Wednesday, May 09, 2007

Hamas vs Disney



From the AP:

Hamas 'Mickey Mouse' wants Islam takeover

By DIAA HADID, Associated Press WriterTue May 8, 4:59 PM ET

Hamas militants have enlisted the iconic Mickey Mouse to broadcast their message of Islamic dominion and armed resistance to their most impressionable audience — little kids.

A giant black-and-white rodent — named "Farfour," or "butterfly," but unmistakably a Mickey ripoff — does his high-pitched preaching against the U.S. and Israel on a children's show run each Friday on Al-Aqsa TV, a station run by Hamas. The militant group, sworn to Israel's destruction, shares power in the Palestinian government.

"You and I are laying the foundation for a world led by Islamists," Farfour squeaked on a recent episode of the show, which is titled, "Tomorrow's Pioneers."

"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 call in to the show, many singing Hamas anthems about fighting Israel. more

Update from Spiegel.de and Reuters:

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." 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." more


I'm sure the photo of thousands of heavily armed animatronic George W. Bush-es being loaded onto Disney cruise ships that accompanied Disney's cease and desist letter had absolutely no effect on the decision making process.


Update:

A spokeswoman from Walt Disney Co.'s headquarters in Burbank, Calif., did not immediately return messages asking for comment but later left me voicemail asking that I never call again.