Anger over 'shoot Arabs' battle game

[GuzziHero]

No, sir. My friend who does model boating went to a convention there...WW2 German models werent even allowed to have nazi logos on. Nothing was. A little understandable I guess, considering they still have a LOT of people who consider themselves neo-nazi over there

 

---

Yknow, every time I hear of some more rabid spouting by The Scum, I am reminded of a verse from Vengeance by New Model Army:

 

"Top-dog fascist gets the boys in the corner

Plants poison where there was just confusion.

Walks away scot-free and laughing,

Rides on the tide as the cancer grows"

 

Thats all they ever do.

 

And dont even get me started on The Sport Anyone who buys any of those bloody tabloid rags...well, you get what you deserve - a sackload of ######s!

[Swiper]

ALWAYS be cautious which muslim association speaks out - since many 'speak' for the community and are little more than radical mouth pieces (one of my more interesting topics for university essays).

 

Its a joke, I've experienced similar at milsim and willingly obliged *they asked me if I was ok with it and I consented* since it went with the experience.

 

Those are blantantly promotional shots and as usual egits blow this out of proportion.

[BlackHawkHarlequin]

And dont even get me started on The Sport

Anyone who buys any of those bloody tabloid rags...well, you get what you deserve - a sackload of ######s!

 

The Guardian is where its at mate

 

 

[GuzziHero]

 

The Guardian is where its at mate

 

 

 

The only newspaper I will ever buy, that. Seriously

[rhino]

Topics merged and moved to General Discussion

[BlackHawkHarlequin]

The only newspaper I will ever buy, that. Seriously

 

Good Man.

 

 

[snorkelman]

pound for a penny that GCN will get in on the act "these are the people the govt have given an exemption to the VCRA ---shock horror insert over hyped twaddle here---"

[creepingfear]

Funny how The Sun's version of this story doesn't allow the usual comment/discussion. Hmm...

 

Still, pretty good way at getting free national advertising for a site. The moment something is declared bad, it immediately gains more followers.

[Chimpy]

This is the original article that seems to have sparked this off:

 

http://www.lincolnshireecho.co.uk/displayN...tentPK=20333397

 

It's typical sensationalist tat.

[creepingfear]

TRUE AIRSOFTERS DO NOT consider this to be a true airsofting sport, this has gone way beyond a game, this should not be allowed!

Charles Burrows, Airsoft UK

 

Interesting little quote I read from that link Chimpy popped up. Problem is, there's no way of verifying if the quoted comment is genuine or not as the comment box allows you to write anything as anyone.

[djl]

The story does seem to have originated with the very biased Lincolnshire Echo article (their quoting of an outraged father and ex-squaddie seems more than a little selective, as from the public comments attached to the original article you can see that he seems to be outnumbered 10 to 1 by current and ex-forces members who are far more sympathetic to airsoft skirmishing). The Echo is owned by the Daily Mail Group, by way of Northcliffe Media. Think Daily Mail mind-set ("somebody somewhere is having fun, and it must be stopped"), and you can guess the slant of the original article.

 

The Sun, The Star and the other rags have journalists whose sole purpose is to trawl the local papers and those news websites already disposed toward a "Little Englander" point-of-view, select a few choice stories with the potential for inflaming a bit of public opinion, and then pour oil onto the fire by phoning "community leaders" and the like with a list of questions designed to provoke an emotional response from them, which can then be spun as the required "outrage" needed for a good headline.

 

I do think the owners of the skirmish site could have been a bit more circumspect though. The website publicity shots and their language did nothing to help matters (top tip: when trying to convince a sceptical local reporter that it's a legitimate sport, try to refer to the other team as "the other team" rather than "the enemy"). The sport's in enough of a tight spot already without serving it up on a plate to the Press, who are just looking for another divisive "Danish Cartoon" controversy that they can spin into a backlash against Islam.

[Sale]

No, sir. My friend who does model boating went to a convention there...WW2 German models werent even allowed to have nazi logos on. Nothing was. A little understandable I guess, considering they still have a LOT of people who consider themselves neo-nazi over there

Might be exactly because the salute and all insignia are banned, that it attracts all the more attention from rebellious teenagers. "If it's banned, it's got to be interesting." I'm afraid they are only shooting themselves in the foot with legislation like this.

 

You know those people who normally start a sentence with "I'm not racist but..." ?

This is the Sun's version.

Could be. Then again they will print anything that sells. Anything. If they can stir these things while pretending to be impartial, all the better for them. Like an arms dealer supplying both sides of the conflict, and maybe having a hand in making it happen in the first place.

 

-Sale

[BlackHawkHarlequin]

According to the Lincolnshire echo (which Im sure is the sort of thing you read while waiting in the doctors) airsoft is a "new war game"

 

People are so quick to up arms and rant about airsoft but they haven't even played it!

 

Yes airsoft guns are realistic but thats the point of airsoft to be as realistic as possible..We cant bally well stand in the wood flinging handfalls of bbs at each other now can we? Honestly if these stupid people don't accept our sport and keep whinging about how "Little Sammy down the road had a spud gun pointed at him by a hoody wearing yoof and now refuses to leave the house and watches telly while eating turkey dinosaurs which are gradually clogging his arteries and making him obese which in turn puts strain on the NHS" (I don't know if that has actually happened or not ) we can expect Airsoft to be banned completely in Britain

 

 

 

[Inq Eisenhorn]

Its all about denial....On the one hand you have Muslims saying we are peaceful, and you should respect our culture and our religion, however, its the same religion that gives rise to some of the attrocities we see going on around the world....now I know this isn't limited to Islam...however, it seems its only Islamist that seem to not want to embrace the fact....

