Francois

A good general overview of where American International Relations/Middle East politics meets with Computer games.

http://www.1up.com/do/feature?pager.offset=1&cId=3153332

One intersting game on this site is Afkar media's UnderAsh

UnderAsh and it's sequel are about the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict. (With an "anti-zionist" bent) as can be expected from a Syrian Publishing company

These Images are of UnderSiege

Underash's creator, Afkar media (Damascus) is a private company with this mission statement: "To communicate with Mankind all over the world and let them breathe the peaceful truth and tolerance of our civilization, as a way to face up [to] the negative stereotypes that have been pursuing us throughout the past decades" and "to communicate with Moslems in a way that respects their colorful heritage and spiritual privacy as a way to get them out of the shell they were put in and enrich the civilization of the 21st century with a touch of justice, acceptance, and love."

here is another site comparing America's army with UnderAsh

http://www-ugs.csusb.edu/honors/02/ResTravis.htm

A quote from the UGS site about UnderAsh: When your character dies the point is driven home in a harsh manner with the brief appearance of a message stating, "You Got Shot ..Now they will recognize your ID They will torture your family and destroy your house Try Again"

This is a quote from the BBC site on the game http://http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2019677.stm

"In later stages, the young Ahmad acquires light weapons, shoots Israeli settlers and lowers an Israeli flag. He rescues wounded Palestinians shot by the Zionists, as Israelis are called in the game, and eventually he joins the fighting against the Israelis occupying South Lebanon. But suicide bombings are out. The game is surprisingly real. If Ahmad gets shot, he dies. There is no miracle cure. If he shoots civilians, the game is also over. A lot of young players have complained that the game is too difficult. There is also no ultimate victory against the Israelis. "Under Ash is about history. So in our modern history there is no solution for the conflicts and the game is some kind of a mirror," Mr Qasmiyya explains. "There is no solution for Ahmad's case. At the last level of the game, there will be no major victory or reclaiming lands.""

It's interesting that even in a game there is no victory for Palestinians, not even a fantasy one. Also the BBC website points out that Arab support for the Palestinians remains largely virtual, rather than real.

In this sense the game is more "real/historical" and a tool for showing what it is like to be a young Palestinian, (IE frustrating, with victory not really a possiblity.) One gets the sense that America's army is a recruiting tool, but This game is more trying to integrate people into a history, (even if that history is propagandized.)

The game creator says that in UnderSiege there are no heroes, 3 out of 5 of the characters die, and that the game is hard, (after all what real-world chance do the Palestinian militants have agains Israeli soldiers.)