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"Wack the Iraq" is shutdown, rally canceled
ADCNJ;
American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, NJ Chapter
www.adcnj.us
For Immediate Release
“Wack the Iraq’ is
whacked forever
Contact Aref Assaf
973-981-4104
August 26, 2006
West Caldwell, NJ: The NJ
Chapter of American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee wishes to thank the City
of Wildwood for their help in closing down the ‘wack the Iraq’ game. The game,
located on the famous Boardwalk, involves shooting paintballs at live targets
dressed as Arabs. An official statement signed by Mr. Fred Wager from the
Public Affairs and Public Safety Department confirmed that the owner has agreed
to close the game in the next two weeks. Previously, the City of Wildwood
cited First Amendment and free speech as legal constrains in their efforts to
close down the game. As a result, ADC issued a statement condemning the game and
calling on people to boycott it and to send disapproving letters to the Mayor’s
office. Additionally, we planned to bring our message to the Boardwalk itself
with a protest rally, where thousands of tourists will be spending their last
weekend before schools start, to demonstrate our resolve to close down the game.
Now that the game will be removed and
permitted again in Wildwood, ADC NJ has decided to call off the protest rally it
had called for Saturday, August 28.
ADC is gratified by the positive involvement of the City of Wildwood and other
groups and organizations that had publicly denounced the game as offensive and
tasteless and fosters anti-Arab sentiments. Aref Assaf, President of the NJ
Chapter, said "we are gratified by the great support ADC has received from so
many fellow citizens and other Arab and Muslim organizations culminating into a
united stand against the offensive game and its owners. " He continued, "we wish
to specifically acknowledge the support of the NY and Philadelphia chapters of
ADC, The Network of Young Arab professionals and the Islamic Center of Passaic
County."
Aref Assaf, President of
the NJ Chapter said that ADC, a civil rights organization, believes that when
free speech becomes hate speech, then public entities must step in and exert all
their available resources to remedy the situation.
End.
ADC
New Jersey is a grassroots civil rights organization which welcomes people of
all backgrounds, faiths and ethnicities as members. We are a chapter of ADC, a
registered not-for- profit civil rights organization based in Washington, DC.
See Reuters on CNN Story:
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Saturday 28.08.2004, CET 00:50
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August 27, 2004 11:15 PM
New Jersey town hosts "Wack the
Iraq"
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A New Jersey
game called "Wack the Iraq", where
players fire paintballs at people
dressed as Arabs, has drawn
ire from Arab groups after the city
failed to convince the operator to
change its name this summer.
The City of Wildwood, a seaside
resort in southern New Jersey
popular with summer vacationers,
said the game would continue to
operate
until the end of this summer holiday
season, but would change its name
when it returns next year, according
to Fred Wager, commissioner of
public affairs and public safety for
Wildwood.
"We didn't like it because we were
getting a lot of complaints about
it," Wager said in an interview.
The game is being run by a private
company under a license granted by
the city.
Arab groups have voiced outrage at
the name and the notion of killing
Iraqis for fun, and had asked that
the city shut the game down
immediately. Instead, a compromise
was reached to change the game's
name for next summer.
The game targets teenagers, said
Aref Assaf, President of the New
Jersey chapter of American-Arab
Anti-Discrimination Committee. His
organization was persistent in
condemning the game and pursuing all
legal and moral alternatives t to
shut the game down.
"(The game) tells them to kill Arabs
and that it is legal, and you can
have fun doing it," he told Reuters.
Reuters
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Wildwood says 'Wack' boardwalk game will be renamed
After criticism from an Arab civil-rights group, Wildwood,
N.J., officials said yesterday that the "Wack the Iraq" game on
a boardwalk pier will close after the Labor Day weekend and be
renamed next year. The development pleased Aref Assaf, president
of the New Jersey Chapter of American Arab Anti-Discrimination
Committee, who said it prompted the group to cancel a protest
scheduled for today.
Customers at the game aim paint ball guns at people dressed
as Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden. "It's going to shut down;
it won't come back," said Fred G. Wager, a member of the city's
governing Board of Commissioners who oversees public safety.
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