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In October 1947 he asserted that such a government would forestall partition. A few weeks before mid-May 1948 he argued that a government would fill in the political and military vacuum resulting from British departure, even while Palestinian fighters were being thoroughly defeated by Zionist forces. The mufti’s support within the Arab League was dependent on the interests and rivalries of its members. Whereas EGYPT, SYRIA, and Saudi Arabia were for establishing a limited form of government, a local administration, Iraq and Transjordan were opposed to it.

He began drawing cartoons on the walls of Lebanese prisons during the late 1950s and was later encouraged to publish his cartoons by the famous Palestinian writer Ghassan KANAFANI. Al-Ali later moved to Kuwait in the early 1960s. Returning to Lebanon in 1971, al-Ali served on the editorial board of the prominent Lebanese newspaper alSafir and also contributed cartoons to other prominent Arab newspapers. Al-Ali’s cartoons were often biting commentaries on life in the Middle East. Each cartoon featured a young boy, Hanzala, as spectator.

A committed Nasirist during his youth, Abu Sharif joined the Movement of Arab Nationalists (MAN), led by Dr. George HABASH, shortly after he enrolled at AUB, and he became a prominent cadre. Deported to Jordan in 1966 for his political activities, he returned to Beirut the following year and participated in the December 11, 1967, founding conference of the POPULAR FRONT FOR THE LIBERATION OF PALESTINE (PFLP). A member of its central committee from 1968, Abu Sharif was elected in 1972 to the PFLP politburo.