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How Online Games Can Change Real life | Hans Shakur | TEDxJaffa


Translator: Sahar Mohammed Checker: Riyad Almubarak
Arab and Jewish income “life room”.
(Laughter)
True, it looks like a joke.
What will they feel?
fear?
Negative stereotypes?
Distrust? conflict?
probably.
But the things in common between them actually
too many.
They will not be able to escape from prison
If they did not talk and cooperate to find a way together to escape.
That’s exactly what we do.
We collect people living in conflict zones,
And by playing online
They give up fear, stereotypical images and mistrust,
And then communicate and collaborate, and even become friends.
But conflicts are not confined to our region.
Conflicts occur everywhere.
Conflicts are terrible,
They affect the quality of life in each community or city in which it occurs.
Being a father lives in a conflict zone
I stayed for two years troubled and worried.
Some of you share the same concern and concern,
Maybe you tried
Find ways to achieve a better future.
Try many different programs, but many fail.
You might have tried, for example,
Some Arab-Jewish dialogue programs in schools.
Frankly, none of them worked
In making a change
Or create genuine friendships.
I felt we did not have the option of sitting idly by,
None of us have this option.
Nor can we wait for politicians to bring good to the region.
We can not wait, and we must not wait.
Being a father
I learned alot…
(Laughter)
From my children and the children of my brothers and sisters and my family.
A while ago I noticed something wonderful.
I noticed that my son
My brothers and sisters
They talk over the phone loudly
While playing with iPads.
I realized they were organizing moves with their relatives abroad
While playing with them online.
This raised my question.
Young people and young people are fond of hardware and video games.
They play and interact and enjoy their time,
Sometimes they quarrel,
But, unlike most adults,
They forget and forgive and come back to play quickly.
They have not yet clung to negative stereotypes
Or other concepts.
If online video games bring together people,
What would happen if we used it?
To bring people to play and interact and become friends,
Even in areas of conflict?
I found it!
(Laughter)
The young players are very skillful.
They are great at solving problems.
They strive to improve themselves,
They seek a heroic victory
To somehow save the world while playing.
If young players are skilled in solving problems in the visual world,
Are they able to solve real problems in real life?
This led me to meet Uri and Dudi,
Shakrani shared the same thoughts and desires
To take advantage of the language that young people love and want and deserve:
Online video games.
Thus, together we established Games for Peace.
Back then, there was no idea of ​​using video games on the Internet
To deal with some pressing issues,
It was not a new idea.
In fact, many tried to follow this idea
Developed some specially designed games
To promote dialogue, resolve conflicts and promote peace.
You may have heard of such games.
These games may be great as a test,
But they are not widely known or popular.
Instead of developing games designed for this purpose,
We are investing in the attractiveness of popular video games.
Maine Craft.
Maenkraft represents a wonderful environment
Where communication, cooperation and creativity are rewarded.
She is very popular and the kids are addicted to her play.
Do you know that more than 40 million players play minecraft each month?
Today, Mainkraft plays more than 100 million players around the world.
If they met to play together on air,
To form one of the largest countries in the world.
We worked with our programmers
To change the environment within the game of Minecraft
To meet our needs.
And created a new form and feeling,
As if it were a new game,
We added more specifications to the players without imposing any prior goals.
Do you remember the “life room”?
So began our game.
Our game requires players to talk and collaborate,
Organize their movements and ally themselves.
Can you imagine young people from all over the Middle East
They meet to play the game Minecraft?
We made it!
It was exciting and fun to see small players
From Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and Iran,
Yes, Iran,
Together to play Minecraft together.
Teenagers came to play and do what they liked:
To play games they love.
Then they returned to play again and again
Encouraging more players to join them.
For them, are the Menkraft.
For us, it is a revolutionary new way of bridging
Between different sectors in conflict zones.
You may ask now,
If all of them came from a different country
How did they communicate with each other?
Well, this technology was not difficult.
We were able to introduce an interpretation mechanism for dialogues
In the inside of the game,
So everyone can play without any language barriers.
Social media played an important role in spreading our message.
Our program has received small players in Georgia and Abkhazia.
It was also used by players in a match between Spain and the Basque
Took place in the Basque Museum.
Look at them.
Is not it nice to enjoy a game you love,
At the same time, historic walls of hatred and mistrust are being destroyed,
And gives peace a real chance?
Today, our program is used in schools in Israel
Where Arabs and young Jews meet to play Minkraft together,
And to get to know each other better.
They play online
After several times they meet face-to-face,
They enjoy it a lot.
(clap)
The program has become very popular
So the teachers are asking to work with us to have their own game.
(Laughter)
We are talking about a real change that can be measured
In real time and in real world.
We have seen more positive ideas for others,
And increased willingness to communicate with others.
The inherent readiness for incredible good.
So, if you want to be present, congratulations
A better future,
Of course, all of you want a better future,
We must start investing in young people,
Learn from them, listen to them and communicate with them.
Young generations can teach us
How to remove barriers,
And how we accept others around us,
And how we work to achieve peace.
What would happen if we fell together,
American, North Korean, Afghan and Russian,
In the “life room”?
Can video games make a difference?
To see, let’s play.
(clap)
Thank.
(clap)
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