"Killing Arabs" is Object of Children's Video Game

By Pat McDonnell Twair

Uzi machine guns are the most ubiquitous import Israel sends to the United States; now add to it a computer game entitled "Intifada" that trains players in the art of wiping out Palestinian rock throwers.

This new personal computer game came to the attention of 15-year-old Khalid El Guindi-Rosenbaum, who operates a computer bulletin board from his Los Angeles home. Files, messages and games are exchanged on his system by more than 100 correspondents dialing in by modem from such diverse points as Texas and Norway.

In October, Khalid found "Intifada" uploaded on his file along with instructions for the game. The member who sent the game said it was created in Israel. The purpose of the game is to eliminate Arabs. The player loses if rock throwers win. Only Israeli soldiers gain points; choices of weapons are clubs, plastic bullets and tear gas.

Images of Israeli soldiers appear on the screen, as do those of Palestinians throwing rocks or Molotov cocktails. If an Israeli is knocked out, the player loses a round and a warning appears on the screen: "Remember your goal is to kill Arabs."

If the player uses live ammunition and kills scores of Arabs, a warning states he has lost because he killed too many Arabs and the public outrage will cause a political upheaval.

Khalid has no idea how many personal computer users are playing "Intifada" in the US. He has prepared a demonstration tape of the game and sent it to the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) in Washington, DC. He wonders how widespread the game is in the US and whether it is being played by Israeli youngsters in video arcades. And, if so, how many Israeli youngsters are being subliminally programmed to knock out flesh and blood Palestinian targets when the time comes.

Shamir Visit Protested

Although Israel's Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir paid a visit to Los Angeles the weekend of Nov. 17-19, the customary hoopla accorded an Israeli leader was not evidenced in the media. His initial appearance Nov. 17 at the World Affairs Council received little more than a low-key article the next day in the Los Angeles Times.

The newspaper maintained, however, that relations between the US and Israel are no different than in the past.

The Palestinian community in Los Angeles was out in full force for his 5:30 Sunday arrival at the Century Plaza Hotel to deliver the keynote speech at the Simon Wiesenthal Center's National Tribute Dinner.

Shamir—and anyone else within a one mile radius—was aware of the more than 250 Palestinian flag-wielding protesters who chanted, with the help of four bullhorns, "Palestine Yes, Occupation No." Jewish women dressed in black carried placards decrying the cruelty of the occupation.

In addition to whatever effect it had on Israel's hard-line leader, the demonstration heartened the participants. It was reported in the local press, a significant first in itself.

Billboard Tells it All

Los Angeles motorists driving west on busy Wilshire Boulevard have been treated to the sight of a billboard at Highland Avenue which states: "Over 100 Israeli Generals Agree: End the Occupation. " The startling message is signed "Friends of Peace Now are Friends of Israel. " The billboard offers a phone number, which I called.

Rachel Putterman of the Friends of Peace Now said the billboard went up in midAugust. It was donated by a Jewish resident of Palm Springs who requested anonymity. Putterman says the telephone reactions to the statement have been about 40 percent negative and 30 percent positive. Another 20 percent of the callers have been sufficiently supportive to want to know more about Friends of Peace Now. Still another 10 percent have asked hostile questions about the billboard.

The billboard is located in an area bordering the heavily Jewish Fairfax neighborhood, which makes it all the more surprising that it hasn't been damaged by graffiti. The group has decided to change the introductory line to "Give Peace a Chance: End the Occupation. " And, according to Putterman, the sign is there to stay indefinitely.

New Victory for LA Eight

Nov. 17 marked the second time US District Judge Stephen V. Wilson has ruled that provisions of the McCarran-Walter Act are unconstitutional and cannot be applied by the government to deport Palestinian aliens.

For nearly three years, the government has attempted to deport seven Palestinians and the Kenyan wife of one of them on the grounds they are affiliated with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. All deny association with the PFLP and none has been charged with any criminal violation.

Only Khader Hamide, 35, and Michel Shehadeh, 33, are still charged with subversion. Judge Wilson earlier ruled that alien residents have the same free speech rights as citizens. In response, the government recharged Hamide and Shehadeh with violation of another section of the McCarran Walter Act, "membership in, or affiliation with, an organization that advocates or teaches the duty or necessity or propriety of the unlawful assaulting or killing of government officials."

In dealing his second major setback to the Justice Department, Wilson declared there was little difference, if any, in the new charges which, he ruled, were also unconstitutionally broad. Wilson also granted the attorneys for the Palestinians permission to gather evidence for their allegation that the chief immigration court appellate official, David Milhollan, had a conflict of interest when he served on a secret government panel that shaped plans to arrest and deport "undesirable aliens."

Pat McDonnell Twair is a free-lance writer based in southern California.