Hamas' evil Lion King

By Ethel C. Fenig

According to a popular saying, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. However if the imitation is a twisted distortion of the original, the result is not flattery but perversion.

Such was the case with that wholesome American icon, Mickey Mouse. Mickey, the cute critter whose gentle escapades and friendliness have resonated with children--and their parents -- around the world had an evil twin Farfur in Arab/Muslim lands. No heart-warming adventures for Farfur; instead Farfur preached hatred of the Great Satan (US) with extra hated emphasis on the Little Satan (Israel), urging the child members of the Farfur Mouse Club to become holy martyrs (ie, commit suicide) while killing as many Israelis as possible. This message apparently resonated with children -- and their parents -- around the Muslim world. However, after international protests Farfur eventually exited Hamas television in keeping with his message -- killed by an evil Israeli.

But Farfur's voice of hatred lives on as Hamas television continues to preach death to the Israelis and also to their newest enemies, Fatah, through and to children again with

another Disneyesque character - televising a cartoon with a "Lion King" wannabe to portray the Islamic group's victory in the Gaza Strip over the Fatah movement.

The cartoon depicts Fatah members as sneaky rats, brandishing guns and being showered with U.S. dollars, while Hamas is portrayed as a confident, calm lion that resembles Simba in the 1994 Walt Disney Co. movie "The Lion King."

And how did viewers of Hamas television react to the violent propaganda dumped on their children? According to Hazem Sharawi, an executive with Hamas TV,

"Viewers from all over loved it. They called in to praise it," Sharawi said.

After all, according to his logic

"Disney stole a lion from the forest. We stole another lion," Sharawi said with a chuckle.

And yet Israel is expected to make peace with Hamas in this generation or even the next generation of people fed on the glorification of violence and murder by a twisted Mickey Mouse and Lion King.