JERUSALEM, Aug. 26, 2007
Hey, Disney Lawyers: Hamas TV At It Again
Palestinian TV Station Uses "Lion King"-Like Character To Personify Hamas Victory
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In a video replayed on the Middle East Media Research Institute's Web site, a Simba-like lion representing Hamas defeats rats representing a U.S.-funded Fatah Movement. Station executives do not refute the character's resemblence to "The Lion King." (AP/M.E.M.R.I., Walt Disney Prods.)
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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."
The five-minute video, titled "A message to the criminal gangs in the occupied West Bank," is the second production of the Hamas-run Al Aqsa TV enlisting a famous Disney character.
In May, Hamas TV used a Mickey Mouse knockoff to preach Islamic domination to children. After an uproar among Israelis and Palestinians, that character was killed off and his weekly show replaced.
Hazem Sharawi, an executive with Hamas TV, said the cartoon of the lion vanquishing the rats was broadcast Thursday but quickly pulled off the air for revisions. He said it was "flashed" for one day to counter what he called anti-Hamas propaganda coming from Fatah in the West Bank.
The cartoon also was posted on the Web site of the Middle East Media Research Institute, a Washington-based group that monitors the Arabic media.
The piece shows rats trampling over Gaza, burning houses, stepping over homes, uprooting trees, firing at mosques and desecrating the Quran, Islam's holy book. The veils are even ripped from Muslim women, exposing their faces.
Their leader is clearly a portrayal of Fatah's former Gaza strongman, Mohammed Dahlan, who has fled Gaza. Wearing a tie and smoking a cigar, the chief rat grabs a microphone and tells the crowd: "Move back and let Hamas shoot me." Dahlan made that comment during the showdown with Hamas, and his voice is dubbed into the scene.
Throughout the video, the lion silently watches the rats, preparing his claws and shaking his mane. Once he pounces, the rats flee in terror as he knocks them about with his claws. Injured and limping rats then say: "Off to the West Bank."
After the rats flee, the sun rises as the lion stands upon a cliff, surveying the scene. A bouncing melody fills the soundtrack as a new flower buds. "Circle of Life," indeed.
"Viewers from all over loved it. They called in to praise it," Sharawi said.
After Hamas' victory in Gaza two months ago, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, a Fatah member, formed a new government in the West Bank, where many top Fatah officials in Gaza have taken refuge.
In the West Bank, Fatah spokesman Fahmi al-Zarir, who watched the video, called it "shameful and rude."
"Hamas has thrown away its morals and humanity," he said. "Hamas has gone far toward harming the Palestinian culture and history in all aspects."
Sharawi said the final version will be toned down before it is broadcast again, with the Dahlan scene among those to be cut.
But he said there were no plans to erase the Lion King references, including a final scene showing the victorious lion standing on a hill overlooking Gaza with his mane flying in the wind.
"Disney stole a lion from the forest. We stole another lion," Sharawi said with a chuckle.
MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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- Rev_hellhorn, I agree with everything you''ve said. I''m an atheist and I''m convinced humanity will not able to go forward until we get rid of the Semitic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) or at least make them understand they need to stay put and quiet.
MITDGreen, you like to sound as if you know what you''re talking about but you apparently don''t. The implementation of international law is the sole responsability of the occupier. They have the power and the means to do it.
Think before you post. And you''re at MIT? I hope you''re not studying engineering for everyone''s sake.
SharnCedar, good points. Disney should be asking us for permission and not the other way around.
Rushman, I''m looking for a room to rent, can I stay with you? - Reply to this comment
- closethippy1: Please move back to your corrupt, dictator-loving lifestyle whether it be in the Middle East or down in Venezuala!!! And also, stay in the closet, HIPPY!!!!
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- SharnCedar : What you say may be the truth in some ways but what have you done to inprove your lifestyle or your country for that matter . We all have complaints about our govournments but if you look around the world where the major cities have grown the people do not openly carry guns and kill needlesly because you dissagree with thier views . YOU LIVE IN A BARBARIAN WORLD .
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- "These people" are the West. Western Civilization was founded in Iraq, spread to Palestine quite early. For example the ancient city of Jericho was one of the oldest, if not the oldest, walled city known to humanity.
I would assume people living in a region that once contained lions, and not far from where lions still live, would have much more right to portray lions as cartoon characters than Walt Disney, who lived all his life on a continent in which the lion is unknown. The lion to Disney is only a dream, a dream from an ancient past, the past of Western Civilization. How ironic these morons in disney and the global corporate conglomerate are bombing and killing people in the land where all of their culture and thought originated.
