This is considered an unusual event, even at a time when reality insists on challenging its own logic: Last week, an angry pro-Palestinian mob, holding Saudi and Palestinian flags and wearing military uniforms, attacked Israelis, including children, shouting and firing firearms. At one point, grenades were also thrown at him. But the scene depicted did not take place on the streets of London, Spain or Los Angeles, cities where the response to the Iron Sword War brought thousands of residents to the streets.
The current battle between Israel and Hamas is more than ever expressed by each side in the conflict, and in this case, after seeping into every corner of social media, it has also bled into Brookhaven, a beloved video game in the Roblox universe, a place where gamers can lead virtual lives parallel to their own. And if the '90s generation escaped reality with avatars played mostly in games like The Sims, the current generation of computer players does so on platforms like Roblox, where they can build, drive cars, and lead entire urban lives in a parallel universe.
Lately, however, it seems that even there, a seemingly escapist ex-territory that offers an alternative life, there is no escaping the horrors of October 7.
Image from the online platform "Roblox". military uniforms, Hamas and Palestinian flags,
"It's not just from now on. I've been experiencing this for years," says Shahar Haddad, content creator at Call of Duty, a multiplayer action and shooter game. "I'm also a competitive player, and we got a lot of rejections to play in tournaments around the world because we are Jews and Israelis. This is really anti-Semitism. I've been in the field for three years and feel like it's happening almost on a daily basis."
How do you experience antisemitism at Call of Duty?
"Let's start with the fact that for quite a while it was not possible to choose the Israeli flag as a kind of cosmetics for your game. We got to the point where we sent letters to Activision, which is the creator of Call of Duty, and in the end somehow we were taken into consideration and added Israeli flags to the game, after years of no such possibility. Lately, most Israelis, even those who are not Israeli and simply support us, have been using the flag in the game, and they receive messages in the chat from other players such as "I wish you would die, you Jew", or use the hashtag "Free Palestine".
Shahar Haddad, content creator: "When they see our flag, they write me Fuck Israel. There are also more terrible things, like I wish you would die in gas. They send bots on me, but also real people write to me, 'Jews, beware, Muhammad's army will return.'"
"You enter the game, there are random people with you who join you, and many times when they see our flag, they write me Fuck Israel. There are also more terrible things, like I wish you would die in gas. I also livestream my games on TikTok and other platforms, and send bots about me, but also real people, who write to me, 'Jews, beware, Muhammad's army will be back.' In my field, if they know you're from Israel, other players from around the world say, 'This guy won't get far,' and they put brakes on you."
"Hope they put you in the gas" - Nazza while playing,
Have you lost any friendships you've made in the game over the years?
"Yes, there were some I played with and after the war broke out I just discovered their true face. For example, a Canadian actress, who is well known for her Call of Duty scene, started tweeting against Israel. I sent her a private message to ask why, and she told me that she was originally from Lebanon and her mother was half Palestinian. I found myself explaining to her for half an hour that the information she had about the conflict was wrong, but I realized that there was no one to talk to and that it was impossible to change her worldview after the brainwashing she had undergone. Two days later, I found out that she had blocked me on all platforms.
"There was also a guy from London who cursed Israel, and when I said to him, 'Dude, this is gaming, why are you ranting?' I also got to connect with someone in the game who I heard had an Arabic accent and I flowed. After five minutes of killing a lot of people in a game and going really well, he asked me where I was from and I answered. He asked again, I answered again, and then I heard a hang-up noise. He just walked out of the game. This happens a lot, to almost every Israeli. It's like a boycott. Just like in judo there are Iranian contestants who don't go to battle against an Israeli, so it's the same in gaming. They're just full of hatred."
Sharpen. "They're just full of hatred,"
Hate speech - also in FIFA
Yogev Makhlouf, 33, a gaming YouTuber and owner of the Yogi channel, also encountered expressions of hatred - this time on the virtual soccer field of the FIFA game. "Even before the war, the gaming world was not escapist. Maybe for a normative person, but not for someone who lives in the reality we live in," he says.
"Now in war, you feel it much more, and it comes down to messages in private. This is another level altogether. I hardly check my messages anymore. I lost a childhood friend who was murdered at a bad guy party. I've tried to escape a bit into gaming, and that's not always possible. As soon as you see that you're from Israel, you start receiving hateful messages, Fuck Israel, death wishes, all kinds of anti-Semitic things."
Are there also those who refuse to play with you?
"There are situations where the computer chooses an opponent to play against, and when it sees that you're from Israel, it leaves the game. In a normal world this should give you a technical victory, but in FIFA it's not quite like that. So you just go to the lobby screen and start the procedure of searching for a player all over again. It happens quite a bit."
"The expressions of hatred against Israelis that we see today on social networks such as Facebook and Instagram are relatively limited, because there is a certain possibility of identifying the users. In gaming, you're usually completely anonymous, so this whole thing is about steroids," says Ido Brosh, a well-known gaming personality and chairman of the Israel Competitive Gaming Association.
"I run an association that deals with everything related to gaming games against each other, not against the computer. In these games today, a person with a mind sheds Israeli trappings when he enters the game, otherwise even people on his team will work against him. Even though their team will lose, the main thing is that the Jew loses. It's completely delusional."
