'Wack the Iraq' boardwalk arcade criticized as tasteless, anti-Arab

By Associated Press, 8/19/2004 18:47

WILDWOOD, N.J. (AP) A live-target paintball game in which patrons take aim at runners dressed as Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden has drawn fire from critics who say the game is tasteless and can only encourage violence against Arabs.

''We don't need any more games that would encourage people to hate Arabs or kill them,'' said Aref Assaf, president of the New Jersey Chapter of American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.

Assaf has called on local officials to shut the game down, which he considers hate speech. He also wants Wildwood visitors to boycott it.

The game, known as ''Wack the Iraq'' not Iraqi has been on the board walk in Wildwood for at least a year, but has only recently drawn complaints, said Mayor Ernie Troiano Jr.

Troiano agrees the game is tasteless but said it was no more likely to encourage violence than many popular video games. He also said the city was powerless to shut the game down because of the operator's free speech rights.

''You go out and tell him that he can't do this, you're going to have a lawsuit that you cannot win,'' Troiano said.

The game is at the end of Morey's Pier, but an employee of Morey's said the game is not operated by the company.

Troiano said the operator was Andrew Weiner, whose family has operated arcades along the boardwalk for more than 50 years. A telephone listing for the arcade could not be found. Weiner's mother, Rhoda Weiner, who is retired from the arcade business, said she did not believe her son operated the game.