Farzat was born and raised in the city of
Hama, in central
Syria on 22 June 1951. His first cartoon was about the
Évian Accords negotiations between Algerians and French officials. In 1969, he began drawing caricatures for the state-run daily,
al-Thawra. He enrolled at the Faculty of Fine Arts at
Damascus University in 1970, and left before dropping out in 1973. Farzat met Syrian president
Bashar al-Assad prior to his presidency in 1996. According to Farzat, "He [Bashar] actually laughed at some of the cartoons—specifically at those targeting security personnel—he had a bunch of them with him and he turned to them and said: 'Hey, he is making fun of you. What do you think?" Afterward the two developed a friendship. He has been called "one of the most famous cultural figures in the Arab world". In December 2012, Farzat was awarded Gebran Tueni prize in Lebanon.
Syrian Civil War During the ongoing
Syrian Civil War, Farzat had been more direct in his anti-government cartoons, specifically targeting government figures, particularly al-Assad. Following the
fall of
Tripoli in late August to
anti-government rebels seeking to topple Libyan leader
Muammar al-Gaddafi, Farzat published a cartoon depicting a sweaty Bashar al-Assad clutching a briefcase running to catch a ride with Gaddafi who is anxiously driving a getaway car. Other cartoons Farzat published previously include one where al-Assad is whitewashing the shadow of large Syrian security force officer while the actual officer remains untouched with the caption reading "Lifting the emergency law" and another showing al-Assad dressed in a military uniform flexing his arm in front of a mirror. The mirror's reflection shows Assad being a dominant muscular figure contrasting with his actual slim stature. On 25 August 2011, Farzat was reportedly pulled from his vehicle in
Umayyad Square in central
Damascus by masked gunmen believed to be part of the security forces and a pro-government militia. The men assaulted him, focusing mainly on his hands, and dumped him on the side of the airport road where passersby found him and took him to a hospital. According to one of his relatives, the security forces notably targeted his hands with both being broken and then told Farzat it was "just a warning". His brother As'aad, however, claims Farzat was kidnapped from his home around 5 am by five gunmen and then taken to the airport road after being beaten "savagely". The gunmen then warned him "not to satirize Syria's leaders". The
Local Coordination Committee (LCC), an activist group representing the rebellion in Syria, stated that his briefcase and the drawings in them were confiscated by the assailants. The United States condemned the attack calling it "targeted, brutal". According to the BBC's Arab affair's analyst, Farzat's beating is a sign that the Syrian authorities "tolerance for dissent is touching zero." One month earlier,
Ibrahim al-Qashoush, the alleged composer of a popular anti-government song, was found dead with his vocal cords removed. Following the attack Farzat stated that he would not meet with al-Assad any longer, although he was not sure if al-Assad directly ordered the assault against him. Farzat said he would continue to criticize al-Assad, stating "I was born to be a cartoonist, to oppose, to have differences with governments that do these bad things. This is what I do." ==Style==