This is why I don’t choose sides in the Israel/Palestine conflict.

We’ve had an odd sort of development in the TTRPG space over the last couple of days regarding the CRiT Awards and Gen Con. CRiT stands for Creator Recognition in TTRPG awards. It is a new award ceremony that originally took place at Gen Con. This year’s event looks to be virtual only.

From what I saw on X (Twitter,) this all originally started with the CRiT Awards saying they were banned from Gen Con by the convention organizers. Apparently the CRiT Awards Anti-Zionist, Free Palestine stance raised security concerns for the Awards show.

Disclaimer: Statements expressed in this article are strictly my opinion. If you disagree or have a different opinion, that’s okay. I’m not an expert on everything. I’m not always right. I’m just writing from my experience as I know it. Your mileage may vary.

Having organized a small convention, I can understand maybe asking Ivy and the CRiT Awards board to maybe postpone the live show because of an active potential for violence at a major convention. Gen Con is usually the largest game convention in North America every year. It has grown to the point where lodging of any kind is becoming practically impossible to find with the convention in town.

Then the Internet happened.

One can seemingly never make a statement on Instagram or X (Twitter) without drawing massive numbers of (mostly negative) comments. Universe love ‘em. The CRiT Awards posts have been deluged with people either overwhelmingly supporting them or calling them Anti-Semitic bigots, terrorists, etc. It’s never easy.

The CRiT Awards pride themselves on being Diverse, Equitable, and Inclusive. They often spotlight new and upcoming creators. Their emphasis is on BIMPoC, LGBTQIA, neurodiverse and other marginalized creators. Recently they have taken the stand of no Zionists allowed.

Needless to say article 1.5 of the CRiT Awards Code of Conduct has drawn a lot of fire from the #ttrpgcommunity. This is the part of the Awards Code of Conduct that clearly states no Zionists allowed. (Free Palestine.) I understand why it was done, but I’m not sure if such a drastic change in tone was a good plan amidst all of the chaos in the Middle East/Israel/Gaza. I would have personally opted for a slightly different approach, but regardless I don’t envy them.

Neither side has come forward to comment.

I’m not surprised. Gen Con is fairly hard to get in touch with outside of official convention business. I don’t know anyone on the inside. If anyone knows a good way to get in touch with Gen Con PR, please let me know. No official statement has been issued to my knowledge.

I messaged the CRiT awards on Instagram, but I haven’t heard anything yet. Several commenters on IG and X have said their comments are being blocked or deleted. The CRiT awards has even made comments unavailable on some of their posts. Again, can’t blame them. I’m sure it’s a circus out there.

My stance on Israel/Palestine.

I’ve said this before in another article. I have a lot of innocent, dear Jewish friends in more than one country. I don’t think any of them would harm a fly. At least two of them have been targeted by Anti-Semitic groups in the past. Likewise, I have several Muslim friends thanks to the Interweb, too. Again, they’re all non-combative, peaceful people. Many of them have fled to the US for sanity and safety.

I DO NOT STAND FOR GENOCIDE! I just want to put that out there. Killing people who just want to live their day-to-day is not cool. People killing one another in general is not cool. I am a HUGE supporter of PEACE! Obviously the situation in Palestine is extremely complicated and we may never have lasting peace in that region.

Israel is not likely to back down, even in the face of worldwide outcry. Meanwhile, the US military industrial complex continues to supply arms and munitions to Israel. I’m not happy that the country I live in is doing that, but it can’t be helped.

As I see it, an entire population in Palestine is being used as cover by a brutal terrorist organization. They are more entrenched in the local population than the Viet Cong were during the Vietnam conflict. Hamas is almost as much an idea as it is an organization, hence the notion of Israel committing genocide in the region. At this point it is far from any kind of surgical strategic action on Israel’s part. Israel’s response reminds me of the carpet bombing during Vietnam.

Nobody wins and we all lose. The needless, wanton, terrible destruction of life has got to stop. It matters not who started it, who has the biggest guns or the most just cause- it just needs to stop. We can’t achieve unity consciousness until humans stop killing other humans. I’m sorry, family. This hurts me on a spiritual level.

Zionism?

