05-11-2007, 12:51 AM
Two on the same topic:
http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitge...,481940,00.html
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->THE ISLAMIST MOUSEKETEERS
<b>Hamas Mickey Mouse Teaches Jihad</b>
A new black and white rodent has appeared on Palestinian television, and it's not the Mickey Mouse you're used to. This one teaches children about AK-47s and Jihad on behalf of the Islamist group Hamas.
Update: On Wednesday, after this story went live, the Palestinian Information Minister Mustafa Barghouti announced that the Hamas-affiliated television station al-Aqsa TV had complied with a government request to pull the show "Tomorrow's Pioneers" for "review." <b>He said the use of a cartoon character to urge Palestinian children to fight Israel and work toward world Islamic domination was a "mistaken approach."</b>
[Image caption from Youtube: A Jihadist Mickey Mouse shows children how to hold an AK-47.]
If one were to choose the imaginary creature most responsible for the rise of the Disney empire, Mickey Mouse would have to be high on the list. Now, the Palestinian militants at Hamas are hoping the dancing and singing mouse will be able to do the same for Islamist holy war.
<b>A children's show which airs each Friday on al-Aqsa television, a station run by Hamas which broadcasts in the Palestinian Territories, now employs a singing, squeaking, dancing mouse named Farfour</b> to connect with young viewers. But despite having a name that means "butterfly," Farfour is clearly a Mickey Mouse rip-off. The only difference being that this rodent is doing his best to transform show viewers into rifle-toting Islamist Mouseketeers.
"The people firmly stand, singing this to you. ... Its answer is an AK-47. We who do not know fear, we are the predators of the forest," Farfour squeaks in one episode while miming the throwing of a grenade and the shooting of a rifle. In another, his mousey voice warns: "Oh Jerusalem we are coming. Oh Jerusalem, it is the time of death. Oh Jerusalem, we will never surrender to the enemy, and we will never be humiliated. It is beloved Palestine that taught us what to be. And taught us to be soldiers of the Lord."
<b>The show, called "Tomorrow's Pioneers," is hosted by a little girl named Saraa</b> -- wrapped in a headscarf -- who does her part to indoctrinate her viewers, saying in one episode that "I remind you that al-Aqsa and the prisoners are a responsibility on our shoulders, and Allah will ask us on Resurrection Day what we gave for their sake."
Israel has reacted strongly to the show. An Israeli group which monitors Palestinian television, Palestinian Media Watch, told the AP that the Mickey clone "takes every opportunity to indoctrinate young viewers with teachings of Islamic supremacy, hatred of Israel and the US, and support of 'resistance,' the Palestinian euphemism for terror."
An official in Prime Minister Olmert's office, David Baker, told the Associated Press: "There is nothing comic about inciting young generations of Palestinians to hate Israelis."
Aside from the dancing mouse, though, it's hard to imagine the show being particularly attractive to young viewers. Hostess Saraa doesn't skimp on the political indoctrination, and the mouse frequently admonishes viewers to observe their religious duties, like praying five times a day, as a "cornerstone" for Islamic world domination.
Ironically, though, children who watch "Tomorrow's Pioneers" might learn to rattle off the names of world leaders better than those who grew up with the real Mickey. <b>"We will win, Bush!" Farfur squeaks at one point. "We will win, Condoleezza! We will win, Olmert! We will win Sharon!"</b> Farfur pauses after mentioning the former Israeli prime minister who has been in a coma for over a year. "Ah, Sharon is dead," he says.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070510/ap_on_...mickey_mouse_11
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Militant 'Mickey Mouse' pulled off air </b>
By MOHAMMED DARAGHMEH, Associated Press WriterWed May 9, 8:46 PM ET
Hamas militants have suspended a TV program that featured a Mickey Mouse lookalike urging Palestinian children to fight Israel and work for global Islamic domination, the Palestinian information minister said Wednesday.
Information Minister Mustafa Barghouti said the character â a giant black-and-white rodent with a high-pitched voice â represented a "mistaken approach" to the Palestinian struggle against Israeli occupation.
He said that the program was pulled from Hamas-affiliated Al Aqsa TV at his ministry's request and "placed under review."
The character, named "Farfour," or "butterfly," but unmistakably a copy of the Disney character, preached against the U.S. and Israel each Friday on the show called "Tomorrow's Pioneers."
<b>"You and I are laying the foundation for a world led by Islamists," Farfour squeaked on a recent episode. "We will return the Islamic community to its former greatness, and liberate Jerusalem, God willing, liberate Iraq, God willing, and liberate all the countries of the Muslims invaded by the murderers."
Children called in to the show, many singing Hamas anthems about fighting Israel.</b>
A spokeswoman for Burbank, Calif.-based Walt Disney Co. did not return phone calls seeking comment, and the Gaza TV station had no comment.
The program was opposed by the Palestinian Broadcasting Corp., which is controlled by the Fatah movement of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, a Hamas rival that shares power with the militants in the Palestinian government.
Barghouti is an independent aligned with neither Hamas nor Fatah.
<b>Loyalists of Hamas, which is sworn to the destruction of Israel, launched the Al Aqsa satellite channel last year.</b> Bearded young men read the news and Islamic music is layered over footage of masked militants firing rockets into Israel. The channel also broadcasts talk shows, programs about the disabled and cartoons.
<b>Hamas loyalists also run at least five news Web sites, a newspaper and a radio station.</b><!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->Muslim children in India are thankfully still largely deprived of islamic education updated for the modern times complete with Mickey Mouse. But perhaps the latest in islamic kindy-playtime-curriculum will be introduced in TSP soon?
