Star of Israeli Sesame Stree, Kippi
Puppet regimes
After years off the air, Sesame Street returns to Israel, Palestinian areas
''Puppet regimes'' are back in the Middle East. Once again, they're promoting peace, diversity and the importance of brushing your teeth.
New episodes of Sesame Street are going on TV in Israel and Palestinian territories, producers said Sunday, years after the original versions signed off.
As with the popular US program, designed to enhance basic educational content for youngsters, producers tailored the Mideast casts and story lines to the fit the audiences. A new feature is the first Arab puppet in the Israeli series.
'Moishe Oofnik'
''Rechov Sumsum,'' the Israeli version of the show, for the first time includes a Muppet of Arab origin. Its Palestinian counterpart, ''Shara'a Simsim,'' seeks to offer positive role models to boys in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
''It's really about respect and tolerance,'' said Gary Knell, president of Sesame Workshop, the New York-based nonprofit group behind Sesame Street programming worldwide. ''We know that television teaches _ the question is, 'What does it teach?'''
Knell said the goal is to counter negative influence of society, because children as young as three can begin to demonstrate prejudice, .
''They're not born with this,'' he said. ''They're learning it from their parents, from the community, from friends.''
In coordination with the re-launching of the shows, officials announced the distribution of Muppet-themed educational kits to children throughout Israel, Gaza and the West Bank.
''It opens up a new way to deal with issues of conflict,'' Yuli Tamir, Israel's minister of education, said at a ceremony in a Jerusalem kindergarten, ''just teaching children how to live together, how to work together with each other despite their differences.''
The ceremony followed more than a week of meetings Knell had with top political figures in the region, seeking funding and support for local Sesame Street productions.
Earlier Sunday, he met with Aliza Olmert, wife of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. On Saturday, while in Ramallah to mark the upcoming broadcast of 15 new episodes there, he met with Saeb Erekat, a top aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and longtime negotiator with the Israeli government.
Last week, Knell met with met with Queen Rania of Jordan and Suzanne Mubarak, wife of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, he said.
''There's a desire of the political leaders to change the endless debate that seems to be passed down from generation to generation,'' he said.
Launched in the United States in the late 1960s, Sesame Street currently is shown in more than 120 countries, Knell said.
The Israeli version enjoyed wide success when first aired in the early 1980s. A lack of funds stopped production of new episodes for more than a decade, but producers relaunched the show last winter.
The new version features the show's first Israeli-Arab muppet, Mahboub, who speaks both Hebrew and Arabic.
Tensions have long existed between Israel's Jewish and Arab communities. Arab make up about one-fifth the country's population and, while officially equal with Jewish residents, have long complained of treatment as second-class citizens.
Human actors on the new version include Jewish immigrants from Russia and Ethiopia, communities that have faced ill treatment from some veteran Israelis
