Safaa Odah: The perils of being a viral Palestinian cartoonist in Gaza

In the cartoon, Death stands at the Gaza border straining to push a wooden cart. Inside the wheelbarrow are pale shades, who represent the people killed by Israeli forces in the last six weeks. Beads of sweat fly from Death’s brow as he tries to push his heavy load. Plumes of black smoke rise from burning tyres in the distance. 

The image is the work of Safaa Odah, a 34-year-old cartoonist from Gaza. As Palestinians and others around the world tried to articulate their outrage over the killings in Gaza, many have turned to her, sending her cartoons viral across social media. 

The sudden slew of shares and likes has been a shock for Ms Odah, whose real surname is Abu Aathra but is better known…

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