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'Virtual' Mideast peace as hard as real thing

Posted: Tuesday, November 27, 2007 10:50 AM
Filed Under:

By Paul Goldman, NBC News Producer

TEL AVIV, Israel

Are you a world leader? Do you have what it takes to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? Are you willing to make bold moves for peace?

 

In a new interactive game being distributed this week by the independent, Tel Aviv-based Peres Center for Peace, you can do it all. You can bring peace to the Middle East by implementing a two-state solution and on the way visit Oslo, Norway, to pick up your Noble Prize. It’s that easy.

 

As their political leaders gather in Annapolis, Md., in the latest round of U.S.-led negotiations, the new computer game, appropriately called PeaceMaker, grants ordinary Israelis and Palestinians the opportunity to play the role of peace-broker on their own personal computers.

 

Be a peacemaker
After a short installation, players can choose their preferred language and which leader they want to be. The game gives two options: either Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert or Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

 

I selected Abbas and a full-frame 3-D map of the region opened up. My goal was to balance the concerns of internal Palestinian factions, as well as the world community, while establishing a true partnership with Israel.

 

A red flashing circle on the game’s map indicates a violent incident. In my game, a spot in the Gaza Strip lights up and I have a (virtual) crisis on my hands: an Israeli tank killed 18 Palestinians. Action is needed immediately.

 

The game presents players with three options: security, politics and construction. After the incident in Gaza, I click on the security tab and decide to maintain order by boosting the police presence.

 

My national approval rating immediately falls by a point. But, on the bright side, my world approval is up by three. Oslo, here I come.

The cover for the new Mideast strategy game.
Peres Center for Peace

 

My next step is initiating joint Israeli-Palestinian patrols, which, it is hoped, will build trust between the two sides in the long run. Easier said than done.

 

I receive a message that the Israelis are turning down this initiative and accusing me of being in league with militant groups. Life is not easy in the fast lane.

 

I now decide to give a peace speech and choose to deliver a message of "believing in making Gaza an oasis of stability…"

 

Uh-oh! National approval rating is back to its starting point: zero.

 

Goodbye, Nobel
Another flashing red light appears in the West Bank town of Jenin. It turns out that members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade launched an attack on an Israeli tank. My national approval goes up to three points but world approval is down minus 35.

 

Bye-bye Oslo.

 

The game goes on with real-life situations and events, making it far more difficult to achieve success than in many of today's popular computer war games, in which gamers' success is determined by how many (virtual) people they kill.

 

In this interactive game, players -- just like their real-life political counterparts in Annapolis -- wade through the political and security intricacies of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict only to find that, when suicide bombers and tanks are involved, there is no easy path to peace.

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Comments

Is there a version of the game where Islam secularizes, becomes democratic, give equal rights to women, renounces violence, imprisons all who incite terrorism, allows freedom of religion, and free and open press? Perhaps schools in the Palestinian areas should incorporate such a version in their curriculum.

rob from oakland, ca. (Sent Tuesday, November 27, 2007 11:36 AM)

I see that this game even comes with virtual propaganda.

Kate (Sent Tuesday, November 27, 2007 11:49 AM)

Do you have a link to this game?

PM, Pgh, PA (Sent Tuesday, November 27, 2007 1:31 PM)

So, is this simulation available to the public?  How do you get it?

Steve S., Springfield, Ill. (Sent Tuesday, November 27, 2007 1:38 PM)

So where is the game?  And I notice that it has 'security' for an option, what about something more aggresive, such as 'military'?  Is all out war a possibility, or does the game operate under the false pretext that peace is the only viable solution for a end to the violence?

Tim, Tulsa, OK (Sent Tuesday, November 27, 2007 1:43 PM)

So what's the game called? How widely available is it?

Andy DeKalb, Il (Sent Tuesday, November 27, 2007 1:52 PM)

Sounds like a boring game. I don't think I would get a thrill by playing "Sims: Fascist v. Anarchist". I will stick with Quake 4. At least in Quake, you can easily identify who the bad guys are, and at least there are some good guys too. I am sure Quake has better weapons too. I would rather frag a few Stroggs with the grenade launcher than bulldoze a Palestinian lean-to that would fall down on its own in a strong wind.

