Israel Daily News – War Day 115, January 29, 2024

ILTV Israel News

Video Game on Largest Online Platform Promotes Murder of Israelis; Who Will Act?

Asher Stern

FILE – An aerial view shows the bodies of victims of an attack following a mass infiltration by Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip, lie on the ground in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, in southern Israel, October 10, 2023.

You wouldn’t create a game where you could play the role of the Columbine shooters, bomb the USS Cole, or fly the planes into the World Trade Center. Those atrocities do not have two sides; the line between right and wrong is clear. Yet, according to the creator of the first-person shooter game Fursan al-Aqsa: The Knights of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, this clarity is not applied to the October 7 Hamas massacre.

Fursan was launched in late 2021 on the world’s largest digital gaming distribution platform, Steam. In early December 2023, the game received a gruesome update — one that follows and praises the October 7 Hamas terrorist infiltration of Israel, and the wholesale massacre, rape, torture, and abduction of Israeli citizens, 136 of whom are still being held hostage in Gaza.

This game incites obscene and gratuitous violence against Israelis, with a protagonist whose goal is to murder IDF soldiers under the slogan, “With bullets and blood we will free Palestine” — a known euphemism for the violent destruction of the State of Israel.

Fursan’s creator includes a thinly veiled disclaimer that the game does not promote antisemitism or “terrorism” — but the quotation marks around terrorism indicate just how little he regards the very real terrorism and violence that Israelis endure. Further, one only needs to look at some of the comments on the game, ranging from age-old antisemitic tropes to active support for “resistance” (a code word for terrorism), to gauge this game’s audience.

One specific instance is an exchange from October 9, while Israel was still reeling from Hamas’ brutal attack. A comment reads, “…they made this game in real life,” with the developer responding, ‘”They made a Live Action Trailer… .” For some, the violence that this game promotes may be mere virtual reality, but for Jews, it’s a constant reminder of the genocidal goal of Hamas and other Iranian-funded terror groups: the complete and utter annihilation of Israel.

The availability of Fursan on Steam demonstrates a symptom of a much deeper issue. Yes, freedom of speech and artistic expression are cornerstones of democracy; however, this game crosses all acceptable boundaries. The “resistance” that the game invites its players to join, is the same resistance that raped, murdered, tortured, and kidnapped innocent civilians in the real world.

Games like Fursan provide fertile soil for the growth of hatred, antisemitism, and incitement. It is a rallying cry that sits on one of the largest online gaming platforms in the world, with nothing seemingly being done about it on the part of Steam or its parent company, Valve.

As the world evolves, so do the ways hatred is expressed and cultivated. Extremist groups are increasingly using online gaming platforms both to spread their messages and as a method to recruit members to their ranks. A 2022 study identified Steam itself as having become a hub for such recruitment.

If terror groups utilize Fursan as a recruiting tool, that could place Steam and Valve in violation of Federal anti-terrorism legislation, which comes with serious ramifications, including potential fines and/or imprisonment.

But the most serious ramification is the effect this game can have on its players. By encouraging violence, the game leads to the perpetuation of extremist ideals and the legitimization of terrorism among young adults, which could result in more hate-filled attacks in the US and abroad.

Steam and Valve have a responsibility as a leading global platform for gaming to prevent the abuse of their software for incitement to violence and terror, and remove this game before it’s too late and someone is harmed. The results of incitement, like the October 7 massacre, are no game.

Asher Stern is the Head of Operations at the International Legal Forum, an Israel-based network of over 4,000 lawyers and activists around the world standing up for Israel and combating antisemitism in the international legal arena. He holds a BA in Government, Strategy, and Diplomacy from the IDC and an MA in International Relations from the Hebrew University.

TV7 Israel News – Swords of Iron, Israel at War – Day 112

TV7 Israel News

The UN is a morally decayed institution paving the way for another Holocaust – opinion

MICAH LAKIN AVNI

The UN has deviated from its vision and betrayed its founding principles. It has become a stage for dictators and despots who want to expand their power and influence

,

UNITED NATIONS Secretary-General Antonio Guterres

After Hamas terrorists brutally murdered my father eight years ago, I spoke at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on the dangers of Palestinian incitement to terror. What I witnessed there was shocking and appalling.

