The country's visual artists have always tried to make the most of the tools of art to express their disgust with the crimes of the Zionist regime by creating works in the fields of design, cartoons, caricatures, photographs and posters. This is happening more and more in cyberspace in the past days and nights, when we are witnessing the brutal attacks of the Zionists on the residential areas of Gaza, and the artists in the field of visual arts are expressing their sympathy with the oppressed Palestinian people by republishing or producing their new works. On the same pretext, we had a conversation with Seyed Massoud Shojaei Tabatabai, cartoonist, cartoonist and secretary of the international competition for posters, cartoons and cartoons "Palestine is not alone", which has just ended.

First, tell us a little about the situation of the Palestinian people these days

Unfortunately, since 1948, we have witnessed bitter events in the Occupied Territories that have led to crimes against the oppressed people of Palestine, many of whom have been forced to flee their lands or struggle to live in areas such as the Gaza Strip. On the other hand, in recent days, the Zionist crimes against the oppressed people of Palestine have reached their peak, and it is necessary for the international community to use every means to stop the brutal Zionist attacks in the Gaza Strip.

A work by Massoud Shojaei Tabatabai in which the iron dome of the Zionist regime is inefficient

The competition "The International Cartoon, Cartoon and Poster Competition of Palestine is Not Alone" has just ended with your secretary and efforts, and the exhibition of selected works of this event will also be held in the exhibition space of the Art Center until May 19th. Considering the efforts you have made as a cartoonist and cartoonist, the secretary of this event and the director of the Center for Visual Arts in the field of art as its organizer, what is your opinion about the importance of such activities of visual artists, especially these days?

One of the advantages of visual arts is the ease of publishing and making available works to millions of audiences, so that artists have made good use of the capacities of cyberspace in recent days and in the shortest time to republish works or create new works to solve Zionist crimes. Easily made available to the public in cyberspace, which fortunately has attracted the attention of a global audience. These days, in addition to military war, a soft war is taking place, which we should not ignore, and we should plan on the soft war front with all our might. Undoubtedly, cyberspace is one of these areas, and thank God that committed artists in the visual arts have used these days well, and cartoon, cartoon and poster artists have shown with their works that Palestine is not alone and every stratum of the international community, including artists. They stand by their side until the collapse of the Zionist regime and the usurper.

Tell us a little about the details of the International Cartoon, Cartoon and Poster Competition "Palestine is Not Alone," which ended on World Al-Quds Day.

Artists from 66 countries participated in the international competition "Palestine is not alone" as a representative of their nation, supporting the oppressed people of Palestine and standing up to oppression. On the other hand, the exhibition of selected works of the International Poster, Cartoon and Caricature Competition "Palestine is Not Alone", which was exhibited in Abolfazl Aali Gallery and the Gallery of the House of Art and the Gallery of the House of Photographers of Iran since April 13, coinciding with the Art Week of the Islamic Revolution. May 19 was also extended and is still open to visitors. In addition, the works of this exhibition are displayed in the form of a virtual exhibition on the "Iran Cartoon" site.

One of the new and important issues, which we dealt with quite intelligently in the recent contest, is the next discussion of the normalization of relations with the Zionist regime. Everyone should know that the discussion of the normalization of these relations does not leave Palestine alone. It is not bad to know that the people of these countries, who have become friends with the Zionist regime, are very dissatisfied with this event and are against it. On the other hand, it is a ridiculous claim that the Arab countries declare that they are seriously standing by Palestine. That's why we had a section called "Compromisers" in this contest, which was dedicated to cartoons, and it started with Anwar Sadat moving and compromising with the Zionist regime. The last point is that freedom of expression is not in line with the examples in Western countries, and we see that the most severe punishments are intended for the Holocaust and its denial, and as a result, we see that freedom of expression has a dual procedure. Charlie Hebdo, for example, was a yellow and fringe magazine, always causing controversy. Some time ago, this publication insulted the Prophet of Islam and wounded the hearts of billions of people, and this is not an example of freedom of expression. On the other hand, we see that this false freedom of expression has penetrated some Arab countries. For example, a Jordanian cartoonist named Emad Hajjaj drew a caricature of the normalization of relations between the UAE and the Zionist regime, which was immediately imprisoned.

Do you have a special conversation at the end?

The Jewish occupation of Palestine began in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and the Jews, with British support, began their struggle for an independent state. World War II also provided a good excuse for the Zionists to officially unveil this evil program. The interesting point is that if we assume that many Jews were actually killed by the German army in World War II, why did they not consider part of Germany and its allies in the war to appease the Jews to establish an independent state ?!

Hanin al Amassy-Gaza