In pictures: Sesame Street's new female Afghan puppet

• 11 April 2016
 
• From the sectionAsia

There’s a new face on Sesame Street - a sassy Afghan puppet girl called Zari and she has an important message for the country's little girls.

Zari, whose name means “shimmering”, has made her television debut in Afghanistan, on a local production of Sesame Street called Baghch-e-Simsim

"Zari is female because we thought it was really important to emphasise the fact that a little girl could do as much as everybody else. So that's why a girl was a key factor in promoting empowerment and girls' education in Afghanistan," program manager Clemence Quint told AP.

The sassy, six-year-old puppet will wear a traditional headscarf. Her costumes will also incorporate fabrics and designs from all of Afghanistan's ethnic groups.

Zari is brought to life by Afghan puppeteer Mansoora Shirzad. She wished young viewers a happy World Peace Day and happy International Children's Day for an upcoming episode.

Afghanistan is still an impoverished country. Formal education is limited for many children, including prejudices against education for girls.

Two production houses worked together with Afghanistan's education ministry to develop the special Muppet
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Family kicked off of flight because of harness. What does that have to do with their religion?

(the story so far, I could have the facts wrong but I believe this is true)  This family insisted on using a safety harness for their child which did not comply with the aircraft or airline or flight regulation safety rules.  Because of this, they were asked to leave the flight.  Now, someone please explain to me what does this have to do with religion????  NOTHING!  They were not kicked off of the flight because of the way they look, or because of their religion.  Why make false accusations???  UGH!   If I got kicked off of a flight for the exact same reason (child safety harness) could I accuse them of kicking me off of the plane because I am Caucasian or because i'm Christian???  Apparently I can because this family claimed the same thing (race and religion).

So... someone please prove to me that this has ANYTHING to do with religion.  Proof.  Not accusations, not generalizations, not theories.  

Family says they were kicked off United Airlines flight because they are Arab-American

BY CHRISTOPHER BRENNAN 

 

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

 

Updated: Friday, April 1, 2016, 11:05 AM

A suburban Chicago family of five says they were kicked off of a United Airlines flight because they are Arab-American.

Eaman-Amy Saad Shebley, her husband and their three young kids were told they had to get off a flight from O’Hare International to Washington, D.C., because of a “safety of flight issue.”

The mother posted a video of her interactions with the plane’s crew on Facebook, and said that “Shame on you ‪#‎unitedAirlines for profiling my family and me for no reason other than how we look.”

She said the incident started when she asked a flight attendant about a harness for her child’s safety seat, and the video shows a flight attendant asking her "what's going on?"

Saad Shebley says before a man who appears to be the pilot comes and decides to kick her and her family off the aircraft.

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EAMAN-AMY SAAD SHEBLEY VIA FACEBOOKEnlarge

Eaman-Amy Saad Shebley says she and her family were kicked off of a flight because they are Arab-American, though crew aboard the aircraft said that the family was booted for a "safety of flight" issue.

Her video has been viewed more than 1,500,000 times and shared on Facebook more than 30,000.

United Airlines said in a statement to WDIV that the family was removed from the planet “because of concerns about their child’s safety seat, which did not comply with federal safety regulations,” and that they were put on a later flight.

However, the family filed a complaint with the Council on American-Islamic Relations about the matter.

CAIR’s Dawud Walid said, “Unfortunately there’s a growing problem on airlines of Muslims being removed from flights when they cause no reasonable security concerns.”