But this problematic phenomenon, he argues, in which real-life events penetrate the neutral and safe space offered by the world's most powerful entertainment industry, is not limited to childish whims and expressions of hatred by actors. According to Brosh, the waves of loathing towards Jews and Israelis would not have been possible if the authorities of those virtual spaces had not encouraged them to some extent.
Cypress. "Antisemitic incidents",
"We are an organization that represents Israel in the International Gaming Federation," he says. "A few weeks ago we sent them an urgent letter about a Palestinian player, one who supposedly represents Palestine in world competitions, who spreads hatred on Twitter. He disseminated Hamas content, and even dared to threaten an Israeli national team player that he would use violence against him at the next event they would meet physically.
"The upcoming event will take place in December in Saudi Arabia. We won't get there, but the Palestinian player, according to estimates, will be there. Not only did they ignore our demands, they also informed us that they did not intend to take disciplinary action against the player. Not only did the federation refuse to condemn the act of terrorism, but in a private conversation with me, its secretary-general told me, 'I am on the side of Hamas.' We hosted the World Championships here in Israel, in Eilat, in 2020 and 2021. It is simply unacceptable that anti-Semitic incidents will continue to happen as part of this incident."
Ido Brosh, Chairman of the Israel Competitive Gaming Association: "In these games today, a person with a mind sheds Israeli trappings when he enters the game, otherwise even people in his team will work against him. Even though their team will lose, the main thing is that the Jew loses. It's completely delusional."
In other words, this is a phenomenon that has existed for a long time and even enjoys institutional backing.
"It's something we've been dealing with for a while, and now it's reaching some kind of peak. I know the bylaws of this federation very well, because I wrote 90 percent of it. There is no ethical justification for not convening a committee and bringing about some kind of internal investigation into the matter. We are simply dealing with anti-Semitism and incessant hatred of Israelis.
"At the World Championships held in Romania two months ago, two anti-Semitic incidents took place. In the first, a Jordanian player refused to attend the game because he understood that he was competing against an Israeli. In such a situation, he should have been banned from the competition, in our eyes, but they refused to punish him. In the second case, an Emirati player beat an Israeli player and then refused to shake his hand demonstratively. There is a matter of sportsmanship in gaming, and according to the rules, opposing players must shake hands. We sent a letter, and of course they completely ignored both cases."
Gaming as an echo of reality
This is, of course, not the first time that war against reality has invaded the computerized universe. Dr. Elhanan Gazit, a lecturer, researcher and consultant on gaming, metaverse and digital innovation, still remembers a virtual demonstration against Israel 15 years ago, during Operation Cast Lead. So it happened in Second Life, a virtual world with many participants, where avatars simulate real reality, meet new people and engage in a variety of activities not very different from those offered by reality.
"We live in a crazy reality in which the world of gaming, which is really the most developed and advanced industry in the market today, echoes everything that happens in reality. Everything resonates in the games, and vice versa - there is a very close relationship here. Today the games are really a propaganda tool. They are used for propaganda, consciousness engineering, psychological warfare.
Dr. Elhanan Gazit, Gaming Researcher and Consultant: "We live in a crazy reality in which the gaming world echoes everything that happens in reality. The games are used for propaganda, for consciousness engineering, for psychological warfare – from presidential elections to war."
"From the U.S. presidential election to the war, as now. Just an example, if in the Russia-Ukraine war you see on the news or online a Ukrainian plane shot down, it could be that this image was created by artificial intelligence in a computer game and it's not real at all. There is a wide use of games for the benefit of the needs of the enemy. By the way, the US Army uses America's Army (an action game developed by the US federal government) as its strongest and best recruitment tool for fighters. In the game, you enlist, finish Marine basic training, and can later do missions that simulate real missions in combat.
"It's a game that was a huge success and was considered a huge recruitment tool. So gaming has a variety of uses. But we're all in a very serious upheaval right now and we need to make adjustments, because it's still the most significant medium for children and teenagers. A virtual injury is very similar to a physical injury. A virtual attack causes damage on a mental level, and we have to understand this and guard against it."
Gazit. "We are all in a serious shake-up",
Also a bridge and connection point
But not everything is dark. Even at a time when bright spots are hard to find, there are those who insist on looking at the better sides of the gaming world, and there are quite a few of them. "Toxicity and bullying of players in online gaming spaces is despicable and unfortunate, which is even more painful when these harassments are motivated by hatred of Israel or anti-Semitism. This is violent behavior that we must not ignore in silence," says Gilad Ravid, a social entrepreneur and expert in educational gaming.
"But I have had countless interactions with players from Arab countries at matches and have encountered only a few instances of expressions of hatred or anti-Semitism. Most of the conversations were friendly, and I also made some friendships.
Gilad Ravid, social entrepreneur and expert in educational gaming: "It is important to remember that video games are, above all, a bridge and a point of connection. They allow actors and actresses from all over the world to find a meeting point, regardless of language, religion, race, gender or age."
"In the summer of two years ago, we produced a cross-country educational 'Minecraft' tournament, and teams of students from four countries advanced to the semifinals: England, Israel, Egypt and South Africa. Teams teamed up for the game and met virtually to compete in educational building challenges, as part of a series of international live broadcasts. Israeli children talked to children from Egypt.
"Minecraft". Pro-Israel children's demonstration,
"It's important to remember that video games are, above all, a bridge and a point of connection. They allow actors and actresses from all over the world to find a meeting point, regardless of language, religion, race, gender or age."
shishabat@israelhayom.co.il
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