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Return “Sesame Street” To Palestinian Airwaves

Volume
Volume 158 , Number 10
Pages
Pages H130-H131
Legislative Body
House
Date
Tue, Jan. 24, 2012

(Mr. ELLISON asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute.)

Rep. Keith Ellison

legislator photo
Party
D
State
MN

Mr. Speaker, I brought a friend to the floor with me today. As we all know, this is Elmo. This guy taught us our 1, 2, 3s, but he also taught us tolerance and understanding. For the past several years, he's been doing the same thing for children in the Palestinian territories. Because of ``Sesame Street'' in Palestine, Palestinian kids grow up with the same positive role models as we did.

But recently, ``Sesame Street'' has been off the air. Now Palestinian kids are left watching Farfour. This is Farfour right here. He's a mouse who is the main character of a Hamas TV show. Instead of tolerance and understanding, Farfour promotes violence and anti-Semitism.

This Congress approved funding for ``Sesame Street'' in Palestine last year, but because of the position of certain individuals in Congress, that means the money is being held up. There's no Elmo, but there is Farfour, trafficking and teaching extremism.

I'm not the only one who wants Congress to release the funding. Even the Israeli Government wants it released. Let's get good funding to the people of Palestine so that they can grow and strengthen their own society. Let the funding flow and give something for Farfour to compete with--Elmo.