Posted on 10/20/2003 9:36:46 AM PDT by yonif
The EU head office said Monday it is funding 40 percent of three versions of a 26-part Sesame Street show in Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian territories.
The Ford Foundation and other organizations will make up the rest of the total US$ 8.3 million cost.
"Working with children today will help build peace tomorrow," Michael Leigh, the deputy director for the Mideast at the EU's external relations department, told reporters.
The shows blend cartoons and puppetry with mini-documentaries that stress such familiar Sesame Street themes as cooperation, respect for others and self-esteem.
American Sesame Street characters have been shown in the Middle East for 25 years. The "Sesame Stories" produced for Israeli, Jordanian and Palestinian youngsters, however, are the first featuring local characters and situations.
"TV is ... the largest, most powerful teacher in the history of mankind," said Gary Knell, president and CEO of Sesame Workshop.
The "Sesame Stories" are aimed at children under the age of eight. They debuted in the country in September and will begin airing in Palestinian areas and Jordan on Oct. 26, the start of the holy month of Ramadan.
Each country enlists its own cast of pumpkin and lemon-hued Muppets with multiethnic human characters tailoring lessons to each region's culture. American Muppets, including Cookie Monster, will star only in parts of the shows.
The 26 episodes will run daily on public and children's television networks.
Israeli and Arab characters are friends on the Israeli show, where Muppets stop shouting and stage a peaceful protest when one of them bangs his drums too loudly.
"We really don't want them to think and see that (the violence) they're living in ... they should accept," said Alona Abt, director of the Sesame Street program on Israel's HOP! TV.
An episode for the Palestinian Ma'an Network depicts children struggling to reach for a high shelf, ride a bike or tie a shoelace as a chorus reassures them, "So keep trying, you will get there."
Sesame Street shows are featured in 120 countries.
Israel and the Palestinian Territories offer a unique environment for the makers of "the world's longest street." The producers of the Palestinian program lost their Ramallah studios to the Israeli army for several weeks last year, said Daoud Kuttab, director of the Palestinian program.
"We tried not to let all these problems to dissuade us away from our main purpose," he said.
"We all share the sun that shines on us," chimes a chorus of young voices in Jordan's JRTV program.
Knell said Sesame Street shows seek "to counter the negative images that children see on television everyday and to offer hope for a better world."
He said the programs depict "realistic and positive messages and provide a valuable tool to children in developing new perspectives about themselves and those around them."
Oh-oh. Equal time
laws will probably force us
(and Europe) to air
an Arab kids show
where Jews are bad and bombers
get girls in heaven...
What kind of lesson does THIS teach?
If you are too short to reach a shelf, you can either wait several years until you are taller, climb on risky things like chairs or shelfs, or get the right tool for the job (a step ladder) or someone older/authority figure. Some adults deliberately put some things out of the reach of small hands.
Also, if you are struggling at tying your shoes (an act that requires a specific order of steps), if you keep trying but are doing it all wrong (and don't change your technique) you will never be successful. Even riding a bicycle requires a sense of balance to stay upright.
Maybe all of these are good lessons for Palestinian children but to tell them to "keep struggling and they'll get there one day" leads to too much business as usual (which at this point includes violence).
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