It’s well understood that tyrants and tyrannical governments do not like it when people laugh at them. Jordanian cartoonist Emad Hajjaj can assure you that the people who run his country definitely can’t take a joke. His cartoons about the absurdity of the government’s actions have brought him a storm of threats and have landed him in jail. They’ve also brought him a devoted following of Jordanians who treasure his courage and wit.

He's done cartoons about officials’ corruption and ineptitude, and about the effects governmental bumbling has on Jordanians’ lives. In 2020 he posted online a cartoon that mocked the crown prince of another nation, Abu Dhabi. Within hours, he was arrested and facing up to five years in prison. “I was in the same cage as the jihadists I used to draw,” recalls Hajjaj. “It would have been comical if it wasn’t terrifying.”

Bailed out by a syndicate of Jordanian journalists, Hajjaj has been blacklisted and greatly restricted—his cartoons are published only by London-based Arabic and Western newspapers.

“I still believe that one day we will see our societies rise up and secure our basic rights, human rights, and democracy, like any other people in the world. Today people may see this as idealism and not realistic, but I believe it is our right to dream about it and to keep this dream alive.”