Even Palestinian children are taught the real meaning of the 'Religion of Peace'.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitge...,481940,00.html
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->THE ISLAMIST MOUSEKETEERS
<b>Hamas Mickey Mouse Teaches Jihad</b>
A new black and white rodent has appeared on Palestinian television, and it's not the Mickey Mouse you're used to. This one teaches children about AK-47s and Jihad on behalf of the Islamist group Hamas.
Update: On Wednesday, after this story went live, the Palestinian Information Minister Mustafa Barghouti announced that the Hamas-affiliated television station al-Aqsa TV had complied with a government request to pull the show "Tomorrow's Pioneers" for "review." <b>He said the use of a cartoon character to urge Palestinian children to fight Israel and work toward world Islamic domination was a "mistaken approach."</b>
[Image caption from Youtube: A Jihadist Mickey Mouse shows children how to hold an AK-47.]
If one were to choose the imaginary creature most responsible for the rise of the Disney empire, Mickey Mouse would have to be high on the list. Now, the Palestinian militants at Hamas are hoping the dancing and singing mouse will be able to do the same for Islamist holy war.
<b>A children's show which airs each Friday on al-Aqsa television, a station run by Hamas which broadcasts in the Palestinian Territories, now employs a singing, squeaking, dancing mouse named Farfour</b> to connect with young viewers. But despite having a name that means "butterfly," Farfour is clearly a Mickey Mouse rip-off. The only difference being that this rodent is doing his best to transform show viewers into rifle-toting Islamist Mouseketeers.
"The people firmly stand, singing this to you. ... Its answer is an AK-47. We who do not know fear, we are the predators of the forest," Farfour squeaks in one episode while miming the throwing of a grenade and the shooting of a rifle. In another, his mousey voice warns: "Oh Jerusalem we are coming. Oh Jerusalem, it is the time of death. Oh Jerusalem, we will never surrender to the enemy, and we will never be humiliated. It is beloved Palestine that taught us what to be. And taught us to be soldiers of the Lord."
<b>The show, called "Tomorrow's Pioneers," is hosted by a little girl named Saraa</b> -- wrapped in a headscarf -- who does her part to indoctrinate her viewers, saying in one episode that "I remind you that al-Aqsa and the prisoners are a responsibility on our shoulders, and Allah will ask us on Resurrection Day what we gave for their sake."
Israel has reacted strongly to the show. An Israeli group which monitors Palestinian television, Palestinian Media Watch, told the AP that the Mickey clone "takes every opportunity to indoctrinate young viewers with teachings of Islamic supremacy, hatred of Israel and the US, and support of 'resistance,' the Palestinian euphemism for terror."
An official in Prime Minister Olmert's office, David Baker, told the Associated Press: "There is nothing comic about inciting young generations of Palestinians to hate Israelis."
Aside from the dancing mouse, though, it's hard to imagine the show being particularly attractive to young viewers. Hostess Saraa doesn't skimp on the political indoctrination, and the mouse frequently admonishes viewers to observe their religious duties, like praying five times a day, as a "cornerstone" for Islamic world domination.
Ironically, though, children who watch "Tomorrow's Pioneers" might learn to rattle off the names of world leaders better than those who grew up with the real Mickey. <b>"We will win, Bush!" Farfur squeaks at one point. "We will win, Condoleezza! We will win, Olmert! We will win Sharon!"</b> Farfur pauses after mentioning the former Israeli prime minister who has been in a coma for over a year. "Ah, Sharon is dead," he says.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070510/ap_on_...mickey_mouse_11
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Militant 'Mickey Mouse' pulled off air </b>
By MOHAMMED DARAGHMEH, Associated Press WriterWed May 9, 8:46 PM ET
Hamas militants have suspended a TV program that featured a Mickey Mouse lookalike urging Palestinian children to fight Israel and work for global Islamic domination, the Palestinian information minister said Wednesday.
Information Minister Mustafa Barghouti said the character â a giant black-and-white rodent with a high-pitched voice â represented a "mistaken approach" to the Palestinian struggle against Israeli occupation.
He said that the program was pulled from Hamas-affiliated Al Aqsa TV at his ministry's request and "placed under review."
The character, named "Farfour," or "butterfly," but unmistakably a copy of the Disney character, preached against the U.S. and Israel each Friday on the show called "Tomorrow's Pioneers."
<b>"You and I are laying the foundation for a world led by Islamists," Farfour squeaked on a recent episode. "We will return the Islamic community to its former greatness, and liberate Jerusalem, God willing, liberate Iraq, God willing, and liberate all the countries of the Muslims invaded by the murderers."
Children called in to the show, many singing Hamas anthems about fighting Israel.</b>
A spokeswoman for Burbank, Calif.-based Walt Disney Co. did not return phone calls seeking comment, and the Gaza TV station had no comment.
The program was opposed by the Palestinian Broadcasting Corp., which is controlled by the Fatah movement of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, a Hamas rival that shares power with the militants in the Palestinian government.
Barghouti is an independent aligned with neither Hamas nor Fatah.
<b>Loyalists of Hamas, which is sworn to the destruction of Israel, launched the Al Aqsa satellite channel last year.</b> Bearded young men read the news and Islamic music is layered over footage of masked militants firing rockets into Israel. The channel also broadcasts talk shows, programs about the disabled and cartoons.
<b>Hamas loyalists also run at least five news Web sites, a newspaper and a radio station.</b><!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->Muslim children in India are thankfully still largely deprived of islamic education updated for the modern times complete with Mickey Mouse. But perhaps the latest in islamic kindy-playtime-curriculum will be introduced in TSP soon?
Even Palestinian children are taught the real meaning of the 'Religion of Peace'.