A New York Post report sheds light on the program Pioneers of Tomorrow, which aired on the Hamas-affiliated TV channel Al-Aqsa between 2007 and 2009. Officially disguised as a children’s show, it was, in reality, a propaganda tool that incited children to hate Jews and embrace violence—and, according to experts, helped raise a generation of radicalized fighters, some of whom were involved in the October 7, 2023, massacre in Israel.
While children in America grew up with programs like Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, which promoted self-worth and kindness, children in Gaza watched Farfour—a Mickey Mouse knockoff—who shouted “Kill! Kill! Kill!” Farfour taught children to aspire to martyrdom and global Islamic dominance, threw hand grenades, fired weapons—all packaged in a format reminiscent of Sesame Street, except that instead of positive values, it spread hatred and antisemitism.
Farfour the terror mouse. YouTube screenshot
The hosts and characters openly promoted violence:
- Nahoul, a “friendly” bee, vowed to “liberate the Al-Aqsa Mosque from the filth of Jewish criminals.”
- Assoud, a rabbit, declared it would “destroy and eat the Jews.”
- The ten-year-old host Sara Barhoum stated she wanted to become a doctor or a martyr and sang songs like: “Let your lighthouse illuminate a sea of blood.”
US terrorism expert Mia Bloom called the show “shocking propaganda that teaches children that every Israeli is evil and must die.” Hamas deliberately used popular, “friendly” characters to win children over to a deadly ideology, often exploiting their own war-related traumas.
The violence was also dramatized: Farfour “died” at the end of the first season in a scene where he was allegedly killed by IDF soldiers. Subsequent characters with similarly violent messages followed, their “deaths” also attributed to Israel.
The show, coupled with consistent indoctrination in schoolbooks, news, and magazines, shaped a generation now of fighting age. Many of the children influenced at the time were among the terrorists who, on October 7, 2023, murdered approximately 1,200 Israelis and kidnapped 251 people as hostages.
Pioneers of Tomorrow is an extreme example of how Hamas uses media to systematically radicalize children—with consequences that remain visible today.
