Shara'a Simsim

1998–2002: Bilingual program with Israel In 1994 Children's Television Workshop, the American production company behind Sesame Street, proposed the idea of a joint Israeli-Palestinian Sesame Street co-production. Production on the series began in 1995. Two separate Israeli and Palestinian teams were formed, with their own producers and writers; the Israeli team was based in Tel Aviv, and the Palestinian team in Ramallah. The series cost $4 million and was financed by multiple groups, including Israel Educational Television, Al-Quds Educational Television, and foreign donors. The show was nearly cancelled while in production, due to pressures from both sides against cooperation. Both the Israeli and Palestinian teams agreed prior to production that the show would not cover political issues, nor would they include imagery of soldiers, flags (or other symbols of nationalism), or religious locations and holidays. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which had partially funded the show, retracted their funding in 2006 after Hamas won Palestinian elections. Production did continue with reduced funding from other organizations, resulting in a smaller season. Production on a new revamped version of the show, again titled ''Shara'a Simsim'' began in December 2006 and continued through January 2007. The new episodes begain airing in May 2007 on ten channels of the Ma'an Network. The show combined original segments, which were filmed in Ramallah, with dubbed American segments. The show received US$2.5 million in funding from USAID between 2008 and 2011. Production in 2012 for the show's sixth season was put on hold due to cancelled funding from USAID, and the show's muppets were sent to New York for repairs. ==Characters==

''Rechov Sumsum/Shara'a Simsim'' Muppets • Dafi (Irit Shilo) – Haneen's best friend; a three-year-old purple Israeli monster • Kareem (Rajai Sandouka) – a seven-year-old punctual green rooster who showcases pride in his Palestinian culture • Kippi Ben Kippod (Guy Friedman) – a pink porcupine who lives on Rechov Sumsum • Moishe Oofnik (Gilles Ben David) – a brown grouch from Rechov Sumsum who lives in a broken car Humans Sources: • Adel - a bilingual Palestinian music teacher; cousins with Amal • Amal - an Israeli-Arab man who lives on Rechov Sumsum; cousins with Adel • Leila - a 12-year-old Palestinian girl who loves computers • Maski - an Ethiopian Jewish woman who likes to fix cars • Sharon - a 25-year-old religious Israel shopkeeper Hikayat Simsim (The second series) and ''Shara'a Simsim (The third series):'' Muppets • Haneen (Fadi al-Ghoul) - a five-year-old orange monster • Kareem (Rajai Sandouka) Humans • Salim - a young man in his 20's who runs a Fix-It shop == Content ==

As with other co-productions, the series teaches colors, literacy, numeracy, and vocabulary. The 1998 show featured two separate street scenes, one for the Israeli characters and one for the Palestinian characters. The Israeli street had an ice cream shop on a boardwalk near the Mediterranean Sea, while the Palestinian street centered on a family grocery store near a spring, with scenes of Jerusalem in the background. The characters would visit each other, but did not share mutual spaces. These crossover segments focused on tolerance and respect, and tried to challenge stereotypes. For example, segments were filmed where characters ate hummus and falafel together, or learned to count in the other's language. The 2007 iteration continued to avoid direct references to politics. == Reception ==

The 1998 show was watched widely in Israel and the West Bank, but did not air in the Gaza Strip. Studies showed that children who had viewed the show for a few months held more positive views of the other group. == In other media ==

In 2018 producer Daoud Kuttab wrote a book entitled Sesame Street, Palestine about the 1998 Israeli-Palestinian co-production. == References ==