Tomorrow's Pioneers is a Palestinian children's television show that was broadcast by the Hamas-run television station Al-Aqsa TV from April 2007 until October 2009, and broadcast online until 22 July 2022. Created and edited by Hazim Al-Sha'arawi and directed by Samir Abu Muhssen, the show was hosted by Saraa Barhoum, later by a presenter named Maryam, alongside a succession of large costumed characters. Presented in a children's educational format similar to shows like Sesame Street and Barney & Friends, Tomorrow's Pioneers taught Islamic morals and values, periodically quoting the Quran. The characters performed skits and discussed life in Palestine in a talk show fashion with call-ins from young children.
According to a 2010 statement by Anti-Defamation League Deputy National Director Kenneth Jacobson, the show discusses antisemitism, jihad, and anti-Western themes. Some defenders of the show have regarded it as a reflection of life in the occupied territory. Criticism of the show has not been exclusive to the West, since Palestinians within Gaza do not entirely support Hamas's control over children's media.
In 2007, Tomorrow's Pioneers gained attention from Disney, which later requested that the first co-host, Farfour, be written out of the show due to his strong resemblance to Mickey Mouse. Farfour was killed in what the show referred to as a martyrdom. He was replaced by a giant bumblebee named Nahoul, who was in turn succeeded by Assoud the rabbit, Nassur the bear, and Karkour the chicken. Nahoul came back in late 2013, but in the following year, the actor who played him and Karkour, Mohammed Alareer, was killed in an Israeli airstrike. Following Farfour's recognition, Tomorrow's Pioneers was pulled from Al-Aqsa TV and placed under review at the request of Palestinian Information Minister Mustafa Barghouti's ministry. In 2008, the United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs passed House Resolution 1069, which called on the Bush administration to designate Al-Aqsa TV as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist entity.
The English translation of the show by American non-profit organisation MEMRI faced criticism in 2007 from CNN Arabic and Brian Whitaker of The Guardian for containing errors, undue emphasis, and potential bias. MEMRI president Yigal Carmon was later invited onto political commentator Glenn Beck's programme and defended the accuracy of MEMRI's translation.
Background The Palestinian nationalist organisation Hamas has used media to spread information in support of the organisation and its ideologies via newspapers, leaflets, websites, television, radio, affiliated mosques, vocal groups and trading cards. According to Thomas David Parker, Hamas focuses especially on children, with the organisation referring to the practice as "training the Muslim generation" or "Islamisation from below". The organisation hosts youth summer camps that focus on religion, politics, developing computer skills, and, occasionally, using firearms.
The use of media to spread messages or ideologies is not exclusive to Hamas; in a 2002 letter to Taliban founder Mullah Omar, Osama bin Laden referred to media as "one of the strongest methods" of spreading information in the 21st century. Al-Qaeda strategist Abu Bakr Naji, when referring to the concept of soft power popularised by Joseph Nye, categorised the resources of global powers as either "almighty military power[s]" or "deceptive media halo[s]". Hamas, along with Hezbollah, categorise the audiences of their media into various groups, such as the "international public", the Arab world, and the Palestinian or Lebanese peoples.
On 9 January 2006, after Hamas won the Palestinian legislative election, the organisation launched a channel, Al-Aqsa TV, due to Hamas's rising influence in the Gaza Strip. The children's shows broadcast on Al-Aqsa TV, such as Tomorrow's Pioneers, spread Hamas's ideologies, and the version of Islam in Hamas's media, according to Lybarger, includes elements of Palestinian nationalism.
Production and format Tomorrow's Pioneers was directed by Samir Abu Muhssen and was also created and edited by Hazim Al-Sha'arawi, who moderated an earlier Hamas-broadcast radio programme called Afnan and Aghsan. Tomorrow's Pioneers viewership has not been estimated or officially announced, but during its run, Al-Sha'arawi, who played the character Uncle Hazim, attracted up to 10 thousand children during Hamas-sponsored festivals.
Tomorrow's Pioneers revolves around a host, originally Saraa Barhoum, and a costumed character performing comedic or educational skits and discussing life in Palestine, similar to children's shows like Sesame Street and Barney & Friends. The show included call-ins from children who were as young as nine years old and occasionally sang their own anashid. The target age of the show's audience, referred to as "soldiers", is debated; Al-Aqsa TV said it was between three and seven years old, but France 24 pinpointed the show's demographic as between seven and thirteen.
In an interview with Al Jazeera, Al-Aqsa TV director Fathi Hamad said Tomorrow's Pioneers was intended to remind the audience, particularly those belonging to the Palestinian diaspora, about their cause and to "expose" the situation between Israel and Palestine. Before the show began airing, Al-Sha'arawi said in a The New York Times interview that the show's message would not "[get] into the tanks, the guns, the killing and the blood", but show Palestinian rights "through the history". The show, alongside other Hamas media, periodically quoted the Quran and taught children Islamic traditions and customs, such as performing one's daily prayers, as well as healthy habits like the importance of drinking milk.
