Hizbullah launches another anti-"Israel" computer game

Source: DPA, 15-8-2007
Beirut - The Lebanese movement Hizbullah was set Thursday to launch a computer game highlighting what is seen as the defeat of "Israeli" in last year`s 33-day conflict in southern Lebanon.
"Special Force 2: Tale of the Truthful Pledge" allows players to shoot "Israeli" soldiers and blow up "Israeli" tanks.
The game was to be launched at the Hizbullah "Spider`s Web" museum which opened its doors last month in Beirut`s southern suburbs, Hizbullah`s stronghold.
A member of the design team said "Special Force 2" was intended to give Hizbullah supporters a chance to "feel the victory as if they were taking part in attacks they were cheering for from far."
Children living in the district, like Ali and Hassan Hammiyeh, have long been looking forward to the game. "I`m eagerly awaiting Thursday to go and buy it. I want to feel like a Hizbullah struggler," said Hassan, whose family strongly supports Hizbullah.
Bilal, owner of a nearby computer shop, said: "In the West there are computer games that introduce the Arabs as terrorists. Here, in such games, we`re telling the world we`re fighting our occupiers."
The game is not Hizbullah`s first. In 2003, it introduced Special Force 1, which allowed players to take the part in a battle with "Israeli" soldiers in areas in southern Lebanon.
On the Special Force 1 box cover a message to users said: "The designers of Special Force are very proud to provide you with this special product, which embodies objectively the defeat of the "Israeli" enemy and the heroic actions taken by heroes of the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon (Hizbullah)."
In the new game, Hizbullah use the same concept, but this time focusing on last year`s battles with "Israeli" soldiers in areas like Bint Jbeil and Maroun al Ras.
"Israel" launched a massive attack on Lebanon on July 12, which lasted 33 days, after Hizbullah guerrillas snatched two of its soldiers in a border attack.
"In this game you can be a partner in the victory. Fight, resist and destroy your enemy`s Merkava tank in the game of force and victory," a Hizbullah member said.
"The game features the battles that took place in southern Lebanon in July between our strugglers and the Zionists. Special Force 2 also offers mental and personal training for those who play."
According to Hizbullah, the game can be played in Arabic, English, French and Farsi.
A large crowd was expected to attend the launch at the Spider`s Web museum, which has been displaying damaged "Israeli" military equipment and vehicles gathered by Hizbullah during the July war.
The museum`s name echoes a remark from one of the rousing speeches by Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, who called "Israel" "more feeble than a spider`s web."
Ali Ahmed, a spokesman for the museum, said nearly 300,000 people had visited since it opened at the end of July. There were plans to make it a permanent museum, perhaps somewhere in southern Lebanon.
"We are expecting the crowd to be massive on Thursday when we introduced the new game in front the press," he added.
The museum is entered via a reconstructed Hizbullah bunker, where figures dressed in fatigues and holding Kalashnikovs represent Hizbullah guerrillas on the battlefield.
Photographs from the war and weapons and ammunition captured from the "Israeli" military are displayed, as well as pictures of dead Lebanese children in the "Israeli" bombings.
Some 1,200 people, mostly women and children, were killed in Lebanon, as well as 159 on the "Israeli" side, during the conflict.
A centrepiece of the museum is a big picture of an "Israeli" warship hit by Hizbullah fire, captioned by Nasrallah`s televised announcement in which he said: "Watch it burn. It will sink taking with it tens of Zionist "Israeli" soldiers."
Hizbullah enjoys wide support in Lebanon, especially among the large Shiite Moslem community. The group is proud of thwarting "Israel" in its avowed objective to crush Hizbullah`s military structure and release the two kidnapped "Israeli" soldiers.
On Tuesday, Nasrallah told a huge rally in Beirut`s southern suburbs that "Israel" would face a "great surprise that could change the course of war and the destiny of the region" if it tried to attack Lebanon again.