Biography
Story, Awards, Press & Interviews.
Story, Awards, Press & Interviews.
Story, Awards, Press & Interviews.
Rafat Alkhatib is an award-winning independent political cartoonist, illustrator, and satirist from Jordan, now based in the United States.
His work has been published across major platforms in the MENA region — including Al Mayadeen, The New Arab, Al Jazeera, and Al Hudood — and has earned both local and international acclaim.
Most notably, he received the Grand Prize at the 7th Mahmoud Kahil Award in 2022, the Arab world’s most prestigious honor for political cartoons and comic strips.
Alkhatib’s cartoons speak a visual language that cuts through borders, often tackling themes like free speech, racism, war, technology, and cultural absurdity. He rarely relies on words, intentionally creating art that resonates across languages and ideologies.
His inspiration draws from great satirists and cartoonists such as Habib Haddad, Richard Thompson, and Marco De Angelis — but it all began closer to home. His first teacher was his father, Ahmad Alkhatib, who nurtured his artistic spark early on. Growing up on a steady diet of comics and MAD Magazine, Rafat fell in love with visual rebellion.
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In 2011, Alkhatib launched his professional journey online, using platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to build a loyal following across Jordan and the broader Arab world. His international reach expanded after joining the Dutch-based platform Cartoon Movement in 2015.
But in 2020, his art met censorship head-on. A cartoon criticizing then–Prime Minister Omar Al Razzaz led to mounting pressure, including the removal of election-related work during the height of the COVID crisis.
These events ultimately forced Alkhatib to leave Jordan in search of creative freedom. to flee his country at the end of 2020, to the US, seeking Free-Speech, and to be able to create art without censorship.
He arrived in the U.S. at the end of 2020 — seeking what his work had always fought for: free speech without fear. Today, Alkhatib continues to push boundaries as a member of Cartoonists Rights Network International (CRNI), Cartooning for Peace, the Jordanian Cartoonists Association (JCA), and the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists (AAEC) — where he became the first Jordanian cartoonist to officially join the ranks.