‘Virtual Jihadi’ suspended
p2pnet news | Games:- "My art is of a political nature that speaks to the oppression of the human spirit. It is because I have faith in the power of people to break their own chains that I work through my art to foster in the viewer a sense of self-empowerment to effect change."
The words are Wafaa Bilal’s, an Iraqi-born Chicago-based artist who’s game, "Virtual Jihadi," has been banned from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, in a move he’s labelled "censorship".
"It feels like a military camp, not an educational institution," the Times-Union has him saying.
The story continues >>>
The origin of his work is a video game called "Quest for Saddam." The game, where players target the ex-Iraqi leader, prompted what RPI’s Web site describes as an al-Qaida spin-off called "The Night of Bush Capturing."
Bilal hacked into that game and created a work that puts "his own more nuanced spin on this epic conflict," according to the arts department. In Bilal’s version, unveiled at RPI Wednesday, the Iraqi-born artist casts himself as a suicide bomber who gets sent on a mission to assassinate President Bush.
You can kill the President in his game, Bilal said.
"My art is of a political nature that speaks to the oppression of the human spirit," he says. "It is because I have faith in the power of people to break their own chains that I work through my art to foster in the viewer a sense of self-empowerment to effect change."
Bilal’s character, "becomes an al-Qaeda recruit and hunts Bush," says the Washington Post, going on:
"That was enough to get the FBI involved. Someone complained to the bureau, whose agents contacted the administrators of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Kathy High, head of the arts department, said in an interview.
"Paul Holstein, a spokesman for the FBI’s Albany office, would neither confirm nor deny her account. ‘Under certain circumstances, it would be appropriate for FBI agents to attend an event open to the public for the limited purposes of determining if there’s anything relevant to national security,’ he said. ‘If agents attended the event and determined there wasn’t anything relevant to national security, they wouldn’t pursue it further’."
Bilal said he hopes to raise questions about stereotypes of Iraqis, and about conceptions of what creates a suicide bomber.
"I wanted to let people see how bad it feels to be labeled and hunted," he said.
RPI student body president Julia Leusner, "argued that it was hypocritical of Bilal to depict the stereotype he was condemning," says the Times-Union, adding:
"If Bilal was making a point about the vulnerability of Iraqi civilians to the travesties of the current war, I failed to see it, as did every other student I spoke to," Leusner said.
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Also See:
Times-Union – RPI suspends ‘Virtual Jihadi’, March 7, 2008
Washington Post – Terror-Themed Game Suspended, March 8, 2008
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March 10th, 2008 at 12:53 pm
Gee, it’s the Iraqi version of Redneck Rampage!
March 10th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
It’s art. It just happens to have a lot more frames.
March 10th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
it no more violent than duck hunt was so who cares
March 18th, 2008 at 9:05 pm
RPI was wrong to do this but this isn’t even half the story. After the exhibit of the video game was kicked out of the school, a local free speech group offered to host it. Then, the City of Troy Code Enforcement people came and said that the fire doors were inadequate and thus there could be no public gathering.
See also: http://www.pww.org/article/view/12714/