and “so-called public education” along with academic freedom.

“You see it right here in Berkeley,” he said, flipping open Mission Accomplished to a cartoon depicting a man giving directions to a freshman. The man was pointing the way to the university president’s office on a campus map dotted with corporate logos and saying: “Go towards the McDonald’s Nutritional Science Building, past the Monsanto Sustainable Agriculture Department, down to the Lockheed-Martin World Peace Hall, turn right at the Enron School of Business Ethics, and you’ll see it there: Doctor Faust’s office….”

Born to parents seeking refuge in France during the Algerian war for independence, and having spent his youngest years in Morocco, Bendib became keenly aware of politics as a small child.

His earliest memories were of his parents sitting in their Rabat, Morocco living room listening intently to the radio for every scrap of news from Algeria. Politics permeated every conversation. Friends were killed; an uncle working for the resistance — an artist — was captured and tortured. “It was a very popular war. Everyone was involved in it in one capacity or another,” he says. Of 10 million Algerians, 1.5 million died. “It was an incredibly bloody war; we call it a genocide,” he said.

Bendib says he uses humor as a way to speak to those who may not otherwise listen to what he has to say.

“To reach people, I have to sugar-coat my argument, otherwise I run into a wall in the face of a huge propaganda machine on the other side,” he said.

For example, he often uses cartoons to show the hypocrisy he sees in George Bush’s politics. In the Mission Accomplished cartoon, labeled “Habeas Corpus Suspended,” the statue of liberty has been hung; the U.S. House and Senate are saying, “You’re guilty until proven innocent,” and G.W. Bush is saying to the hung Statue of Liberty, “Sorry, Ma’am, but in times of war…” Then the little bird Bendib calls his alter ego reminds the reader what Bush has said about the cause of 9/11: “Because the terrorists hate our freedom,” the little bird says.

A call for justice runs through Bendib’s work, with special consideration for the rights of the Palestinian people. “Nobody else in this country does cartoons about Palestine from a fair perspective,” Bendib said. “There’s incredible censorship when it comes to Palestine. I feel it’s my special mission to bring a little bit of the alternative view.”

He brings this perspective to all of his work, as he is also a serious sculptor, painter and radio show host of KPFA’s Voices of the Middle East and North Africa.

One of his best-known sculptures is a 1994 statue, which stands in Santa Ana Civic Center, of Alex Odeh, once regional head of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, killed by a pipe bomb in his office. Bendib describes the work as a tribute to Odeh’s “courageous defense of the maligned Arab-American community.”

Bendib’s sculptures and paintings can be seen at here and his cartoons here. His campaign website is not up yet.

Berkeley cartoonist takes presidential race to La Peña

[Al-khiyal]

Studio Bendib