With Chanukah upon us, I began contemplating Israeli media. There have been a number of cultural entertainment exchanges between The United States and Israel, the most recent being HBO's tense, intimate therapy drama In Treatment based on Hagai Levi's Betipul. Way back in 1979, long-time Sesame Workshop employee Dr. Lewis Bernstein pitched the idea to bring the popular Sesame Street muppets to Israel. The result was a series of shows, beginning with 1982's Rechov Sumsum.
Rechov Sumsum is a literal translation of "Sesame Street". Its main characters are Kippi, a giant hedgehog who acts as a surrogate Big Bird and his friend Moishe, a brown version of Oscar the Grouch. The show ran for four very successful seasons and the characters remained popular long after the last episode aired. In addition to original segments, some American-produced portions were dubbed in Hebrew and put together with Kippi and friends.
After the original Rechov Sumsum finished its run a collaborative US-Israeli production called Shalom Sesame aired in the mid-80's and early-90's. This version featured both Rechov Sumsum characters as well as the very recognizable muppets from the original American Sesame Street. It's always fun to listen to Burt and Ernie carrying on in a foreign language.
Following Rechov Sumsum and Shalom Sesame was a short Israeli-Palestinian co-production called Shara'a Simsim, the name simply being the Arabic equivalent. This version proved less popular and it lasted only a single season. After the relative failure of Shara'a Simsim a more segmented program called Sippuray Sumsum ("Sesame Stories") replaced it. Rather than attempting to combine the various cultures of the Middle East into one show, three separate shows were produced to be aired in their respective territories.
More recently, the attempt to make a Sesame Street-like program representing modern Israeli-Palestinian cooperation has been more successful. A 2006-2007 rebranding of Rechov Sumsum features characters that speak both Hebrew and Arabic, some Jewish, some Muslim, even some who have immigrated from Eastern Europe. Even today, it's considered fairly progressive to market and make a show accessible to children on both sides of the divide.
It's strange for those of us in The United States to think of children's programming like that, but in many parts of the world there are strong political implications to even the most innocent-seeming media. The conflict in Israel-Palestine has spilled over into the lives of the young on multiple occasions. Last year there was significant international concern over a Hamas-produced program called "Tomorrow's Pioneers" featuring a Mickey-Mouse-like character named Farfour that often espoused militant political opinions. In the final episode, Farfour was depicted being graphically beaten by an Israeli official, followed by the co-host, a little girl, reading the names of other martyrs to the cause from a note card. Whereas many Western kid's shows follow a stage-production model,
These sorts of things often open up dialogues concerning the role of children's programming in their education. Is it entertainment? Is it moral and political indoctrination? While it is certainly absurd to believe a mere television show could sway a child one way or another on complex social issues, it is still valid to contemplate the impact an early encouragement toward cooperation might have on a rising generation.