Some thoughts...

Here are some of my thoughts on the situation thus far. I hope people were able to attend the protest yesterday or at least watch some of the press on the news.


Background:
Wafaa Bilal, an RPI visiting artist had his art exhibit shut down by RPI and then later the city of troy (through the sanutary for independant media's code violations. The santuary was ironically shut down by Bob Mirch the Republican Public Works Commissioner after he led his own protest against Bilal. Mirch claims that to be coincidental.

---------------------------------------
Quote from capital news 9

A day after the Mirch's protest, Code Enforcement shut down the Sanctuary, and as a result, the exhibit. Mayor Tutunjian says it has been in violation for more than a year and the city screwed up by not acting sooner because of the safety threats it presents. But both the Mayor and Mirch say, despite the timing, the shut down had nothing to do with the content of the exhibit and once improvements, including repairs to the front doors are made, the building will be open again.
---------------------------------------

The RPI college republican club posted a statement saying "The Arts Department – A Haven for Terrorists". RPI's Dean of Students then removed their website from the internet because the statement was untrue and violated Rensselaer Electronic Citizenship Policy, specifically Section 3.4 Freedom from harassment (pg. 3), Section 4.1 Common courtesy and respect for others (pg. 3), and Section 4.1.3 Harassment (pg. 4). In addition to alleged violations of the Electronic Citizenship Policy (GDA #17), other Grounds for Disciplinary Action may also prove relevant, specifically, GDA #2, 6 and 9 as stated in The Rensselaer Handbook of Student Rights and Responsibilities, 2006-2008 (pg. 8).


Excerpt from rpi.freeculture.org:
______________________________
About the exhibit

In the widely marketed video game "Quest for Saddam," players fight stereotypical Iraqi foes and try to kill Saddam. Al Qaeda did its own take, creating an online video game using the structure of "Quest for Saddam" but adding a new "skin" to turn the game into a hunt for Bush: "The Night of Bush Capturing." Now artist Wafaa Bilal has hacked the Al Qaeda version of the game to put his own more nuanced spin on this epic conflict.

In "The Night of Bush Capturing: A Virtual Jihadi," Bilal casts himself as a suicide-bomber in the game. After learning of the real-life death of his brother in the war, he is recruited by Al Qaeda to join the hunt for Bush. This work is meant to bring attention to the vulnerability of Iraqi civilians to the travesties of the current war and racist generalizations and stereotypes as exhibited in games such as "Quest for Saddam," along with vulnerability to recruitment by violent groups like Al Qaeda because of the U.S.’s failed strategy in securing Iraq. The work also aims to shed light on groups that traffic in crass and hateful stereotypes of Arab culture with games like "Quest for Saddam" and other media.

"[Virtual Jihadi] is meant to bring attention to the vulnerability of Iraqi civilians to the travesties of the current war and racist generalizations and stereotypes as exhibited in games such as Quest for Saddam; along with vulnerability to recruitment by violent groups like Al Qaeda because of the U.S.’s failed strategy in securing Iraq. The work also aims to shed light on groups that traffic in crass and hateful stereotypes of Arab culture with games like Quest for Saddam and other media."[1]
[edit] About the artist

Wafaa Bilal is a U.S. citizen who emigrated to the U.S. in 1992 after being arrested and tortured for his political art work criticizing Saddam Hussein (see his bio here). He is a visiting artist at RPI's Arts Department, and had been working with the Department for a few weeks prior to the incident.

Wafaa Bilal was named 2007 Chicagoan of the Year by the Chicago Tribune, which wrote, "No artwork created in Chicago in 2007 received as much attention as Wafaa Bilal's 'Domestic Tension,' an interactive performance piece that subjected the Iraqi-born artist to a month of bombardment by paintballs from Internet viewers."


Taken from rpi.freeculture.org
------------------------------------------------

One of the most interesting aspects of this debate is that both sides are fighting for the same thing. Both sides want to support our country. Wafaa was trying to open the dialoge for people to speak. Despite his show being shut down, he still managed to create a stir about the War and in my opinion that justifies his time at RPI as being a successful one.

If you try to look at the bright side of everything that has happened, you'll see that a much larger voice was created because Bilal gained so much attention by newspapers and it got people talking. There are some great youtube documentary videos out there that I'll post in the blog. It shows some people holding anti-terrorism signs talking about how much they support america even if they don't agree with what the president is doing. I think a lot of people feel that way and I think that's what Bilal was trying to get across. He used his video game to create controversy and gain media attention about the issue of war. I think we all want this war to be over with, especially those who have lost their family and friends because of it, just as Bilal has lost his brother. He wants the war to be over too. He wants peace.

And so we all have a common goal here. I understand why people immediately react to his video game and just see the surface issue of shooting bush being wrong but those people need to look closer and really see what Bilal's purpose was. Everyone here has a common goal and I hope that everyone is able to see that when all is said and done.