Peace in the Middle East is a dream. It could be a reality, but there is no profit in it. That is why all efforts to date have failed, and why this latest round will fail. They aren't intended to succeed. They are intended to give the impression that there is hope for success. It is the old carrot on the string, and the United States is the donkey that keeps trudging along, investing billions, thinking just one more step and I will have it.

Mongo Lloyd, Devonia, o-HI-o (Sent Tuesday, November 27, 2007 1:57 PM)

Where did you find this game?

Michael, Atlanta, GA (Sent Tuesday, November 27, 2007 2:07 PM)

Is this game available for download.  Its a wonderful idea, and something I believe to entire world should have access to.

brandon, l.a., ca (Sent Tuesday, November 27, 2007 2:17 PM)

Where can I find this game?  Is this for PC, can this be downloaded from the internet?

Mike Scharpenberg (Sent Tuesday, November 27, 2007 2:25 PM)

I would like to play this as well...Please give us a link!

Reghart (Sent Tuesday, November 27, 2007 2:40 PM)

More importantly is there a version of this game in English?

Ben, Washington, DC (Sent Tuesday, November 27, 2007 2:46 PM)

I played the game and tried giving the Palestinians Gaza and the West Bank, but just after we signed the accord, the game blew up my TV, quickly spread the fire to my couch, and eventually burned down my house. Virtually.

Vic (Sent Tuesday, November 27, 2007 2:52 PM)

The game is called PeaceMaker.  You can find it on google and buy it for about 20$.

Tim, Chicago (Sent Tuesday, November 27, 2007 2:53 PM)

can you send me a link to this game?  I don't think the article actually gives a name for the game.

Paul (Sent Tuesday, November 27, 2007 2:59 PM)

You can find a downloadable demo version here>

http://www.peacemakergame.com/demo.php

Mark Pax (Sent Tuesday, November 27, 2007 3:05 PM)

A good idea but I agree with Mongo Lloyd... not a reality.  Take the business and profit out of war and I bet you'll have fewer wars - make peace big business, and profitable, and you'll have more peace - they should put that in the game.  War is big business.

Eric, AJ, AZ (Sent Tuesday, November 27, 2007 3:32 PM)

It's at:
www.peacemakergame.com/

Max - GO MU (Sent Tuesday, November 27, 2007 3:39 PM)

There is a free demo availalbe for the game at http://www.peacemakergame.com/ which only allows the player to participate in eight moves, or the game can be purchased at the same site for twenty dollars. I have personally purchased it and would highly recommend anyone who is interested to do the same!

Brandon, Toronto, Canada (Sent Tuesday, November 27, 2007 3:41 PM)

It's never fun to play a game that you can't win.

Adam, NYC (Sent Tuesday, November 27, 2007 4:49 PM)

Is this a real game or is it a social experiment.  Look at the responses you got.  Ten out of 17 responders want a "freebie" link to the game of some sort and the majority of the other seven want the "nuke'em till they glow" variant of the game.
After reading the article I was stunned by the response.

Ghostwhowalks, Deep in Darkest Africa (Sent Tuesday, November 27, 2007 5:04 PM)

Mid East Peace. Intresting concept, but totally impossible. As long as there is oil to steal and guns to sell and poor third world people to blow-up there can be no peace. Greed is the driver and instability the vehicle.

Pacheck, Huntington Beach, Ca. (Sent Tuesday, November 27, 2007 5:09 PM)

Quite frankly peace over there is not possible. How can you get muslims to live in peace with a neighbor(Israel) that they have nothing in common with when they have killed each other (muslims) for thousands of years when they do have much in common?

bill, Jax,Fl (Sent Tuesday, November 27, 2007 5:22 PM)

I'm thinkin' the "game" is sarcasm..........No link is necessary.

Patrick Buckles (Sent Tuesday, November 27, 2007 5:24 PM)

I have a game. Carpet nuke everything from Israel to China, minus India, and a great deal of trouble will be laid to rest. Actually, you can throw Turkey into that mix as well.

steve mahmoud (Sent Tuesday, November 27, 2007 5:42 PM)

Peace among Israelis and Palestinians is a virtual reality...you can dream about it, simulate it in a computer game but it just wont ever be a reality...too many are against it and too few are truly willing to sacrifice for it!  

Alan, Wahington DC. (Sent Tuesday, November 27, 2007 5:42 PM)

http://www.peacemakergame.com/game.php

That is the link for the main page of the game website.  I actually found it when it first came out about 3 or 4 months ago.

