Vroeger, toen ik nog naief was en nagenoeg niks wist over het Israëlisch-Palestijns conflict, dacht ik dat de oplossing van het conflict eigenlijk niet zo moeilijk was, als beide partijen maar bereid zouden zijn wat water bij de wijn te doen en de problemen van de ander te begrijpen. Met mijn broer of een goede vriend zou ik er in een half uurtje wel uit kunnen komen - een rollenspel dat we helaas nooit hebben uitgeprobeerd. Nu krijgen honderdduizenden Israëli's en Palestijnen de kans om wat hun leiders in Annapolis - en überhaupt - doen zelf na te spelen in een computerspel:
As Israeli leader, it is possible to bomb Palestinian targets every time a suicide bombing occurs, and the Palestinian leader can ignore Israeli pressure to arrest militants before they attack Jewish towns. But those kinds of leaders don't last - at least in the game.
"The way is pragmatism, entering the role of the other. You must take into account the other side," said Ron Pundak, director of the Peres Center for Peace, which is distributing the game in Israel and the Palestinian territories.
Zeer leerzaam, met een duidelijke boodschap, maar is dit niet ook een beetje wishful thinking? In de praktijk kan het goed uitpakken om terroristen op te jagen en zo mogelijk uit te schakelen - voor of na een aanval - zeker zolang het Palestijnse leiderschap niet in staat is ze te ontwapenen. Het zou mooi zijn als de vreedzaamste optie ook altijd de beste is, maar dat lijkt me niet de realiteit. Ik hoop dat het spel sofisticated genoeg is (er schijnen verschillende spelniveaus te zijn) dat het met verschillende en soms ook tegenstrijdige mechanismen, belangen en tendenzen rekening houdt. En dat het net zo onvoorspelbaar kan zijn als het Midden-Oosten.
A copy of the peace game will be sent to Olmert and Abbas once they return from Annapolis, Pundak said. He hoped Palestinians and Israelis, including their leaders, would try switching roles, at least for the game.
"It will help [each side] understand limitations of each one's president and leader, and as well the limitation of the other side," he said.
"It will help [each side] understand limitations of each one's president and leader, and as well the limitation of the other side," he said.
Wat meer begrip van hun volk kunnen Olmert en Abbas wel gebruiken, evenals meer begrip voor elkaars positie.
Misschien zouden we dit spel met organisaties van verschillende kanten moeten spelen, waarbij men juist de andere kant moet spelen, en daarna discussieren over de resultaten.
Ratna
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Thousands of Israelis, Palestinians to make peace - virtually
By The Associated Press Last update - 21:47 25/11/2007
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/927824.html
By The Associated Press Last update - 21:47 25/11/2007
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/927824.html
While their leaders meet in the United States to negotiate, thousands of Palestinians and Israelis will be given the chance to determine the fate of the Mideast - virtually.
The Peres Center for Peace on Sunday said it is distributing 100,000 copies of a computer game called PeaceMaker to Israelis and Palestinians.
The game disk will be handed out on Tuesday, the same day that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas are scheduled to meet in Annapolis, Maryland.
The summit, hosted by U.S. President George W. Bush and attended by Arab countries and dozens of other nations, is meant to restart peace negotiations, which broke down in violence seven years ago.
PeaceMaker players must choose whether to be a Palestinian or Israeli leader. They must cope with Palestinian suicide bombers, Israeli attacks in the West Bank and Gaza, hawkish Israeli groups, Palestinian militants and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Palestinian refugee camps.
As Israeli leader, it is possible to bomb Palestinian targets every time a suicide bombing occurs, and the Palestinian leader can ignore Israeli pressure to arrest militants before they attack Jewish towns. But those kinds of leaders don't last - at least in the game.
"The way is pragmatism, entering the role of the other. You must take into account the other side," said Ron Pundak, director of the Peres Center for Peace, which is distributing the game in Israel and the Palestinian territories.
The center was founded in 1996 by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shimon Peres, now Israel's president. It sponsors projects aimed at promoting peace in the Middle East.
A copy of the peace game will be sent to Olmert and Abbas once they return from Annapolis, Pundak said. He hoped Palestinians and Israelis, including their leaders, would try switching roles, at least for the game.
"It will help [each side] understand limitations of each one's president and leader, and as well the limitation of the other side," he said.
The games will be distributed with leading Arabic and Hebrew newspapers, although in the first round of distribution, more Israelis than Palestinians will receive the game.
The game was designed by ImpactGames, a Pittsburgh company jointly founded by two Carnegie Mellon University graduates: Asi Burak, a former Israeli army intelligence official, and Eric Brown, an American software developer.
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