The Circle of Death

Hamas TV airs `Lion King' cartoon hero

By SARAH EL DEEB, Associated Press Writer
Fri Aug 24, 4:37 PM ET

JERUSALEM - After killing off its Mickey Mouse-lookalike, Hamas has turned to 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."

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.

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. When 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 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.

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

He 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 chuckling.

On the Net:

Middle East Media Research Institute clip

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Adult Simba

I think the Arabian version looks more like


Mufasa

I watched the cartoon from the Memri link above. I have to admit it is intriguing. Then I remembered the conversation between young Simba and his father Mufasa as they discussed the "great circle of life":

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Young Simba: But dad, don't we eat the antelope?

Mufasa: Yes, Simba, but let me explain. When we die, our bodies become the grass, and the antelope eat the grass. And so we are all connected in the great Circle of Life.

Yes, Arabians eating Arabians and making more Arabians so they can eat each other too in the great circle of death. The death cult which these poor souls are born into is a terrifying and tragic cycle of violence. The cycle is not related to "the occupation" or the "Naqba day" but the culture which teaches a brother to kill his sister if he thinks she is dishonoring the family. It is a culture of blood feuds and blood worship, with bomb belts and Kalashnikovs.

Car swarms after an Israeli execution by helicopter is a clear example of the glorification of death. One could argue that the environment has created such a culture. However, such would be a false belief. Arabians in all their own lands have demonstrated said behavior. Another example is celebratory gunfire at weddings. The Israeli Police have this to say about this practice:

Preventing gun shooting at weddings – Shootings (in the air) at weddings has become increasingly widespread among the Arab sector in recent years. The custom is a way of expressing joy and identifying with the groom’s family and occasionally also is used as a show of power. Often it results in injuries to wedding guests and even on rare occasions, in deaths. The community policing center commanders have managed to foster trust between themselves and the dignitaries of the Arab communities and developed a system-wide model for prevention, information and enforcement with the aim of reducing this phenomenon. In places where the model is in use, a sharp decline in the extent of this phenomenon has been reported.
Israeli Police

Yep, dangerous and stupid. The value of life that exists even at times where the point of the ceremony is to celebrate the continuation of life is missing and replaced by a machismo sickening custom.

Well, all this brings us back around to the cartoon. The Hamas lion at the end swats away all the PA rats who are fighting with American weapons. The mighty lion stands proudly over his kingdom, after having vanquished the rodents. Lions have been a symbol of Israel basically forever. They are still found on ornamental decorations in shuls all over the world. May it be His will that in the upcoming year the Roar of the Jewish lion will be heard and he will vanquish all his foes.