John, Cherry Hill, NJ (Sent Tuesday, November 27, 2007 5:54 PM)

GhostWhoWalks -
I read the first 17 posts. Your facts are wrong. In the first seventeen posts, there were NO demands for a free game, where you state 17 out of 10 asked for a free game link. You then state that out of the other 7 (out of 17 posts), the majority espoused the "nuke 'em til they glow" approach. By my count, there were ZERO people in the first 17 posts who espoused that view. Only one person out of 27 total posts has expressed that view.

You are "stunned" by the response? I would think so, since you obviously were so shaken up to misread all these posts, and subsequently quote facts which aren't facts. Do you happen to work for BushCO by chance? If not, maybe you should!

Valium works. Try it. You appear to need a few tabs.

Mongo Lloyd, Devonia, o-HI-o (Sent Tuesday, November 27, 2007 8:00 PM)

Peace is possible, but our friends in the Middle East need to figure out how to get to the point of trust.  All the talk is about how the Palestinians need to stop with their "terrorist" tactics (as if they prefer belt bombs over having the opportunity to play army vs. army on an even scale) but there is so little talk about how much trust would be built if Israel would just stop expanding settlements.  Not dismantle for now, just stop expanding.  Stop expropriating land, etc.

Of course, isn't it always convenient that our allies weaken moderates allowing radicals to take over power so that we can continue oppression.

Defenestrator, Seattle, Wash (Sent Tuesday, November 27, 2007 10:04 PM)

Scientists have recently discovered that the Rubiks cube can always be solved in only 26 moves, no matter how diabolical the arrangement seems.

Peace in the Holy Land and in fact the world is like the Rubiks Cube. There is a solution. It will take very clever and gifted people to make the right moves and work out how to tackle the problems. But G-d has given us the tools collectively to resolve the problems and to transfrom the world into a literal Ganeden. I can prove that this can be achieved by the year 2050. I am willing to deabate and prove the following facts with anyone.

(1) The universe is stable, benevolent, ordered and expansive.
(2) Violence is not innate from birth.
(3) There is enough of everything on Planet Earth to provide for 6 billion people a reasonable standard of living.
(4) Scarcity is a mindset.

Adam Neira (Sent Tuesday, November 27, 2007 11:05 PM)

I would just like to add more questions asked by rob from oakland, ca. Does the game (i would guess not) include history of Palestine as we know it from not only Romans' time, but at least from the Balfour declaration of palestine (western and eastern)as a land for "Jewish home"? What if Jordan did not exist? What if the British allowed free jewish immigration? What if there were not Hebron pogroms of 1929? etc., etc. Add here history of relations between labor (Ben Gurion) and Likud (Jabotinsky) - an you get a $150 game with no posibility win the game of peace (only may be an Oslo aggreement)

alec, NY, NYS (Sent Wednesday, November 28, 2007 12:53 AM)

I've just seen the trailer of "Die in Jerusalem". Why is it all (or at least the most)the movies/stories, etc. about the conflict are made by the israelies, not the arabs, who've got much more money. This question, i guess, brings us to the same questions asked by rob from oakland, ca.

Alec (Sent Wednesday, November 28, 2007 1:29 AM)

The latest intafada was started over Jerusalem, all parties should be required to renounce their claims to the city and it should become the first international city. All current parties seem to be able to only continue the bloodshed.

D. Freeman Lincoln, Ca. (Sent Wednesday, November 28, 2007 1:40 AM)

Unfortunatly,  World Peace lies in what we teach our children.  Parents and teachers hold the worlds future in their hands.  We need to teach the worlds children to respect others and their beliefs.  This can't happen because as adults we do not do this.  We cant teach our children what we dont know how to do thus we have created an endless cycle that may never be broken.  There are many paths life can lead us down.  Some are better than others;  but none should be named wrong for they are the path we have taken.

Richard, Lyndonville, VT (Sent Wednesday, November 28, 2007 3:12 AM)

A game is not needed, the answer is so simple. Simply, apologize, then make up for any wrong that had been done. This way both sides will win peace.

Aleta, Monterey CA (Sent Wednesday, November 28, 2007 4:32 AM)

I see that this blog also comes with propaganda...