I heard dozens of countries attacking Israel with baseless accusations and hateful rhetoric. The blatant antisemitism was horrifying, pure evil. I felt like I was in a nightmare. As I left the United Nations, I was invited to speak at a pro-Israel rally. The first words that came out of my mouth were “We survived Auschwitz as a people, and in there, they are laying the ideological train tracks to put us back in, that’s what’s going on, and that’s what’s been going on for years and years.”

Israel’s “trial” at the International Court of Justice is another painful reminder of this.

The UN was established in 1945 with a noble vision: to ensure international peace and security, foster cooperation and dialogue among nations, and protect human rights and dignity for all people.

Yet, over the years, the UN has deviated from its vision and betrayed its founding principles. It has become a stage for dictators and despots who want to expand their power and influence in the world and undermine true democracies.

The UN has lost its moral authority and credibility and has turned into a hindrance and a burden for the progress of peace, justice, and freedom. On a practical level, it has failed to achieve its goals, as evidenced by the long list of wars and genocides that it could not prevent. If the UN were a business, it would have gone bankrupt long ago; if it were a country, it would have faced a revolution. Sadly, the UN is a complex institution that survives on inertia and the illusion of its founding dream, so it persists.

A PROTEST against the sexual violence committed in the October 7 massacre – and the international silence afterward – takes place outside UN Headquarters in New York City earlier this month. (credit: YAKOV BINYAMIN/FLASH 90)

UN hypocrisy on Iran

One of the most glaring examples of the UN’s moral decay is the recent appointment of Iran as the president of the Conference of Democracy, a body that is supposed to promote democratic values and practices around the world. This is not the first time that the UN has given a platform and a voice to tyrants and dictators while silencing and marginalizing the voices of the oppressed and the persecuted.

The UN’s moral bankruptcy was also evident in its 2018 decision to appoint Iran as the vice-chair of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. Moreover, some of the most notorious women’s rights abusers, such as Iran, Yemen, and Afghanistan, have been chosen or assigned to participate in various UN bodies and committees that are tasked with protecting women’s rights, such as the Commission on the Status of Women, the Human Rights Council, and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.

A protest against the sexual violence committed in the October 7 massacre and the international silence takes place outside the UN headquarters in New York City earlier this month. (credit: YAKOV BINYAMIN/FLASH 90)

FINALLY, THE UN’s bias and hypocrisy are most evident in the disproportionate and unfair treatment of Israel by the UNHRC, a body that is supposed to protect and promote human rights around the world. The UNHRC has adopted more resolutions against Israel than against any other country in the world – and has singled out Israel as the only country subject to a permanent agenda item.

Failing to prevent war

The UN is not only morally bankrupt but also utterly ineffective in fulfilling its mission. Since its creation, it has failed to prevent 478 wars that have ravaged the world in the last 76 years. Many of these wars have been catastrophic, killing over a million people each, such as the Second Congo War, the Soviet-Afghan wars, the Bangladesh Civil War, the Nigerian Civil War, the Vietnam War, the Korean War, and the Second Sudanese Civil War.

It has also betrayed its responsibility to protect the victims of genocide and human rights violations. It has turned a blind eye or minimized the horrors and crimes perpetrated by countries like China, North Korea, Iran, and Venezuela, and the agony and displacement of millions of people in places like Rwanda, Darfur, Syria, and Myanmar.

The UN has failed to live up to its noble goals of maintaining peace and security, protecting human rights, and fostering cooperation among nations. Instead, it has become a platform for demonizing and delegitimizing Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East, and undermining Western civilization and the free world. Israel, as a proud and sovereign nation, should not tolerate the UN’s double standards and discrimination.

We cannot sit by idly while the UN paves the way for another Holocaust. 

It is time for Israel, a vibrant and resilient democracy, to withdraw from the UN and lead an initiative to create a new institution with other democracies that share our values and vision. Israel has an opportunity to fulfill its biblical mission as a “light unto the nations” and lead the way for a new and values-based international forum that promotes democracy and real human rights.

Some might argue that leaving the UN would isolate Israel from the international community and expose it to its enemies. They might also say that Israel relies on the UN’s recognition of our sovereignty and legitimacy. 

U.S. seeks humanitarian pause for Gaza – TV7 Israel News 24.01

TV7 Israel News