The Zionist movement in the more modern definition is basically being for the establishment of a free and independent Israel. The Jewish people needed a place to call home following the horrors of the Holocaust during WW2, and the United Nations decided more civil unrest in the Middle East was just what the doctor ordered. I think most adults with a sense of history understand that throwing down a country on top of one of the most disputed pieces of real estate in the world might have been a bad idea.

Being pro-Israel and Jewish are technically two different things just like being pro-Palestine and Muslim. Maybe that’s a tough pill for some people to swallow. I happen to have friends on both sides of the conflict, and I royally hate it. I don’t/can’t/won’t follow an established religion of any kind. Religion is part of how we got into this freakin mess in the first place! It needed to begin and end with “Love thy neighbor.” I’m not sure how all that translates into war crimes and hate crimes on both sides.

Free Palestine?

If the United Nations was smart, I think they should give concessions to Palestine, reunite it, and acknowledge it as a separate country. They should literally send UN Peacekeeping forces to prevent any/all hostilities. It’s not a move against Israel or anyone else. It’s just the matter of correcting a very old mistake.

I hate to say it, but when it comes to this very messy political/military/social/religious conflict, everyone is right to some extent. (I’m no expert, just years upon years of history, sociology, journalism, and life on Classroom Earth.) Right now this whole conflict between Israel and Palestine is pure insanity. I wish the Israeli government could see it as clearly as the rest of the world and even their own people see it. The insane killing of innocent people has got to stop!

Sigh. Oh yeah, gaming.

I’m clear on the other side of the world, a humble TTRPG fan with a blog. I have no political aspirations. I’m up to my eyeballs in my own real world problems. There’s not much I can do about a conflict half the world away in a region with a long history of bloodshed. However, as a TTRPG fan, I do have a little knowledge and input when it comes to our hobby and such.

Believe it or not, I actually wanted this blog to be up for a CRiT Award last year when I first found out about them. After everything that has gone down in the last couple of days, I’m not sure I do now. I suspect I haven’t been nominated based on the fact that I’m, uh… not their cup of tea based on my appearance. At least I don’t come off as a Zionist, I guess.

However, I have no patience for any kind of Anti-Semitism. Several people have pointed out the Anti-Semitic perceived rhetoric or sentiment in the CRiT Awards’ policies and practices. We can’t tolerate any kind of discrimination or hate based on religion, gender, ethnic origin, etc. I’m very concerned that the DEI message of the CRiT Awards might be getting garbled in all of this. If we’re going to be equals, there can’t be exceptions. There can’t be a, “We’re inclusive of everyone but _____,” or we’re right back where we started.

I voted on the CRiT Awards before this massive social media disaster struck. I know a lot of the people involved in the organization and nominees from social media. I’ve privately chatted with some of the nominees before. I’m happy they’re up for an award of any kind. Good for them!

Gen Con.

I said it last year and I’ll say it again. There are those of us who would give our eye teeth to have an all expense paid trip to Gen Con. That convention is the proverbial epitome of what a game convention should be. I definitely wouldn’t turn down a trip to Gen Con, although my wife would object strenuously. (*I’ve got a kid moving five hours away that weekend, but any other year…)

Several people have already cancelled plans to go to the mega-convention over this issue with the CRiT Awards out of support. I don’t think it will impact the convention’s ticket sales or attendance enough to change things. Most attendees just want to play games and party all weekend. I’m weird in that I go to various panel discussions and hang out in the dealer’s room for most of it. (I need to get back to do some networking.)

That all having been said, I think maybe Gen Con could have handled the CRiT Awards safety concerns a little better. There has been a small amount of backlash onto convention organizers for possibly caving to pressure. I’m not sure if Gen Con has released an official statement yet or if they might backpedal. It’s still their convention and they could very nicely ask the CRiT Awards to come back. On the other hand, they could let the ban stand and say nothing, too. Sometimes a neutral or no response is better than jamming a stick in the proverbial hornet’s nest.

These are important issues all around.

This whole debacle gets into so many issues in our hobby and all around the world. I love RolePlaying Games. I love games in general. I love it when new creators get recognized, too. Hey, I’d love to get recognized for something positive eventually.

I stand with all of the innocent people of Israel and Palestine who just want to live out normal lives. I think making a stand for principles on such issues is important. People’s lives matter in the real world as well as in the gaming space. My fondest dream is for all of us to learn to get along.

Thank you for being here today with me. I appreciate you. Please embrace the things that bring you the most joy.