The Arab press recently published more cartoons condemning terrorism.[1] These cartoons presented terrorism as an indiscriminately destructive force striking everything in its path, and mocked the terrorists for blindly pursuing the promise of the virgins of Paradise. The cartoons also expressed criticism of extremists who entice the youth, indoctrinating them to embrace extremist ideas.
The following are samples of these cartoons:
Terrorism Strikes Indiscriminately
Cartoon No. 1: The bomb is labeled "Terrorism."
Source: Al-Watan (Qatar), July 3, 2007.
Cartoon No. 2: The bomb threatening to crush the world is labeled "Terrorism."
Source: Al-Watan (Qatar), July 19, 2007.
Cartoon No. 3: "Terrorism has passed this way."
Source: Al-Watan (Qatar), July 7, 2007.
Cartoon No. 4: The monster's shirt says "Terrorism."
Source: Al-Watan (Saudi-Arabia), June 12, 2007.
Marching Blindly Along the Path of Terrorism
Cartoon No. 5: The caption inside the heart says "The Virgins of Paradise."
Source: Al-Watan (Saudi Arabia), August 29, 2007.
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Cartoon No. 6: The figure on the left is labeled "Al-Qaeda," and the one on the right is labeled "Terrorist"; the banner says "Promises of reaching Paradise."
Source: Al-Watan (Kuwait), May 17, 2007.
Cartoon No. 7: "Blind Terrorism."
Source: Al-Yawm (Saudi Arabia), May 1, 2007.
Cartoon No. 8:
Source: Syria News (Syria), July 10, 2007.
Terrorism Entices and Deceives the Youth
Cartoon No. 9: "Terrorism"
Source: Al-Hayat (London), July 20, 2007.
Cartoon No. 10: The hooded figure is labeled "Extremist Leaders"; the shield is labeled "The Deceived Youth."
Source: Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), May 5, 2007.
Cartoon No. 11: The figure on the left, labeled "Admissions and Registration Director for Terrorist Organizations," says to the figure on the right, labeled "Student": "You were not admitted to the University?! Don’t be angry, we will accept you to our university, ha-ha… I mean, our organization."
Source: Al-Watan (Saudi Arabia), August 15, 2007.
Cartoon No. 12: "Terrorist Thinking!!"
Source: Al-Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), May 18, 2007.
Cartoon No. 13: "Dad, can you booby-trap this car for me? I want to play with it with my friends."
Source: Al-Ittihad (UAE), July 9, 2007.
Cartoon No. 14: The title of the book is "Misguided Ideology."
Source: 'Okaz (Saudi Arabia), May 19, 2007.
*E. Glass is a research fellow at MEMRI.
[1] For samples of anti-terrorism cartoons previously published in the Arab press, see MEMRI Inquiry & Analysis No. 346, "Cartoons Condemning the Terrorist Attacks in Algeria and Morocco," April 24, 2007, Editor of Al-Sharq Al-Awsat: Why Do Liberal Christian Arabs Defend bin Laden? ;
MEMRI Inquiry & Analysis No. 235, "Reformist Cartoons – Part I: Condemning Terrorism," August 23, 2005, Reformist Cartoons – Part I. Condemning Terrorism .