 

If you consider airsoft is about military or combat roleplay.....we have modern scenarios and historic scenarios, we even have sideline scenarios based on drug lords etc....whether right or wrong, justified or not, the US and Allied forces in the middle east are fighting against muslims....its a fact!...only, it seems British muslims don't want to admit that fact.....

 

What makes it more interesting is thet fact that the muslims in the middle east turn it into a religious conflict, why? The Allieds were content to fight over terrorism, weapons of mass destruction and oil! You know, you have to admit, we didn't invade in the name of Christ, we don't shoot extrememists shouting "FOR THE LOVE OF GOD"....we don't label the enemy as muslim.....they do!

 

I wouldn't say I agree with the properganda of both sides of the conflict, and I belive there are shadows within shadows, and what we see in the media is of the same calibur as watching Eastenders in order to get a world view.....however, someone is out there shouting "In the name of Allah", or "For the good of Islam".....and that person appears to be aiming an AK and firing at US troops...last time I looked 2+2=4

[BlackHawkHarlequin]

To the Zulu 1 site operators, just ask yourself..what would Allah do?

[creepingfear]

....wear a shermagh?

[Melonfish]

has anyone got any links for ths game? looks like a decent setup?

pete

 

[BlackHawkHarlequin]

 

"This is getting tiresome. Is there ANYTHING the Muslims are not outraged or offended about?

 

Considering 95% of this outrage is fake and only a political tool to get preferential treatment, I say enough is enough. Face the fact that, yes, although not all Muslims are terrorists, pretty much all terrorists are Muslims. There is no sacred "Right not to be offended". Grow up!"

Taken from the Daily Mail website.

 

I feel sorry for these site operators as they are recieving bad press and being forced to deny they are racist, let me tell you something...anyone who is/was in the army are the least racist people you can find as they travel the world and fight alongside foreign soldiers and build an infrastructure within the local populace.

 

And anyway how can it be rascist towards arabs/muslims? We are the HUMAN race

 

[Habakure]

I wear a shemag when its cold, so is the sun/star going to call me racist. These papers are always desperate for story, this kind of thing just helps MAG with there crusade.

 

I like the idea of guns of streets but a RIF off the streets is a bit far, whhoooppppss nearly went into rant mode there.

[creepingfear]

www.zulu-1.com

 

Oh God, I've just followed a link from Zulu 1 to AI and then followed a link from that to something called Raiders - yet another magazine giving "expert" knowledge of the world of military units and special forces and low and behold there's a PDF link giving advertiser rates which can only mean advertisers will be sell their wares which basically means this Raiders malarky is going to be yet another "catalogue".

[Svack]

I once shot someone at airsoft who was wearing a shermagh so I must be a racist!

 

I would love to find out local group of MAG, invite them down for a friendly game...

[Angry]

Is it bad press for them tho? If this is being posted on every UK airsoft forum surely its probably the best advert they could have hoped for?

[SiLeNt BuT DeAdLY]

Maybe to avoid, cry babies, and general *rickrolls* looking for sympathy becaue there being victimised , jus call this sort of game, the call of duty reconstruction!

 

Or something like army vs white guys who really like to wear head scarfs!

 

or call them the head scarf crew!

 

 

you just to shut the lil bitches up, who complain about everthing!!

[thecandyman]

That is just ridiculous.

[conger]

Do you ignore this type of story .... afterall it is a rag newspaper.

However, the Sun, Star and Sport and so on happen to be read by alot of people.

 

The Independant, Press or Guardian would not be expected to write such a story ... right ? Or would they???

 

I'm not British, but I do have a place in my heart from the UK. I also have a large place in my heart from the sport of airsoft. To see these this type of press makes me upset a little.

 

This makes me think perhaps a response should be made to clarify a few clear misinformations presented in it. But who makes the response.

 

Of course any well intentioned but poorly prepared response might then draw more attention to it which perhaps Airsoft as a sport does not need?

 

God, I sound like I'm advocating a UK Airsoft Governing Body .... more red tape to protect everyone and ironically drown everyone at the same time. Hmmm, perhaps not.

 

With the standard of reporting presented in the article I read, the disgraceful usage of racial and cultural identity is essentially provokative and unnecessary. Then again, surprise is not the emotion. What more could we expect from such a newspaper. Hurt at the blatant attack is the emotion which lies behind this thread.

 

To my mind, a firm and adult response, not directly aimed at this article [i'd rather not give it any sense of importance by may of reply] but aimed at highlighting the UK's sporting diversity to everyone, might be a worthwhile mission for a body whose aim is to represent the national voice of the playing community.

 

Do we ignore it at our peril??

 

A national airsoft effort to do something that gains some national awareness, worthy of column inches in a respectable newspaper might be non verbal [ergo, non provokative] response. A charity event, perhaps for Red Nose day might get the attention needed to allow Airsoft as a sport a few precious seconds on a national stage to be seen for you and I know it is.

 

Perhaps the thing to do is to let this go, think of it as nothing more than it is and choose not to fuel the beast or entertain the tug looking for a fight.

 

We're not about fighting afterall.

 

Good Hunting