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Video Game on Largest Online Platform Promotes Murder of Israelis; Who Will Act?
An aerial view shows the bodies of victims of an attack following a mass infiltration by Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip lying on the ground in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, in southern Israel, Oct. 10, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Ilan Rosenberg
You wouldn’t create a game where you could play the role of the Columbine shooters, bomb the USS Cole, or fly the planes into the World Trade Center. Those atrocities do not have two sides; the line between right and wrong is clear. Yet, according to the creator of the first-person shooter game Fursan al-Aqsa: The Knights of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, this clarity is not applied to the October 7 Hamas massacre.
Fursan was launched in late 2021 on the world’s largest digital gaming distribution platform, Steam. In early December 2023, the game received a gruesome update — one that follows and praises the October 7 Hamas terrorist infiltration of Israel, and the wholesale massacre, rape, torture, and abduction of Israeli citizens, 136 of whom are still being held hostage in Gaza.
This game incites obscene and gratuitous violence against Israelis, with a protagonist whose goal is to murder IDF soldiers under the slogan, “With bullets and blood we will free Palestine” — a known euphemism for the violent destruction of the State of Israel.
Fursan’s creator includes a thinly veiled disclaimer that the game does not promote antisemitism or “terrorism” — but the quotation marks around terrorism indicate just how little he regards the very real terrorism and violence that Israelis endure. Further, one only needs to look at some of the comments on the game, ranging from age-old antisemitic tropes to active support for “resistance” (a code word for terrorism), to gauge this game’s audience.
One specific instance is an exchange from October 9, while Israel was still reeling from Hamas’ brutal attack. A comment reads, “…they made this game in real life,” with the developer responding, ‘”They made a Live Action Trailer… .” For some, the violence that this game promotes may be mere virtual reality, but for Jews, it’s a constant reminder of the genocidal goal of Hamas and other Iranian-funded terror groups: the complete and utter annihilation of Israel.
The availability of Fursan on Steam demonstrates a symptom of a much deeper issue. Yes, freedom of speech and artistic expression are cornerstones of democracy; however, this game crosses all acceptable boundaries. The “resistance” that the game invites its players to join, is the same resistance that raped, murdered, tortured, and kidnapped innocent civilians in the real world.
Games like Fursan provide fertile soil for the growth of hatred, antisemitism, and incitement. It is a rallying cry that sits on one of the largest online gaming platforms in the world, with nothing seemingly being done about it on the part of Steam or its parent company, Valve.
As the world evolves, so do the ways hatred is expressed and cultivated. Extremist groups are increasingly using online gaming platforms both to spread their messages and as a method to recruit members to their ranks. A 2022 study identified Steam itself as having become a hub for such recruitment.
If terror groups utilize Fursan as a recruiting tool, that could place Steam and Valve in violation of Federal anti-terrorism legislation, which comes with serious ramifications, including potential fines and/or imprisonment.
But the most serious ramification is the effect this game can have on its players. By encouraging violence, the game leads to the perpetuation of extremist ideals and the legitimization of terrorism among young adults, which could result in more hate-filled attacks in the US and abroad.
Steam and Valve have a responsibility as a leading global platform for gaming to prevent the abuse of their software for incitement to violence and terror, and remove this game before it’s too late and someone is harmed. The results of incitement, like the October 7 massacre, are no game.
Asher Stern is the Head of Operations at the International Legal Forum, an Israel-based network of over 4,000 lawyers and activists around the world standing up for Israel and combating antisemitism in the international legal arena. He holds a BA in Government, Strategy, and Diplomacy from the IDC and an MA in International Relations from the Hebrew University.
The post Video Game on Largest Online Platform Promotes Murder of Israelis; Who Will Act? first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Rights Group Files Lawsuit to Block Trump Deportations of Anti-Israel Protesters

Marco Rubio speaks after he is sworn in as Secretary of State by US Vice President JD Vance at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, DC, Jan. 21, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) filed a lawsuit challenging as unconstitutional the Trump administration’s actions to deport international students and scholars who protest or express support for Palestinian rights.
The lawsuit, filed on Saturday in the US District Court for the Northern District of New York, seeks a nationwide temporary restraining order to block enforcement of two executive orders signed by US President Donald Trump in the first month of his term.
The lawsuit comes after the detention of a Columbia University student, Mahmoud Khalil, a 30-year-old permanent US resident of Palestinian descent, whose arrest sparked protests this month.
Justice Department lawyers have argued that the US government is seeking Khalil’s removal because Secretary of State Marco Rubio has reasonable grounds to believe his activities or presence in the country could have “serious adverse foreign policy consequences.” Rubio on Friday said the United States will likely revoke visas of more students in the coming days.
Trump vowed to deport activists who took part in protests on US college campuses against Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza following the October 2023 attack by the Palestinian terrorists.
The ADC lawsuit was filed on behalf of two graduate students and a professor at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, who say their activism and support of the Palestinian people “has put them at serious risk of political persecution.”
“This lawsuit is a necessary step to preserve our most fundamental constitutional protections. The First Amendment guarantees the freedom of speech and expression to all persons within the United States, without exception,” said Abed Ayoub, national executive director of the ADC.
Chris Godshall-Bennett, the group’s legal director, said the litigation seeks immediate and long-term relief “to protect international students from any unconstitutional overreach that stifles free expression and deters them from fully engaging in academic and public discourse.”
The lawsuit centers on three Cornell University plaintiffs: a British-Gambian national and PhD student with a student visa; a US citizen PhD student working on plant science; and a US citizen novelist, poet, and professor in the Department of Literatures in English.
The post Rights Group Files Lawsuit to Block Trump Deportations of Anti-Israel Protesters first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Netanyahu Informs Shin Bet Chief to Vote on His Dismissal Next Week

Israel’s Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar speaks at Reichman University in Herzliya on Sunday, September 11, 2022. Photo: Screenshot
i24 News – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Ronen Bar, the head of the Shin Bet security agency, that he will bring a vote before his government to dismiss him next week.
The post Netanyahu Informs Shin Bet Chief to Vote on His Dismissal Next Week first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Houthis Claim to Attack US Aircraft Carrier, Retaliating for Strikes

Newly recruited fighters who joined a Houthi military force intended to be sent to fight in support of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, march during a parade in Sanaa, Yemen, Dec. 2, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
i24 News – The Houthis claimed on Sunday that they targeted the aircraft carrier USS Harry Truman and other vessels in the northern Red Sea with 18 ballistic and cruise missiles and a drone. Military spokesperson Yahya Saree said that the US-led attacks against the Houthis on Saturday comprised of more than 47 airstrikes on seven governorates, with the death toll expected to rise.
“The Yemeni Armed Forces will not hesitate to target all American warships in the Red Sea and in the Arabian Sea in retaliation to the aggression against our country,” Saree said, vowing the Houthis “will continue to impose a naval blockade on the Israeli enemy and ban its ships in the declared zone of operations until aid and basic needs are delivered to the Gaza Strip.”
The post Houthis Claim to Attack US Aircraft Carrier, Retaliating for Strikes first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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