Sesame Street, Palestine Lib/E: The Ups and Downs of Producing a Children's Program

by Daoud Kuttab, Nat Segaloff (Reading)

Big Birds are rare in Palestine.

After a surprise phone call from Children's Television Workshop, Daoud Kuttab took the chance of a lifetime to create a Palestinian coproduction of Sesame Street. But the challenges of producing a world-famous children's program quickly escalated beyond just teaching Elmo to speak Arabic.

From finding actors and puppeteers in a country starved of training to dealing with a community that considered the production too provocative, the early days were less than easy. Animating hand puppets against a backdrop of the turbulent Palestinian-Israeli peace process drew him into exciting, tense times that made Cookie Monster's search for sweets seem like child's play. Days after the first episode aired, Daoud was arrested.

Journey into Kuttab's unusual world, where the signing of the Oslo Accords, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, Hollywood star Richard Gere, and the King of Jordan played important roles. Not even Kermit could have imagined this unique, exciting, and undeniably fascinating expansion of America's most enduring children's show into a new world bound by the West Bank desert, politics, media, and money.

Genres: Nonfiction, Audiobook

Audio CD

Published March 10, 2020

Reviews

[Bailey Douglass · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars-very interesting but it felt like it ended too early, we never learn about what happens with the show once it’s produced.

[fulano]

I love Sesame Street and I want a free Palestine. 🤟🏽

[Jerome · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very interesting insight into the processes and problems involved in setting up a local version of Sesame Street for Palestinians. The author benefits from being an American citizen which really benefits his career. His perspective is quite balanced but Westernized. The inner workings of the Children’s Television workshop are interesting but for me the best discoveries were the descriptions of the daily issues of living under Israeli occupation. In light of the current Gaza situation, one can’t help feeling how all the goodwill and lessons on tolerance and openness for the children have now been lost due to the Israeli genocide.

[Zachary Littrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A certainly unusual approach to describing the Palestinian-Israeli conflict: shop-talk about a children's show (based off the most famous children's show in the world) that had to appeal to Palestinians and make nice with the Israelis.

Part of it is the whole how of putting together a non-English Sesame Street offshoot (under the distant eye of the sometimes ominous sounding "Sesame Street New York"). This part really jazzed me! Designing puppets, traning muppeteers, writing sketches that capture Palestinian culture without touching politics, and finding school children that the studio could work with are all neat struggles to tag along for. And then there's the biggeset rub of them all: how to write sketches where characters from Palestine's Sesame Street meet characters from Israel's Sesame Street. As Kuttab points out, the number of reasons for a Palestinian child and Israeli child to interact under normal circumstances is...small. And finding a way to make it appeal to both sides is even harder to pull off. But they came up with some pretty clever masterstrokes like how all children, no matter nationality, just don't like onions.

The other part is the reality of being a Palestinian. The soldiers with guns, the checkpoints, the violence, the shifting political landscape, and the reality that those in power for either Palestine or Israel are prepared to do some pretty shady things. The last third of the book is...spoiler for something you can learn on his Wikipedia page...
Kuttab's wrongful imprisonment at the hands of the Palestinian government. It doesn't REALLLY apply to the overarching narrative of making Sesame Street, but I think it's a testament to how quickly their lives can go upside down. All of Kuttab's hard work for Sesame Street was finally paying off, and he was detained for almost no reason at all.

I think a longer story could've been teased out, but I appreciate Kuttab's straightforwardness. You get the picture. Shara'a Simsim was a pretty bold and ambitious thing to make, but it's a good thing it was made: muppets and children are capable of cutting through the muck the adults are drowning in.

[Peacegal · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's no doubt that the world could use more Sesame Street! The importance of bringing a show that celebrates kindness, compassion, and respect for others to this war-torn region was recognized by the author and others, and this is their story. Sadly, the politics of adults kept getting in the way of the basic interests of children, as is so often the case. The ground-breaking production was cancelled after too short a run, but the memories and friendships made across religious and ethic lines won't be forgotten. I agree with other reviewers who say that there was so much going on, no doubt quite a bit was left out--the author no doubt leaves many tales and experiences untold.

[Cara Wood · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an educational and moving account. Daoud Kuttab recounts navigating the culture and politics to launching Sesame Street, Palestine and many challenges, including a
7-day hunger strike. In addition to Kuttab's straightforward storytelling, I enjoyed how often he incorporated details about meals in this account. Might sound trite but it brought to life the smells and tastes and richness of life in Palestine.

[Joänna · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a stand alone book it was painstakingly detailed in ways that got boring (confession, I hate Sesame Street, so I think that was part of my trouble getting sucked in) But, as a look at Palestinian work life it was so enlightening! The amount of effort that went into their show blew me away. I'm thankful I read this for book club so we could talk about how impacted the author was in ways we never expected.

[Marty · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was one of the audiobooks on palestine they had on hoopla and I was like NEAT…and it was neat. Takes you through what things were like in the 1990s, some really sweet personal stories, and makes you think about a lot of stuff re: “peacemaking” efforts. Mostly I’m just happy I know that they made this program and that it still exists

[Aly McKnight · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is full of great information from a snapshot of time in Palestine, and it really does take you into the behind-the-scenes of producing a Sesame Street program. But I wanted it to keep going! I felt like there was so much more going on in the author’s story that I wanted to know about and understand. I would have loved a longer book.

[Whatcha Reading Heather? · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's crazy seeing how much war-focused countries are against teaching children basic learning skills and CARING ABOUT OTHERS while it's totally fine that propaganda floods every type of media that children can also have access to.

[Natasha]

I’m a big Sesame Street fan and so was interested in this, as a quick read. I assumed there would be a lot more describing the content of the show, when it was really just memoir about the author’s experience during production.

[Rahaf · Rating 1 out of 5]

not my taste, the author does not adhere to Palestinian principles and justifies normalization throughout the book. as Ghassan Kanafani once said ""We don't want to coexist with the occupier, we want to be free from the occupier.".

[Thea N · Rating 5 out of 5]

So fascinating hearing the story of how Sesame Street came to Palestine, the trials and hardships it went through. We need some more of the partnership and understanding that is represented here in today’s world.

[Bethany · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating insight into the author's involvement in trying to bringing an autonomous, authentic Palestinian Sesame Street show to life during the aftermath of the Oslo Accords and the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Rabin. I only wish it was longer!

[Ally Perrin · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Nothing in the Palestinian-Israeli experience at the time really lent itself to a children's program that preached tolerance and respect for the other."

[Elina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting story that could have been double length and still fascinating and enjoyable.

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting insight into th challenges of producing a kids TV show in such a challenging politic place

[Emma Longsjo · Rating 4 out of 5]

a really really interesting lens.

(audiobook,,,had a bunch of mindless clicking around to do for work today so this was a perfect background content.)