Steam faces renewed criticism over game in which players assume role of Palestinian terrorist, gun down Israelis

The video game distribution giant Steam has been called out once again for continuing to sell a propagandistic title wherein players assume the role of a Palestinian terrorist and massacre representations of Israelis.

While some regard the game as a loathsome work of agitprop warranting removal, various commenters have fired back, noting that other violent games permitted on the platform — including titles in the Grand Theft Auto and Call of Duty franchises — similarly enable players to virtually live out terroristic fantasies.

With Israel actively battling Hamas and anti-Semitism aggressively rising in the West, Jesse Petrilla, a former captain in the Army National Guard, took issue with how the Bellevue, Washington-based Valve Corporation is still selling Fursan al-Aqsa: The Knights of the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Steam platform.

Petrilla asked, "Why do you have a pro-terrorist game on @Steam?"

Shortly thereafter, the Libs of TikTok account on X, managed by Chaya Raichik, shared footage from the game, noting, "This is available for your kids to play."

Jeremy Dale Hambly, the popular YouTuber known as TheQuartering, responded to Raichik's expression of concern over the game, writing, "Don't care, it's a video game that you have to choose to pay for and then download and then play. Cringe."

Carl Benjamin, the YouTuber known as Sargon of Akkad, noted, "This won't be the thing that turns them into terrorists, it'll be their university professors."

Fursan al-Aqsa, a gory first- and third-person shooter released in full last year, has for its protagonist Ahmad al-Falastini, "a young Palestinian Student who was unjustly tortured and jailed by Israeli Soldiers for 5 years."

The description for the game states, "Now, after getting out from the prison, [he] seeks revenge against those who wronged him, killed his family and stolen [sic] his homeland, by joining a new Palestinian Resistance Movement called Fursan al-Aqsa."

Trailers for the game, which runs on the dated Unreal Engine 3, feature footage of the protagonist shooting, stabbing, bombing, and torturing Israelis, while frequently yelling, "Allahu Akbar." In one scene featured in the trailer, the terroristic protagonist says, "This is your end, f***ing Zionists!" while feeding an unarmed Israeli to a shark. In another featured scene, the Islamic protagonist prays beside a pile of butchered Israelis.

A play-through shared by the developer earlier this year revealed that the missions require the player to "Kill all Zionist Soldiers." In recent promotional material shared on YouTube, the developer states, "See how many different ways you'll be able to snipe Israeli Soldiers."

Another promotional video reportedly told players, "Get your knife and seek your revenge. The blood of the oppressed is calling you. Resistance is not terrorism."

While the developer claims on the Steam sales page that the game "DOES NOT PROMOTE 'TERRORISM,'" in the game, players are prompted to rank up from a "soldier" to a "general" and finally to a "terrorist."

The review section for the game on the Steam platform is crowded with anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli remarks.

One reviewer wrote, "May the zionists fall," prompting the developer to write back, "In sha Allah!"

Another reviewer wrote, "Truly a simulation of the righteous struggle of Palestinians against the colonialist oppressors."

Multiple reviewers wrote, "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free" — a threat similarly made on the developer's website.

The game saw a significant spike in largely positive reviews in early October, following the Hamas terror attacks on Israel.

The developer of the game, Nidal Nijm, describes himself thusly: "I am a Brazilian, son of Palestinian Immigrants, Muslim. My father is an ex-fighter of Palestinian Resistance, he fought for the Independence of Palestinian State. From since childhood I felt too much proud of my father and the Palestine People in general, because of their Strength and Constant Resistance."

Ahead of the game's release, Efraim Zuroff, the Simon Wiesenthal Center's chief Nazi hunter, said, "There is no question that this game glorifies Palestinian terror against Jews and is not a neutral exercise," reported Haaretz.

"This is something that praises and glorifies the worst type of terror and basically promotes a result which would cost hundreds of thousands of people their lives," added Zuroff.

Nijm defended the game, noting, "There are no Jewish, Israeli civilians for the player to attack."

Steam, which takes a substantial cut of the revenue from each sale, indicated in a 2018 blog post that it had given up on most content moderation, stating, "If you're a player, we shouldn't be choosing for you what content you can or can't buy. If you're a developer, we shouldn't be choosing what content you're allowed to create. Those choices should be yours to make."

"With that principle in mind, we've decided that the right approach is to allow everything onto the Steam Store, except for things that we decide are illegal, or straight up trolling," added the company.

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