Under Ash and its sequel, Under Siege, were created to “counterbalance the poisonous ideas conveyed by American video games to [Arab] children,” according to Middle East Online. Your Palestinian avatar throws stones at Israeli soldiers and, if you’re crafty enough, you can kill everyone at an army base. Plus, the game’s designers stress the fact that the game’s violence is aimed only at Israeli soldiers, not citizens.
"Thank you Ahmed, but the medical aid is in another mosque!"
An extra 200 points if you hit the Star of David on his head.
On the other side of the checkpoints, high-tech Israel is curiously devoid of game developers, but Israeli teens can enjoy American imports like Army of Two and Call of Duty 4 for all their Arab-bashing needs.
A post-9/11 wet dream, Soldiers fight armed Arabs in hand-to-hand combat, and win.
And for those ambivalent about the war on terror, "friendly fire" appears to be an option.
For you peaceniks, there’s the strategy game PeaceMaker. Devised by two American students, this one has gamers assume the role of either Israeli or Palestinian leader, and must achieve peace through a two-state solution while dealing with the short term violence and civil unrest. We know what we’re getting Netanyahu and Abbas this holiday season.
Jihad to A4.
And if you find that political correctness nauseating, Comedy Central offers Drawn Together: The Movie: The Game, in which the “Dirty Jew Producer” orders a player-controlled robot named I.S.R.A.E.L. to mow down all Drawn Together characters. Get it? This protesting Facebook group sure didn’t.
Even as a robot, I.S.R.A.E.L. is a juggernaut -- a foxy lady juggernaut.
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