Israelis, Palestinians just hunting Pokemon, acclaimed historian says

In an interview published in The Atlantic, Hebrew University historian and thinker Yuval Harari, author of the new book “Homo Deus,” compares the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to augmented reality game Pokemon Go.

Yuval Noah Harari (Courtesy)

“Recently I went with my nephew to hunt Pokémon. We were walking down the street and a bunch of kids approached us. They were also hunting Pokemon. My nephew and these children got into a bit of a fight because they were trying to capture the same invisible creatures. It seemed strange to me. But these Pokémon were very real to the children. And then it hit me: This is just like the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” he says in the interview.

“I look at the stones of buildings in Jerusalem and I just see stones. But Christians, Jews, and Muslims who look at the same stones see a holy city. It’s their imagination, but they are willing to kill for it. That’s virtual reality, too,” he adds

This is not the first time Harari has used Pikachu and Co. to explain an idea. In a 2016 interview, he made the same point, though he made do with comparing the game only to organized religion.