Hamas TV sticks with “Jihad Mickey”

Earlier this week I blogged about “Tomorrow’s Pioneers,” a shocking children’s show on Hamas’ al-Aqsa TV station in which a Mickey Mouse clone named “Butterfly” teaches Palestinian youngsters how to be good Hamas members. At the time, it seemed that Hamas had agreed to pull the show off the air following a global cry of disgust and pressure from the more pragmatic Fatah and independent factions of the Palestinian Authority.

That information was wrong; Hamas rejected the PA’s intervention and ran the show as normal today. In explaining his decision, al-Aqsa station manager Hazem al-Sharawi said:

We have an educational and entertainment message. It carries knowledge, a sense of humor and morality. There is no shame in this, and we will not go back on it.”