Yesterday we gave a litany of pop cultural areas where rank anti-Semitism seems – if not OK – then definitely not worth taking seriously. Fashion, music, and industry were some of the areas. We got this one from Soccer Dad about video games a while back, but in some ways it illustrates exactly what’s wrong with these double standards:
Daniel Wakin’s Sunday story from Beirut gives some free publicity to a video game issued by the terrorist group Hezbollah. The object of the game? Killing as many Jews as possible, including Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Wakin… describes the actual game play: “In one game situation, the player fires simulated pistols and Kalashnikov rifles, seeking to infiltrate an Israeli military position. The opportunities for martyrdom, from exploding land mines and snipers, are rife. ‘Uou must oppose, confront and destroy the machines of the Zionist enemy and remind them that entering Lebanese villages is not a stroll,’ the text reads. The session ends with a medal awarded by the leader of Hezbollah, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah. The packaging says the game seeks to show ‘the defeat of the Israeli enemy and the heroic actions taken by the heroes of the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon.’”‘ It sounds like Wakin actually played “Special Force.” That could be a sign of hands-on reporting, but I rather doubt a Times reporter would bother to play a game issued by, say, white supremacists.
Forget white supremacists: can you imagine the insanity – the literally decades of academic demonization – that would occur if anything like this came out in Israel? The cries of racism? The insinuations of Israeli inhumanity? This would be in anti-Israel textbooks until the end of time. And remember: Israel is the side that was actually attacked in the last war.
Previously: Double Standard Watch, Chinese Support for Hamas – Not So Much Blindingly Hypocritical as Confidently Unworried, EU Diplomacy with Hezbollah Yields Typical Results; Regional War Possible
