Tag: middle east/north africa

Iraqi Cartoonist’s Work a Labor of Love

In the tumultuous years since the US-led coalition’s invasion of Iraq and the fall of Saddam Hussein, the country’s media landscape has changed dramatically for everyone–including political cartoonists. In a recent interview from the online magazine Sampsonia Way, cartoonist Saad…

Anime News Network Highlights Banned Manga

A recent feature from Anime News Network about 7 Manga Banned Around the Globe brought to our attention a few instances of manga censorship that we haven’t covered because they predate our news blog by a few years. We did…

Mosul Book Burning Recalls Cultural Genocides of Centuries Past

In light of the devastating news last week that Islamic State extremists apparently burned part or all of the public library collection in the Iraqi city of Mosul, CBLDF general counsel Robert Corn-Revere contributed a comprehensive overview of book burnings…

Iranian Cartoonist’s Memoir Recounts Detention and Exile

In 2006, Iranian cartoonist Mana Neyestani was arrested and imprisoned for three months for drawing a children’s cartoon. In his memoir An Iranian Metamorphosis, he tells the surreal tale of his detention and eventual exile from his native country —…

Palestinian Cartoonist Questioned About Possible Mohammed Cartoon

Palestinian cartoonist Mohammed Sabaaneh is under investigation for drawing a cartoon that was widely interpreted as depicting the Prophet Mohammed, although the artist himself insists the figure was only a symbolic representation of the Muslim faith. Only a short time…

Cartoonists Often Forced into Exile

Another stark reminder of the dangers faced by political cartoonists around the world, particularly in the Middle East, was brought up in a recent article by the New Statesman’s Anoosh Chakelian. Cartoonists who refuse to self-censor are often forced to…

Middle Eastern Comics Battle Terrorist Ideologies

In light of increasingly successful terrorist recruitment tactics which are now drawing disaffected young people from around the world to join ISIL in the Middle East, one Jordanian man firmly believes that the solution may lie in comic books. For…

Militants Call for Death of The 99 Creator

Last week the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, the militant group better known as ISIS, took a brief timeout from overtaking cities in Iraq to call for the death of Kuwaiti-American comic creator Naif Al-Mutawa. They claimed on Twitter…