11 Facts About Ali Farzat

1.

Ali Farzat or Ali Ferzat is a Syrian political cartoonist.

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2.

Ali Farzat serves as the head of the Arab Cartoonists Association.

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3.

Ali Farzat was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine in 2012.

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4.

Ali Farzat was born and raised in the city of Hama, in central Syria on 22 June 1951.

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5.

Ali Farzat enrolled at the Faculty of Fine Arts at Damascus University in 1970, and left before graduating in 1973.

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6.

Ali Farzat met Syrian president Bashar al-Assad prior to his presidency in 1996.

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7.

In December 2000, Ali Farzat started publishing al-Domari, which was the first independent periodical in Syria since the Baath Party came to power in 1963.

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8.

Ali Farzat has been called "one of the most famous cultural figures in the Arab world".

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9.

On 25 August 2011, Ali Farzat was reportedly pulled from his vehicle in Umayyad Square in central Damascus by masked gunmen believed to be part of the security forces and a pro-government militia.

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10.

Ali Farzat's drawings are centred around themes involving criticism of bureaucracy, corruption and hypocrisy within the government and the wealthy elite.

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11.

However, since the uprising in Syria began Ali Farzat has been more direct in his caricatures, depicting actual figures including the President of Syria, Bashar al-Assad.

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