Sesame Street Teaching Kids Arabic Words
Sesame Street is facing backlash after a recent Arab American guest began teaching the program’s famous Elmo character several elementary-level words in Arabic.
Comedian and actor Rami Youssef hosted a segment on the PBS show dedicated to Arab American Heritage Month in which he described how to say words like “peace” and “hello” in Arabic.
“The word of the day is HABIBI! Happy #ArabAmericanHeritageMonth from Ramy Youssef, Elmo, and all of your friends on Sesame Street,” the program wrote on X. Youssef, an Egyptian-American, said during the 41-second clip that he is proud of his Arab heritage and described how “Habibi” means “special friend.”
“Why aren’t we teaching the kids how to speak English? It’s bad enough they don’t know their pronouns anymore. But why Arabic?” said conservative radio host Todd Starnes. Listen to his commentary here.
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On social media, users were quick to condemn the program for featuring Arab related content.
“Shut down PBS. It’s time,” said freelance reporter Nick Sortor. “Fun fact! Elmo is actually short for El Mohammed,” another user on X wrote.
Various memes and images mocked Sesame Street, including with Elmo’s face on a Palestinian flag, the red Muppet burning an American flag, and various characters from the show wearing hijab head coverings.
Others chimed in with support following Youssef’s appearance.
“Check on your radical conservative friends today. This likely gave them a heart attack,” wrote Deep Singh Badhesha, a Colorado-based attorney and political strategist.
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