RPI University suspends Artist for- ‘Virtual Jihadi’

The move capped a chain of events — including claims the FBI was eyeing the artist — that began last month when the College Republicans blasted the arts department as “a terrorist safe haven.”

The work that provoked that attack is Wafaa Bilal’s “Virtual Jihadi.” It’s the latest piece by a Chicago-based video artist who is testing the limits of academic freedom in a time of war at a Troy school that receives millions in Pentagon research funding.

“It feels like a military camp, not an educational institution,” Bilal, 41, said Thursday night.

The origin of his work is a video game called “Quest for Saddam.” The game, where players target the ex-Iraqi leader, prompted what RPI’s Web site describes as an al-Qaida spin-off called “The Night of Bush Capturing.”

Read more: http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=6699…

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