Assignment
Mission 2: Checkpoints
Brief: You have now played the second mission in Global Conflicts: Palestine, and are expected to discuss and reflect on the experiences. Below you will first find questions related to the game and then questions of a more general nature. Finally, you can write an article drawing on the game experience and the additional material on this web-site
To answer the questions in this worksheet use your experiences from the game and refer to the material on this web-site.
1. Game review:
a). Please provide a short factual resume of the mission.
b). Please explain the motivations, actions and perception of the key people you ran into (one line each).
Roi:
Omri:
Fatima:
Baz:
c). Please give your own explanation of what happened in the game mission.
d). How would you have acted as an Israeli or Palestinian?
e). How do Omri & Roi perceive the Palestinians? What is the basis for this perception - consider the role of culture, history, religion & ethnicity?
f). How do Baz, Fatima & Nabil perceive the IDF? What is the basis for this perception - consider the role of culture, history, religion & ethnicity?
2. Beyond the game
You may have a hard time answering the questions below if you were a sloppy and superficial journalist. Luckily, you can either go back and play the game or use some of the material on the website /.
a). What implications do the checkpoints have for the Israeli-Palestinian relations?
b). What role does security play for the Israelis? How does security serve as an explanation for the checkpoints?
c). How are Palestinians treated at the checkpoints, and how does they affect their everyday life? Try to consider what rights apply and why checkpoints have been set up. What reasons could you find for violating rights? Would such violations be acceptable? Why/why not?
d). How would you criticize Israel's policy on checkpoints? What arguments do you think are valid for such checkpoints - could one do it differently? How do legal issues like innocent until proven guilty and collective punishment relate to the checkpoint problem?
e). How would you criticize the Palestinians? Do you think the Palestinians are innocent victims? Why/why not?
f). Choose at least three sources from the theme material or video section that have their different perspectives on the checkpoint issue. Discuss the background for the accounts and underlying agendas of the sources. Discuss whether means can be justified by goals. Consider under what circumstances and why? (For example: Video on Working in Israel as Palestinian, B'T Selem statistics on checkpoints and the myth buster document).
g). Human rights may be under pressure in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Try to find examples from the game and their implications. Also, use the sources on the website to explore the issues further. Discuss why human rights are important and whether human rights are a flexible or absolute concept?
3). Write a better story
In the game you have a limited amount of time for writing and researching the story with access to only a few sources. Now you have a chance to pursue an even better researched story by using sources on our website and from other places. In general there are three different types of stories you can choose from: news story, feature story & opinion story.
Use one of the three templates to help you make the best story. Remember you can use quotes, pictures and sources from this web-site.
Choose between the following subjects from the game world:
a). Palestine Today: Is interested in stories about the hardships the security barrier and the checkpoints represent in everyday life of Palestinians. What happens when people try to get in and out of the cities? How hard is it? What kinds of problems does the situation create for the Palestinian people?
b). Global News: Is keen on getting stories that are more general in their treatments about the problems that both Israelis and Palestinians encounter. Why are the checkpoints there at all? What consequences can we see?
c). The Israeli Post: Is interested in hearing about the lives of the IDF soldiers at the checkpoints. They want stories on the courage of soldiers, the hardships of life there and the dangers that are connected with the protection of Israel against terror.