Kareem is a rooster who is friends with Haneen. First introduced in 1998 on the Israeli/Palestinian co-production Rechov Sumsum/Shara'a Simsim, Kareem and Haneen now currently star on the Palestinian Hikayat Simsim. According to executive producer Daoud Kuttab, Kareem embodies pride, but "we tried not to make him arrogant, and he's not afraid to apologize." And as a rooster, he always keeps track of time, "to break the stereotype that Arabs are late."