Click for MidEast Peace

A new computer game challenges you to end war in the Middle East. So who did better, the Israeli or the Palestinian?

By Simon Round

Peacemaker puts you in the hotseat as Israeli Prime Minister or Palestinian President. Reconciliation or conflagration are but a mouse click away (Photos: Ben Turner).

HOW MANY times have you felt like throwing things at the television when you see weak leadership and poor decisions leading to more violence and instability in the Middle East? If you have ever thought that you could do a better job than the Ehud Olmert or, come to that, Mahmoud Abbas, you can now put your political skills to the test thanks to a new video game called Peacemaker, launched this month by US company Impact Games. The game puts you firmly in the hotseat either as the Israeli Prime Minister or the Palestinian President. You decide whether to request negotiations with the US, assassinate militants or make a speech calling for peace. The scores range from -100 to 100, depending on your skill in managing everything from suicide bombings to civilian deaths inflicted by your airforce. The lowest score classifies you as a war criminal, the highest earns you a Nobel Prize. Israeli-born games expert Asi Burak is one of a small team which has been developing Peacemaker since 2004. “We didn’t want to produce another action game and we didn’t want to appeal to males between 14 and 34 who normally play. So we came up with the idea of an interactive documentary which would be a little more meaningful than an action thriller. Our real ambition is to appeal to a wider audience as well as to educate.” So the JC challenged two eminently qualified men—Israeli academic Yossi Mekelberg and Palestinian writer and peace activist Samir El-Youssef—to play the game. Who would fare better? And how realistic, in their view, is the game?

The Israeli

Yossi Mekelberg: “I might have to be a populist in order to win”.

YOSSI MEKELBERG is an associate fellow at the Chatham House think-tank, in London, and head of international relations at Webster University, London. He was sure that if he failed to score highly as the Israeli Prime Minister, it would be the fault of the game. YOSSI’S STRATEGY: “To score well, you need to find policies which are strongly supported by one side but leave the other side indifferent rather than hostile. There is a temptation to take steps to win the game rather than do the things which you feel strongly about.” THE GAME: Immediately, Yossi was confronted with a suicide bomber killing 18 in the Israeli town of Hadera. His decision to give infrastructure aid to the Palestinians was received with hostility, and his speech attacking militancy was greeted with indifference at home. He debated whether to release prisoners and allow in Palestinian refugees, but decided against on the basis that Israeli opinion seemed too volatile. “I might have to be a populist in order to win,” he said. Soon, he was being attacked by the Palestinian President and by his own tourism minister, who made such a pest of himself that Yossi wondered whether it would be possible to send a tank around to his house. As the number of terrorist attacks and Israeli responses increased, Yossi found himself in damage-limitation mode—sending in troops to appease the Israeli public while trying to build fences with a reluctant Palestinian president. His few attempts to be bold—for example, in removing a section of the security fence in Jerusalem—were blocked by his own government. He gained points by persuading the Americans to mediate but eventually conceded that he was fighting a losing battle. His resignation was accepted. YOSSI’S SCORE: Despite at one point scoring reasonably well with both the Israeli and Palestinian public, by the end of his term in office his figures had slumped to -20/100 with the Israelis and -2/100 with the Palestinians. Both Ehud Olmert and Mahmoud Abbas would no doubt sympathise. YOSSI’S VERDICT: “I probably harmed my chances of winning by fiddling about with the game just to see what would happen. However, I think the software wasn’t quite subtle enough. For example, one should be able to balance toughness in one area with a more liberal policy in another. In this game, it seems to be regarded as inconsistency. Actions which make the Israelis happy tend to make the Palestinians unhappy, whereas in real life things are not as clear cut. If the game helps people to learn about the Middle East conflict, it will be useful—a peace game is preferable to a war game.”

The Palestinian

Samir El-Youssef: “You need constantly to build and reform”.

SAMIR EL-YOUSSEF is a writer and peace activist born in the Rashidia refugee camp in southern Lebanon and now based in London. He was keen to assume power as Palestinian President but was understandably nervous about how he would perform. SAMIR’S STRATEGY: “You have to secure funds for reconstruction. You need constantly to build and reform. If the economy is suc-ceeding and people see better schools and infrastructure, no one will complain too loudly if you arrest some militants or make some harsh political decisions.” THE GAME: Despite Samir’s bold ideas, the region was plunged into crisis within minutes. His call for peace was rejected by his own people and his demands for Israel to withdraw from Gaza were rejected. He struggled to cope as Fatah activists opened fire on an Israeli checkpoint, and he was attacked by members of his own party following an Israeli incursion into the West Bank town of Hebron. Soon, his national approval rating had plunged to -33. However, in true presidential style, Samir refused to panic, always taking time to search for a reasonable solution. His speech calling for law and order went down well and, despite a small setback when his attempt to arrest Palestinian militants caused a riot in Gaza, his persistence in trying to secure funding for reconstruction projects won him growing Palestinian approval. Every now and then a spanner was thrown in the works. The Israelis arrested some Palestinian members of Parliament and US aid was cancelled. “Typical,” said Samir, in frustration. “They want you to put your house in order but they don’t want to give you the money to do it.” According to the game, Samir was talking too much—it turned down several of his requests to make speeches because they came too soon after previous orations. He was also asking foreign governments for too much money. However, his attempts to turn the Palestin-ian economy around while quelling the militants began to bear fruit. By the end of the game, he was in control of the economy and the extremists were in retreat.THE SCORE: Samir ended with an approval rating of 64/100 from the Palestinians and a 17/100 world rating. An onscreen message read: “Citizens of Gaza enjoy greater freedom of movement and better quality of life under Palestinian control. Well done, President.”SAMIR’S VERDICT: “The game is interesting and the scenarios are realistic—you can see why the job is so tough. Sometimes your options are limited—for example, if I wanted to address the Israeli people I couldn’t—but you have to work within the limits. It’s good fun.” Peacemaker can be downloaded at $20 from www.peacemakergame.com.