In West Bank, even the muppets suffer
The Palestinian version of Sesame Street is on hold after losing American funding because of last year’s statehood bid at the UN
RAMALLAH, WEST BANK // It’s quiet time on Palestinian Sesame Street. The beloved children’s programme, known as Sharaa Simsim in Arabic, has been put on hold for the 2012 season because of a funding freeze by the US Congress.
Sharaa Simsim is one of many USfunded Palestinian programmes suffering after Congress froze the transfer of nearly $ 200 million (Dh734m) to the US Agency for International Development (USAID) in October. The suspension aimed to punish the Palestinians for appealing to the United Nations for statehood.
The funding suspension – affecting hospitals, education, and government ministries that all rely on American aid – is breeding resentment and frustration in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, even among the most progressive organisations.
In the Ramallah offices of Sharaa Simsim last week, the writing workshop room was empty and the set was closed. “If we had funding, we would be writing scripts, we would be reviewing scripts, we would be hiring filmmakers to produce the videos,” said the executive producer Daoud Kuttab.
Even as the freeze puts Sharaa Simsim on hold, the US State Department is investing $750,000 in the Israeli version of the show, which is now filming its newest season with an emphasis on teaching children the value of fairness.
Danny Labin, an executive at the Israeli TV channel that co-produces Israeli Sesame Street, call the funding halt to the Palestinian show “extremely unfortunate.”
“Young children, whether Israeli or Palestinian, who are in need of educational tools to foster diversity appreciation and to prepare for life in a pluralistic society, should not be penalised or held accountable to the politics and political leadership, over which they have no control,” Mr Labin said. Sharaa Simsim debuted in 1996 and has produced five seasons since, with long intermissions for fund- raising. It has promoted a message of peace and tolerance that Israeli critics say is often missing from Palestinian airwaves. The main characters – Haneen, a redheaded orange muppet, and the green rooster Kareem – have became household names for Palestinian children.
Sharaa Simsim is one of about two dozen international shows produced by the Sesame Workshop Staff, the parent company of the American show. Others are aired in Israel, Egypt, Russia and South Africa. In each country, the New Yorkbased Sesame Street staff consults with the local production team to create a unique cast and content.
Mr Kuttab said production takes months. At the beginning of each season, Palestinian educators and child psychologists work with the education ministry to craft themes and curriculum. Then writers draft
the episodes, with occasional review from New York.
Recorded in Ramallah and airing on Palestinian national television, each 20-minute episode is half Palestinian content and half American footage.
Sharaa Simsim was supposed to begin this process in October, but Mr Kuttab said the show will not be able to air in 2012. “Every month we are behind schedule it actually means two or three months down the line,” he said. “If we don’t do the curriculum workshop we can’t do the script- writing. If we don’t do the scriptwriting we can’t do the filming, and there are actors who have their own schedules.” From 2008 to 2011, USAID gave $2.5 million to the programme, covering nearly its entire budget, Mr Kuttab said.
USAID was scheduled to issue another $2.5 million grant to Sharaa
Simsim, Mr Kuttab said. But in early October, Ileana Ros-lehtinen, a Republican legislator from Florida, placed holds on $ 192 million in funding to USAID for programmes in the West Bank and Gaza.
Extremely unfortunate Danny Labin executive at channel that makes Israel’s version of Sesame Street
She said this was in reaction to the Palestinians’ appeal to the UN to admit the Palestinians as a full member state. The US, Israel and others oppose the move, saying a Palestinian state can come about only through negotiations.
Congress restored $40 million in December but it is doubtful any will go to the show. Many programmes are clamouring for funding, including healthcare and humanitarian projects, said a USAID official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Bradley Goehner, spokesman for Ms Ros-lehtinen, did not say if the intention was to cut the Palestinian Sesame Street and other programmes, or if more USAID funding would be restored.
“It is a matter that continues to be discussed with the administration and pertinent members,” Mr Goehner wrote by email.
American opposition to the Palestinian bid raised hackles in the West Bank, which is ruled by the western-backed Palestinian Authority. Days after the USAID funding hold, Palestinian protesters hurled a shoe at an American diplomatic convoy in Ramallah.
Nasser Abdul Karim, an economist at Birzeit University in the West Bank, said the freeze hurt Washington’s image and will push Palestinian groups to diversify their funding.
“Because of the US support of the Israeli agenda, [Palestinians] look at American aid with a lot of suspicion,” Abdul Karim said. The US donates more than $500 million a year to the Palestinians, including funds for security forces, the government’s operating budget and USAID programs.
Associated Press