Joy of the bulldozers

New video game makes settler homes disappear with mouse click

By Guy Ronen|Published: 06.12.05 , 13:08

A new video game on the internet offers players the chance to "remove settlements and get Israel out of the territories."

A click of the mouse removes a caravan; two remove a home, and "to toss out a settlement, you need to drag the poor soldiers back to Israel." And – poof! Just like that, 40 years are erased with the click of a mouse.

This is not the first time I've encountered people rejoicing over the "chance to evacuate and remove." Many of my friends, reservist officers, can't wait for the opportunity.

"Nu, let them call us up already. I'm dying to flatten the land there, to take a swipe with the bulldozer, to get revenge for all the days I got screwed into serving there, for all the parties and exams I missed."

All that we've experienced of late – street battles, road blocks, placards and fear – could have gone better, but it could have also lead to disaster.

Former Shin Bet Chief Avi Dichter versus Former IDF Chief of Staff Moshe "Boogie" Yaalon, Arik Sharon versus Bibi Netanyahu, Orange versus Green: In the midst of these entangling colors, this battle of words and endless bitterness, we've almost forgotten the point.

It's a farmer who still doesn't know where to move his greenhouse. It's a neighborhood mini-mart owner whose been stocking his shelves for 20 years and knows that in Ashkelon there are a thousand like him – not to mention a shopping mall.

'We must not lose the country'

It's a little girl who doesn't know if her friends will be with her in class next September. Maybe the cool kids in the class will point and laugh: "Look, here's the evacuated settler. My dad did reserve duty for her."

Summer came upon us suddenly, and the illusory hope of that Arik will return Israel "home" is taking form. The government OK'd it, the Knesset supported it, as did the Supreme Court – and in two months, after three generations and almost 40 years, it will happen; just like that, in the click of a mouse.

I understand my reservist officer friends. They really put in a lot of time and effort securing the Gaza settlements.

However, when the bulldozer turns Gush Katif into a cloud of dust, I hope the man sitting inside it would remember that children used to play, laugh, and build sand castles here.

But we brought them "home" in what was perhaps a prudent move, but not one we should rejoice over.

In the new video game, if you fail to evacuate a settlement within a given amount of time, the announcement "You have lost this game. We must not lose the country" is played.

If I were the game's programmer, I would add another announcement for those who do manage to win: Another victory like this one and we will all be doomed.