Peace gaming
Social networks, games and virtual worlds are crossing unlikely boundaries.
A14-year-old living in Haifa, Israel, sits by a laptop working allnight with a 22-year-old Lebanese engineering student in an intensequest to kill a boss on the World of Warcraft. Over the course ofmany hours, together, the two unlikely teammates kill a number ofcreatures and gather various resources.
"Gamingis all about skills, and not identity or nationality," Shafeisaid. "Your intention may not be to meet people, but a lot ofgaming sites now have teams. So you might end up playing on a teamwith an Iranian, an Israeli or an American Jew. Almost every gamethese days allows you to chat and connect with people, so you say'hey, where are you from? I'm from Bahrain,' get to know that personand find out that you actually have lots of similar interests inmusic and things like that."
DrKampf argued that gaming, particularly gaming that requires teamwork,has a greater potential to cross conflict lines.