Page 3 - spielbox 4_24 Englisch E-Paper

Editorial
Dear reader,
Matteo Menapace, the game designer who, along with co-designer Matt Leacock, won the Kennerspiel des Jahres for Daybreak, was at the heart of a scandal at the Spiel des Jahres awards in Berlin on 21 July. He had stuck an unusually-shaped sticker of a watermelon slice on his T-shirt. At first glance, the sticker might have seemed quite innocuous, but its shape is what made it potentially controversial.
The watermelon established itself as a symbol of Palestinian re- sistance to Israel’s occupation policy as early as 1967. That was after the Six-Day War, when Israel seized the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, the Golan Heights, and East Jerusalem and banned the display of the Palestinian flag in the occupied territories. The Palestinian flag, like many in the region, carries the Pan-Ar- ab colors: black, white, green, and red. These are also the colors in a watermelon: the rind is green and white, the flesh is red, and the seeds are black. This symbol has been ubiquitous since the start of Israel’s retaliation war after the Hamas massacre of 7 October 2023. However, most of the time the watermelon ap- pears as a regular slice of fruit. Menapace’s sticker, on the other hand, took the shape of Palestine as it was before the founding of Israel in 1948.
The Spiel des Jahres jury released the following statement: “The Spiel des Jahres association has been supporting the ‘Playing for Tolerance’ initiative for years and is thus positioning itself unequivocally against any form of racism and anti-Semitism.” It continued: “We find it intolerable that one of the game design- ers we invited on stage wore a symbol on his clothing that must be perceived as anti-Semitic by Jews.” The association explained that because of its shape, Menapace’s sticker can be understood as signaling more than simple solidarity with the Palestinian people in their suffering, it can also be seen as a call to wipe out Israel. In wearing it, he “went beyond what can be con- sidered a legitimate expression of political opinion.” After the award ceremony, Harald Schrapers and Christoph Schlewinski,
The offending water- melon: designer Matteo Menapace (right) at the award for Kennerspiel des Jahres wearing the watermelon sticker. Its shape was deemed an “illegitimate expression of political opinion” by the Spiel des Jahres jury.
two SdJ representatives and spielbox authors, asked Menapace to remove the sticker and prohibited him from displaying it in connection with the award ceremony or during interviews. The photos and videos have since been edited to remove the sticker. However, the mask on the live stream jumps around, providing the occasional glimpse of the watermelon (as in our screenshot).
The jury’s statement concluded with: “Matteo Menapace is no longer welcome at future events organized by the Spiel des Jahres association.” This sounds like a lifelong ban, so spielbox asked Harald Schrapers in an interview to clarify. He an-
swered that this ban only concerned the jury evening in Essen. Schrapers also explained that if Menapace had worn a simple watermelon slice, everything would have been fine.
boardgamewire.com published Menapace’s response statement, in which he said that he understands why there is heightened sensitivity to all forms of antisemitism in Germany. But he went on to say that this discussion distracts from the intent of his message: “I want to draw attention to the reality of thousands of Palestinian people who are being wiped off the map, and are in dire need of humanitarian and medical services.”
This discussion also overshadows the reason why we gathered in Berlin, namely to celebrate the best games of this year: Sky Team, Daybreak, and Magic Keys. You’ll find these games highlighted in the middle of our special focus (starting on p.16), without any dark clouds hanging over them. Enjoy the read and the games.
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Photo: Screenshot Livestream der Preisverleihung auf YouTube