MIDDLE EAST: "Muslim massacre" game stirs debate

A new computer game promoting “modern religious genocide” against followers of the Islamic faith is causing an uproar among Muslims in the Arab world and elsewhere.

According to media reports, the game, "Muslim Massacre" (available on a website that appeared to be down Monday morning), allows players to be in control of an “American hero” on a mission to kill bearded Muslims and suicide bombers using a machine gun and a rocket launcher.

On the game’s website, the creator, identified only as Sigvatr, encourages Internet users to “take control of the American hero and wipe out the Muslim race with an arsenal of the world’s most destructive weapons.”

The game is said to be inspired by the "war on Islam" declared by the United States.

“Don’t be a liberal...! Download the game now,” reads the promotional ad on the game’s frontpage.

As the game progresses, the hero takes off to the Middle East and tries to hunt down Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, the Prophet Mohammed and finally Allah.

An article on the game published recently on the website of the Arab TV channel, Al Arabiya, received mixed reactions from Arab readers. Some condemned the game for attacking Islam while others saw it as a reaction to extreme Islamists.

One commenter urged Muslims around the world to stop the game. “If it were a game showing Muslims killing Israelis, the whole world would have sought revenge,” a comment read. 

“We should rather object to the crimes of terrorists killing in the name of resistance and Jihad, rather than object to killing in a game,” another commentator said.

According to Al Arabiya, the game’s website was been blocked by some Arab states.

In an opinion article published last week by the United Arab Emirates daily, Gulf News, the newspaper's associate editor, Nicholas Coates, said that the game is the result of a misunderstanding of Islam:

"What is it with such persons that they need to exacerbate an already sensitive situation?... It is a sure-fire way to incite hatred against one's fellow persons of a particular religious persuasion. It is invidious in its concept and it is invidious that it is available to everyone on the Internet. But apparently there is nothing that can be done to have it removed."

The game has also caused an uproar among members of the Muslim community in the United Kingdom. The Ramadhan Foundation, a British Muslim charity organization, said the game glorified the killing of Muslims in the Middle and inciting violence.

The head of the organization, Mohammed Shafiq, said in a statement released last week on the foundation's website:

“Encouraging children and young people in a game to kill Muslims is unacceptable, tasteless and deeply offensive. There is an increase in violence in this country and some of it comes from video games. When kids spend six hours a day on violent games they are more likely to go outside and commit violence.”

-- Raed Rafei in Beirut

Photo: Screenshot from the computer game "Muslim Massacre," taken from the game's website.

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Comments

[Amillennialist]

What do you do with Muhammad and his allah then, Masem?

For it was Muhammad himself who related and practiced, "kill the unbelievers wherever you find them."

And again, Islam is not a race.

[Masem]

it's a shame that we are living in a world where killing another human-being has become a source of entertainment....em a Muslim n I kno i wont kill anyone in the name of God even if sum1 shot me dead fer not doin so....n i kno no other Muslim would do so....jst because a certain faction of extremists who we Muslims not even consider to be a part of us is sheddin blood doesnt mean dat all de Muslims should be made to pay fer it... yes there r differences but dat doesnt mean dat one should just look to get rid of de other.... games like these r not goin to help us fer the betterment...but r goin to cause more violence n animosity amongst those who in reality r not even involved in dis race-based war.... i wish fer a better future.... coz all i kno is... no matter whether u r a jew, a christian or a muslim like me.... we all share de same Red blood.... i hope this war ends soon before we get the End we have been lookin so hard to get upon ourselves..... God bless us all

[Amillennialist]

"black" is a level of melanin; Islam is an ideology requiring the enslavement or slaughter of all who refuse the "invitation" to convert. The two are not equivalent.

If Muslims want non-Muslims to end "Islamophobia," they ought to stop killing for Allah.

Why is it that for all the protesting Muslims do, it's never against the "tiny minority of extremists," but against non-Muslims trying to defend themselves?

[Mark Simmons]

For all the talk, let's move it up a notch and have the guy make a game called "Black Massacre" and then for all the people whining about the games or whining about the complaints to see what uproar is really about.

[Amillennialist]

Speaking of "murderous sentiments," why aren't Muslims and their Useful Idiot Dhimmis and Appeasers upset about real hate like, "kill the unbelievers wherever you find them" (Qur'an 9:5), and, "I have been made victorious with terror" (Bukhari 4:52:220)?

[Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich]

Under PUBLIC LAW 108–332—OCT. 16, 2004
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=108_cong_public_laws&docid=f:publ332.108.pdf The United States government broadens its definition of anti-Semitism to cover any criticism of Israel, or if it includes such definitions as "Jews controlling the media, economy, government or other societal institutions," or "accusing Jewish citizens of being more loyal to Israel, or to the alleged priorities of Jews worldwide, than to the interests of their own nations," and offers education to combat "anti-Semitism" and fight such "conspiracies". It is basically an anti-Semitic law which means that Israel, the lobby, or anything or anyone associated with Israel should not be criticized.

Yet, the United States Government which declared under the guidance of neo-Zionist Bernard Lewis, Dick Cheney’s associate who immediately after 9/11 brainwashed the Americans into a war of religions – a crusade by hammering home the concept of Jihad and Crusade with his editorials -- one explaining to the American people the “revolt of Islam” and the other “learning the lingo, explaining the concepts of crusade and jihad”- is shamelessly sitting aside watching these genocidal games being played out, prepping the people for the real action by the trained militias.

Is there no more shame left on this planet?

[American]

The creator of this game is an idiot. Muslim is a Faith; a Religion, NOT a race. There's no way to, "Kill the Muslim Race." Fact of the matter is, 80% of people who practice the Muslim religion are Not of Middle Eastern decent. Second, this game IS disgusting. It does promote violence and discrimination. There may have been a game where George W. Bush was the 'bad guy', but these days what American or other worldwide occupant would disagree? Seriously. AND.... Middle Eastern decent= lineage. Muslim= religion. Believe me when I say if the game your comparing this to was a 'kill the christians' game, there WOULD be an uproar. Again... COMPLETE idiot.

[Bill]

The creator of the game says the following:
"Sorry Muslims, I sympathize with the discrimination against you but you just need to learn to ignore people who upset you. Everyone does it, it's not just a Muslim thing."

I think I agree with him. A while back a game was made called " Night of Bush Capturing" where the objective was to fight American soldiers and eventually to kill the boss, George W. Bush. There was no global uproar, most people thought it was stupid and ignored it.

[allah]

may allah have mercy on all americans

[SAS]

This game is just plain disgusting. It incites hatred and violence.

But there is a silver lining to the cloud of the murderous sentiments depicted in this kind of video game. Were this video game to become widely accepted and bought, and if such activities were to be condoned by the US govt, next time they would try to pressure Middle Eastern governments to censor their media and press to weed out ``extremism'', those govts could turn around and say - look if you tolerate this kind of material under the auspices of the First Amendment, then do not expect us to censor our media to appease you.

So I think this video game helps expose the moral weakness of the US position when it calls on Middle Eastern governments to root out extremism.