Game on hawkish Israeli news site invites kids to ‘neutralize’ terrorists
‘Beat the Terrorist’ players hit attackers with umbrellas, selfie sticks, or nunchaku — all used by Israelis to fend off recent attacks
The hawkish Israel National News (Arutz 7) website gave its readers the chance to play a game called “Beat the Terrorist,” which encourages players to “neutralize” potential stabbers using nunchaku, an umbrella or a selfie stick – all makeshift weapons that have actually been employed by vigilant Israeli civilians to defeat attackers over the past two months.
In the game, the knife-wielding Palestinians appear at the top of the screen and the player must use the mouse to stop them.
The weapon used is not chosen by the player, but rather switches automatically between the three choices. The attackers also randomly hold a knife, a Molotov cocktail or a gun.
A player has three strikes, marked at the top of the screen by three red Stars of David.
The aim of the game is to strike the enemies before they reach the bottom of the screen – where they disappear into an image of the Tower of David in Jerusalem, the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron or the Azrieli Towers in Tel Aviv.
The red stamp with the word “neutralized” mimics police statements issued after terror attacks, when terrorists are disarmed but reports are still unclear on whether they have been arrested either unharmed, injured or dead.
The background of the screen includes the logo of “yeladudes,” INN’s webpage for children, the text “Let the IDF win” – a popular right wing slogan – and a graffiti with a Star of David and the words “Am Yisrael Chai” (the people of Israel live on).
INN told the Yedioth Ahronoth paper that the game is gaining in popularity, having been introduced a few days ago.
“This is a game created in the wake of the wave of Arab terrorism, and in light of the ingenuity shown by Israeli citizens who seek to disarm the murderous terrorists. We are having an editorial discussion on whether to move the game from the ‘yeladudes’ channel to the leisure section of the main site,” an INN employee told the paper.
In mid-October, Hamas launched a video game in which the player is urged to stab as many Jews as they can, in order to “protect the Al-Aqsa Mosque.” The mosque appears in an image at the bottom of the screen, damaged, and with each Jew who is stabbed, it is “repaired” a little more. The Hamas game is part of a media campaign the terror group has been running since the recent wave of stabbing and car-ramming attacks began some seven weeks ago. In other clips, instructions are given on how to inflict maximum harm when stabbing a person. One particularly graphic propaganda clip shows a young man stabbing two stereotypical images of Jews moments after they are seen taunting a young Palestinian girl.