BTW, when are you "good Christians" going to rebuild New Orleans? You''ve built a lot of bombs, I guess levees and roads and hospitals are not your style. Two years later and New Orleans looks like Iraq which looks like Palestine, etc. Capitalism sure does a fine job in rebuilding. - Reply to this comment
- Doesn''t even look close to the "Lion King" lion, it looks more like clip art to me.
And you have to admit the analogy is, euphemistically speaking not so farfetched. It is all about money.
And wolf563, you are no different than those you claim to hate. - Reply to this comment
- I guess the irony of using copycat characters from Western culture to bash the West is completely lost on these people.
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- Posted by Rev_hellhorn at 10:30 PM : Aug 26, 2007
+ report abuse
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you mean like those liberals on MTV and Comedy Central? - Reply to this comment
- The Semitic superstitions are a curse on humanity, frequently manipulated to justify the practice of the oldest human religion of all, materialism.
They are just another manifestation of the world''s oldest confidence scheme, the practice of persuasion by claiming supernatural or divine authority. It is unfortunate that so may people alive today remain in the childlike state of mind that is receptive to this ancient nonsense, and also no wonder that the practitioners of these scams place such importance on indoctrinating the vulnerable minds of the young from the earliest age possible. - Reply to this comment
CloseThippy...
Israel shoots at someone who fired rockets at Israel. They MISSED and hit civilians... by your own account.
Hamas shoots at civilians.
Somehow I dont see how you can make these in any way equivalent other than that civilians got hurt.
In the end, Arafat was a bad man. To enrich himself, he created a corrupt regime... even by their own audit of themselves... and a permanent war stance. I agree with you that embracing Fatah in the West Bank simply because they are "not Hamas" (the enemy of my enemy...) is a bad strategy. Embracing a group which will not respect international law is equally bad strategy. (Not that Fatah was ever very good at that, but Hamas has been explicit in it.) Until a responsible regime is elected by your people, your people will continue to suffer. And for that -- one human to another -- I am sad.- Reply to this comment
- I remember when I''d tell people I''m a Palestinian the first thing they''d say was "That f''n Arafat is taking all your aid money, isn''t he?"
I don''t know about him but many in his Fatah movement are a bunch of corrupt b''tards, pretty much like all the Arab leaders.
And now that we got rid of Fatah all of a sudden Fatah is a good thing.
What freaking hypocrisy. Bush demanded we have elections and we had the biggest and most peaceful elections in the history of the Arab world.
Fatah lost and refused to hand over power to Hamas and that''s why Hamas did what it did in Gaza.
Now we can''t even celebrate getting rid of Fatah because we might offend Disney.
The other day Great Britain decided to deny entry to the Gaza soccer team because they feared the Palestinians from that team would stay in GB. And this after years of preparations by these youngsters to get where they are. Who the f'' wants to leave their family behind just so they can stay in freaking England???
Israel wants to deport a quadroplegic 6 year old Palestinian girl who got that way when Israel fired a missile at some Hamas folks and missed, killing the mother and sister of this girl and leaving the girl in the same condition Christopher Reeves was after his accident.
You know, you guys sure know how to make friends in the Middle East. You''ve somehow manage to make everyone there missed the days when freaking Saddan Hussein was in power.
Does that sound like you know what the hell you''re doing? - Reply to this comment
- Disney owns the right to any portrayal of a lion. Just like they own Winnie the Pooh. What''s that you say, they don''t own Winnie the Pooh, since their rights have expired and they stole it from the author''s family using fancy lawyers? I''m sorry, the right to tell the truth about Disney is also owned by Disney. Those who criticize Disney, or draw pictures of lions, will be labeled "terrorists" from now on.
And Disney is now the enforcer to silence Hamas. Great. That makes a lot of sense, we can trust corporations to dispense justice and do the right thing. - Reply to this comment
- 30 BILLION FROM AMERICANS TO JEWS TO KILL PALESTINIANS, AND YOU ARE AFRAID OF TOONS?
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- There liein about there lion and we don`t give a rats a.s.s. THE QURAN IS NOT A HOLY BOOK .IT IS A CULT GUIDE BOOK FOR HATE FOR ALL WHO BELIEVE IN IT . Destroy this cult and we have peace . IF EVER THERE WAS A REASON TO BURN A BOOK . THIS BOOK DESERVES TO BE BURNED FOR SO MANY REASONS .
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- FREE PALESTINE AND LEBANON AND IRAQ AND AFGAHNISTAN AND PAKISTAN AND WELL I GUESS IS THE ONLY ONES FOR THE MOMENT...
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