We’ve come a long way from “Der Fuhrer’s Face” and Hitler cuspidors. Can you imagine what the reaction would have been if a German-American group had protested “Der Fuhrer’s Face” on the grounds that it was anti-German? But it is evidently no longer acceptable to express contempt for mass murderers. A paintball game in which players take aim at Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden is being criticized as anti-Arab.
But wait a minute. I thought those guys represented only a tiny minority of extremists whose views and actions were abhorrent to the vast majority of peaceful Muslims. If one believes the rhetoric that groups like the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee purvey most of the time, one would think that Arabs would be lining up to play this game. By playing both sides of matters like these, the ADC leaves us with the impression that Saddam and Osama mean more to them than they ordinarily let on.
From AP, with thanks to DC Watson:
WILDWOOD, N.J. — A live-target paintball game in which patrons take aim at runners dressed as Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden has drawn fire from critics who say the game is tasteless and can only encourage violence against Arabs.
“We don’t need any more games that would encourage people to hate Arabs or kill them,” said Aref Assaf, president of the New Jersey Chapter of American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.
Assaf has called on local officials to shut the game down, which he considers hate speech. He also wants Wildwood visitors to boycott it.
The game, known as “Wack the Iraq” _ not Iraqi _ has been on the board walk in Wildwood for at least a year, but has only recently drawn complaints, said Mayor Ernie Troiano Jr.
Troiano agrees the game is tasteless but said it was no more likely to encourage violence than many popular video games. He also said the city was powerless to shut the game down because of the operator’s free speech rights.
“You go out and tell him that he can’t do this, you’re going to have a lawsuit that you cannot win,” Troiano said.
That remains to be seen, in these hyper-PC times.