Khalil Bendib
Khalil Bendib is the janitor – or minesweeper – of political cartooning in America. Potentially explosive issues avoided by other cartoonists, such as Zionism, racial injustice, labor and class struggles U.S. imperialism, environmental degradation, the scapegoating of Arabs and Muslims and the complicity of our Orwellian media are all grist to his mill. Where others see sacred cows, Mr. Bendib sees the potential for shish kebab!
Born under colonial rule during Algeria’s war of independence against France, Khalil is the only widely read political cartoonist in North America who brings an Muslim, Arab and progressive perspective to our media. His award-winning cartoons are featured in over 1,700 small and mid-size newspapers across the country, including many Muslim, African-American, Arab and other progressive publications and web sites, and can be viewed at New America Media, Corpwatch.org, and his own cartoon web site www.bendib.com.
His cartoons have been featured in USA Today, the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle and numerous other major newspapers. He has published several books of political cartoons, including his most recent, Mission Accomplished (interlink, August 2007.)
Khalil’s work as a sculptor and ceramic artist can be seen in various public and private locations in the USA, and it is collected internationally. Among Khalil’s public monuments are the “Alex Odeh Memorial Statue,” an over-life size bronze statue in Santa Ana honoring martyred Palestinian-American ADC leader Alex Odeh, the “Deir Yassin Remembered” memorial sculpture at the Hobart and William Smith colleges in Geneva, New York, the Edwin H. Lennette Memorial Monument in Richmond, CA and the GAIA bronzes in downtown Berkeley. Some of this work can viewed at: www.studiobendib.com. A new Deir Yassine Remembered monument is slated for Minneapolis for the summer of 2009.
Mr. Bendib is also co-host, co-producer and commentator for the KPFA weekly one-hour radio show “Voices of the Middle East and North Africa” (94.1 FM, Wednesdays 7-8 p.m.) and is frequently on the road giving talks and presentations and workshops on matters of Islamophobia, media censorship and free speech.
