Hizbollah Computer Game Recalls Israeli Battles

In a dimly lit, camouflaged room draped with flags of the Lebanese guerrilla group Hizbollah, a group of men calmly fire rounds at the head of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. But no one shoots back. The room is in an Internet cafe adapted for marketing a computer game made by Hizbollah to reflect battles between the Israeli army and the group, which withdrew from south Lebanon in 2000 after a 22-year occupation. Cafe owner Emad said he placed plastic rifles on the walls and stacked sandbags at the entrance to transform the room into a mock bunker to generate interest in the game. “We wanted to create a military atmosphere to complement the game. Guys like stuff like this,” he told Reuters. Eight-year-old Hussein Osman said he liked the game because it featured real fighters and “because it kills Israelis.” “I can be a resistance fighter, even though in real life I don’t want to do that,” he said. Washington deems Hizbollah a “terrorist” group and blames it for the 1983 suicide bombings on its Marines barracks and Beirut embassy as well as kidnapping Westerners in the 1975-1990 civil war. Full Story