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Muppets Without Borders

Forget Thomas Friedman's theory that McDonald's is a better guarantor of pacifity than the UN. Sesame Street has always struck me as a more reliable weather-vane of a country won't go to war with another be-Muppeted one. (There's a Sesame Street in Bosnia now.)  Though things haven't worked out so well for the Arab-Israeli version, which was cancelled due to lack of funding in 1997, this revival might go some distance toward rescuing holy land youth from the chauvinism and hatred that only adults can  master.

Enough sententiousness. Here's my favorite bit from this JTA article:

Tolerance of diversity is not the only message from "Rechov Sumsum." A song called "The Sound of Silence" teaches children to consider softening their tone of voice. "Israelis are very loud," Apt said. "Many people are upset about it, but no one does anything about it. So it's a song about thinking twice about using the right pitch for what you want to say. Do you really need to speak so loud with someone who is just nearby?"

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