“The Pen is Funnier than the Sword”
I’m committed to non-violent change.
“The common denominator between all my cartoons is rebellion against blind conformity.”
–Khalil Bendib
It was my pleasure to have a conversation with my friend, Khalil Bendib: artist, sculptor, author, political cartoonist and radio host. The recorded YouTube of the conversation can be seen here:
or the audio podcast here:https://www.buzzsprout.com/1827447/episodes/17590558
Khalil and I met as participants in a dialogue group in Berkeley that included, Jews and Arabs, Israelis and Palestinians and I learned to deeply respect his candor, sense of humor and intelligent take on the nuanced reality in which we live.
Khalil Bendib is an Algerian, born in Paris during the Algerian Revolution. In our conversation he shared his feeling that he carries the trauma of the Algerian people from his time in the womb forward. He describes his parents’ escape from almost certain execution by the French forces as the first imprint of his understanding and empathy for all oppressed people.
Khalil is the co-author of the New York Times bestseller Zahra’s Paradise, which was published in 16 languages and nominated for two Eisner Awards. He has lived in Berkeley, CA since the 1980s. He worked as a political cartoonist at the San Bernardino County Sun for eight years, leaving that to work independently. He now distributes his cartoons to 1700 independent publications nationwide and co-hosts a weekly one-hour show, Voices of the Middle East and North Africa, on Pacifica station KPFA.
His first book, Mission Accomplished: Wicked Cartoons by America’s Most Wanted Political Cartoonist, was published in 2007.
He has since published books of political cartoons as well as a graphic novel, Verax: The True History of Whistleblowers, Drone Warfare, and Mass Surveillance: A Graphic Novel, (with Pratap Chatteerjee).
His sculptures have become public monuments in Los Angeles, upstate N.Y., and San Francisco. They have been exhibited and collected on five continents and grace numerous businesses, homes and gardens in the United States and abroad.
Khalil shares the role of his parents in shaping the development of his empathy and open hearted approach to people. In our far ranging discussion, we talk about the emotional impact of the ongoing ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people, the distorted views about race, ethnic identity and the Arab people in particular.
For more information about Khalil’s work, see
Links:
Political cartoons: keybey.com
Sculpture and other art work. http://studiobendib.com/inside.html
Voices of the Middle East & North Africa radio show: https://kpfa.org/program/voices-of-the-middle-east-and-north-africa/
If you appreciate this interview, please check out and subscribe to my ongoing YouTube and podcast series, Crossing the Boundary.
YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBTcFhpF_7838Ckgn-8rf508QrjEqc9GA&si=ixBZGwdtUzyVdTOz
Podcast: https://crossingboundarieswithalanlevin.buzzsprout.com