J Zelcer (Sent Wednesday, November 28, 2007 5:47 AM)

It's a ridiculous game. People like war games because they get to kill all their enemies virtually and there's a way to win. Virtually making peace with your enemies and not killing them is just boring, especially since, at the end of this game, your enemies are still going to be there.  This game sounds like politically correct indoctrination of the "Can't We All Just get Along" BS. As a matter fact, no, we can't all just get along. We never have and never will. We're a habitually violent species. That's why war games, war movies, and books about wars are entertaining. We like seeing our enemies getting defeated. It's too bad that in the real world Americans have lost the desire to defeat their enemies, because history shows that a nation that isn't a danger to others is always a danger to itself.

As for the Middle East, no matter what the Isrealis give to the Palestinians, the Palestinians will always want more. And if Isreal ever loses he will to defeat its enemies, it will cease to exist. Only liberal idealists think that there's such a thing as a lasting peace. And there will be no peace in the world as long as radical Muslims control the Islamic world.      

Islam Is the Enemy (Sent Wednesday, November 28, 2007 5:58 AM)

to Mongo Loyd...perhaps you never studied history...when you state that " there will never be peace in the Middle East because there is no profit in it "...there was no monetary profit in WWII ...it was fought for moral and ideological reasons....the evil of Stalin and Hitler...many died so pitiful characterless wimps like you could enjoy life and freedom...do your homework...the Muslim Radicals have vowed openly to kill the "Infidels"...and end the Jewish State....we are fighting the next form of evil  to come down the road...

Virginia Kellenberger (Sent Wednesday, November 28, 2007 6:35 AM)

Make jerusalem an international city by moving U.N. headquarters there forcing israelis and palestinians to choose another place for their capitols. jerusalem belongs to the world not just jews and arabs. taking jerusalem out of the equation simplifies the peace process. Mandate the U.N. to keep the peace and guarantee access to all be they jew, arab or christian.

Thomas, Lexington, Ky (Sent Wednesday, November 28, 2007 8:29 AM)

Middle East Peace is easy. First, we mandate all hydrogen cars by the end of the decade, wean ourseleves of Arab oil, and pull our military out of the Middle East. Let 'em have at it, and we'll play nice with whoever wins.

Face it, the only reason we care is because we need their oil. They all hate eachother, there is nothing we can do to stop 2000 years of hate and retribution, so why bother. Divest ourselves of the whole situation and let them at it.

Jimbo (Sent Wednesday, November 28, 2007 8:00 PM)

I disagree with the sentiment that this game isn't fun because it is "Can't We All Get Along?".  There is another VERY similar game called "Balance of Power" from 1985.  It's about leading the US against the USSR in the cold war.  You use a combination of diplomacy, covert action, foreign aid, and military action both direct and indirect to further your nation's standing in the world.  I would recommend giving it a try.  Do a google search for it.

Mark, Dallas, Texas (Sent Wednesday, November 28, 2007 10:17 PM)

Peace in the holy land can be achieved if Israel allows a more visable internation presence there. The United Nations has to take a more serious involvement in the peace process by backing up it's resolutions with a committed effort to stabilize the area. This would require peacekeepers and economic investments along with rebuilding infrastructure and educational institutions.

steve h. north andover,ma. (Sent Wednesday, November 28, 2007 11:03 PM)

There can be no peace between Arabs and Jews as long as the United States supports, or at least looks the other way, whenever the Jewish state breaks a U.N. resolution. There can be no peace as long as we sell munitions to every player in the area.

Does anyone else ask why our government gives Israel billions to resettle Russian Jews in settlements that are illegal? Does anyone ask why our government vetos every negative vote in the U.N. that is leveled at Israel?

The United States should have more than a hand in the peace process as it has had a very heavy one in creating the problems that have existed for the last 50 odd years.

Robert Flannery, Tacoma, Washington (Sent Thursday, November 29, 2007 12:41 AM)

Most,if not all wars can be stopped if RELIGION were nonexistant. Thank my Gods that won't happen. We must kill the nonbelivers. Damn, any time I walk (or rather run) by a house of worship, all I hear is the screams of torture.
The solution should be obvious-- Fence in the countries (religions) involved and supply them with ammo until they don't exist

Ed Halpen, Phuket, Thailand (Sent Thursday, November 29, 2007 2:20 AM)



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