Hamas' latest conquest: The Walt Disney Co.

Hamas' latest conquest: The Walt Disney Co.
By Bradley Burston
For decades, The Walt Disney Company was known for superhuman tenacity in fighting unauthorized use of its trademark characters.

It was a policy that bordered on the fanatical. To keep its bottomless inventory of universally familiar mice, ducks, dogs, dwarves, villains, sleeping princesses, singing mermaids, Lost Boys and others from endorsing any product or ideology lacking the explicit and prior consent of the Magic Kingdom, the company would go anywhere and do anything, it seemed, sparing no expense or effort.

Until now. Until Hamas.

In recent weeks, when a Mickey Mouse stretch-clone named Farfour began hosting a children's program on Hamas-run Al-Aqsa Television, gently suggesting that the station's youngest viewers take up assault rifles and fight against Israel, the protests came in fast and furious.

But not from Disney.

"Hamas has long used programs aimed at young children to raise a new generation of terrorists," the Anti-Defamation League said in a statement, noting that "an infamous 1998 episode of the program the Children's Club on official Palestinian Authority television had a Mickey Mouse-type figure amidst children praising suicide terrorist attacks against Israelis."

Farfour, whose name means butterfly, used a high-pitched Mickeyesque voice to get his message across. "You and I are laying the foundation for a world led by Islamists," Farfour told the audience of his "Tomorrow's Pioneers" program."

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."

Even Palestinians thought the show inappropriate. Palestinian Information Minister Mustafa Barghouti said the character represented a "mistaken approach" to the Palestinian struggle against Israeli occupation. He said the show would be taken off the air "for review."

Two days later, however, the show went on as scheduled. In one sequence, Farfour explained that he cheated on his tests in school because "the Jews destroyed my house," and he had lost his books under the rubble.Of the myriad responses, certainly the most striking was that of the Disney company. It said nothing.

Even when the ADL wrote to Robert A. Iger, president & CEO of The Walt Disney Company, urging him to use his company's influence to put a stop "to this egregious and outrageous abuse of your intellectual property, which certainly stands in stark contrast to everything the Walt Disney Company represents," the company sat on its hands.

For nearly two weeks, Disney said nothing, did nothing, held meetings, held still more meetings. The only policy they appeared to adopt was a refusal to return calls asking for comment.

Only this week did the company choose to publicly comment on the show. "We were appalled by the use of our character to disseminate that kind of message," Iger told a meeting of the Society of Business Editors and Writers at the Disneyland Hotel. "I think any time any group seeks to exploit children in that manner, it's despicable."

But Iger added that Disney decided against making a public statement at the time. "We didn't mobilize our forces and seek to either have the clip taken down or to make any broad public statement about it," he said.

"I just didn't think it would have any effect," he continued. "I think it should have been obvious how the company felt about the subject."

So, for The Walt Disney Company and Robert Iger, this word of advice from Hamas' own corner of the world, and a warning:

There is only one way to fight Hamas. You have to be very smart, and very fierce.

If you are smart, but not fierce, Hamas will win.

If you are fierce, but not smart, Hamas will win.

If, however, you are neither smart nor fierce, and, as such, do nothing, you will have done more than merely help Hamas to a victory.

You will have made yourself a target.