Broadcast history Tomorrow's Pioneers was first broadcast on 13 April 2007. Episodes were intended to be aired on Fridays at 4 pm Palestinian Standard Time, but due to political instability and the regional conflict between Hamas and Fatah, the show did not maintain consistent broadcasting. During the Battle of Gaza in June 2007, the Al-Aqsa TV station was taken over and shut down by Fatah gunmen. Hamas eventually gained control of Gaza, and Fatah forces withdrew.
In May 2007, Mustafa Barghouti, former Palestinian Information Minister, criticised the character Farfour as a "mistaken approach". His ministry requested the removal of Tomorrow's Pioneers from Al-Aqsa TV for review following Farfour's international attention due to the character's resemblance to Mickey Mouse. In response, Hamad said that the show did not violate any ethical standards, adding that the criticism was designed by Western and occupying powers to oppose Islam and the Palestinian cause. An Al-Aqsa TV representative responded to Barghouti's statements, adding that "[he] misunderstood the issue", and Hamad denied Barghouti's response, adding that Al-Aqsa TV would not stop broadcasting Tomorrow's Pioneers. Fatah began broadcasting a competing children's show, which also used the likeness of Disney characters, on the official Palestinian Authority TV network in September 2008. In October 2009, following complaints by members of the Palestinian Authority (PA), the PA pulled Tomorrow's Pioneers from Al-Aqsa TV, but the show aired on other Middle Eastern television stations, as well as on the Internet. Following a sporadic broadcasting schedule in the 2010s, Tomorrow's Pioneers final episode aired on 22 July 2022.
Characters Saraa Barhoum Saraa Barhoum was around 10–11 years old when the show started. She has seven siblings, and her uncle, , was a Hamas spokesman. Saraa was chosen as the host of Tomorrow's Pioneers after she entered a singing competition. In an August 2007 interview, Saraa said she wanted to be a medical practitioner, and if not that, then a martyr. In late 2013, Saraa was replaced by a new host, Maryam.
Farfour
Farfour was a mouse from Haifa whose design resembled Mickey Mouse. He had a high-pitched voice and co-hosted Tomorrow's Pioneers with Saraa. On the show, Farfour had expressed pro-Islamist views, stating that he and Saraa "are laying the foundation for a world led by Islamists" and that they "will return the Islamic community to its former greatness" by liberating Jerusalem and Iraq, among other locations. In an episode titled "Farfour and the AK-47", he simulated shooting an AK-47 and throwing stones. In his final appearance on 29 June 2007, Farfour was imprisoned and later beaten to death during an interrogation by an Israeli official, who was trying to buy Farfour's land. The story arc in which Farfour was killed was created by Al-Sha'arawi.
From an Islamic perspective, the decision to make Farfour a mouse was unconventional. According to Islamic law and Saudi cleric Muhammad al-Munajid, rodents and rodent characters such as Mickey Mouse generally have a negative image in Islam, hence why Farfour was killed. In a hadith from Sahih al-Bukhari, the prophet Muhammad lists rats as one of the five harmful animals, alongside scorpions, kites, crows, and rabid dogs. Emmanuel Karagiannis, in the Routledge Handbook of Political Islam, mentions how Hamas ignored the reputation of Farfour's species due to his popularity among the show's young audience.
Nahoul and Karkour Nahoul was a bumblebee with a high-pitched voice who co-hosted Tomorrow's Pioneers with Saraa after Farfour's death, which was referred to in the show as a "martyrdom". He introduced himself as Farfour's cousin, and promised to continue in the path of martyrdom. According to Karagiannis and Al-Sha'arawi, the choice to make Nahoul a bee was an intentional reference to the 16th chapter of the Quran, An-Nahl, which translates to "The Bee" in English. In the Quran, the bee represents dedication and success. Following Nahoul's introduction, Muhssen told Al Jazeera that additional characters were planned for Tomorrow's Pioneers, but they were not intended to replace Nahoul.
PETA spokesman Martin Mersereau criticised a segment where Nahoul threw stones at lions and swung cats by their tails at the Gaza Zoo, arguing that despite the show's intent to teach children not to abuse animals by showing bad behaviour, children would likely mimic Nahoul. Mersereau added that teaching children to respect animals helps them respect other people. In February 2008, it was revealed that Nahoul was terminally ill. He and his parents sought to travel to Al-Arish, Egypt, for medical treatment, but Israeli authorities denied them permission to leave Gaza. He died and was replaced by Assoud, a rabbit. Like Farfour, Nahoul's death was referred to in the show as a "martyrdom".
In March 2013, a chicken named Karkour was introduced. He was described as mischievous by his actor's brother, Refaat Alareer. Karkour made many errors on the show, such as jaywalking and screaming on the telephone. He gained attention from children across the Arab world, who called him to correct his behaviour, but by the next episode, he went back to misbehaving.
Nahoul was resurrected in late 2013, telling children that if they encountered Jews, they should stone or beat them until their faces become as "red as a tomato". In another episode, Maryam explained to Nahoul the concept of negotiations, which involves forgiving the Zionists for the deaths of numerous martyrs and sharing Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque, but she later said that she chose the path of resistance. On 28 July 2014, the actor who played Nahoul and Karkour, Mohammed Alareer, was killed by Israeli missiles at the age of 31.
Assoud and Nassur