let’s talk about Otherside Picnic’s depiction of the IDF and Palestine
we’re shown an American soldier who completely dehumanizes Palestinians and praises the IDF. he basically admits to their evil yet the girls’ reaction to it is disproportionate to the gravity of it
![manga panel where the american soldier happily says:
it was made specifically for entering palestinian territory and engaging in antipersonnel combat [...] it's a hedgehog of an armored combat vehicle, specially designed for killing humans. […] our situation seemed closer to the idf's reconnaissance and peacekeeping missions in the palestinian territories.
we only see the girls’ backs with 2 water drops around sorawo’s face.](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Gb9CG1FXYAAbuT4.jpg)
they do have a negative opinion but i really feel like it was brushed off too quickly, there is no mention of it afterwards. they save the soldiers as planned and that’s it.
the LN is more explicit about sorawo’s disdain yet she wonders if she should’ve complimented him more?!
![a screenshot of the light novel that reads:
"The Israeli forces have an Armored Personnel Carrier called the Nagmachon. It's a vehicle made strictly for the purpose of going into the Palestinian Territories and fighting personnel. […] It's a hedgehog-like vehicle, specialized for killing humans."
There were disgusting weapons like that...? Not noticing I was a little put off by this, the lieutenant continued his explanation.
"We brought an explosion-resistant vehicle called an
MRAP to the Otherside, but the threats to us here weren't explosives or terrorists with anti-tank weapons. The bear traps are like IEDs, in that they're a threat that exists on the road, but... If anything, I see our situation as akin to IDF soldiers on reconnaissance or a mission, or maintaining security in the Palestinian Territories. That's why we made them. Our own Nagmachon Doghouse."
He sounded like he was bragging about a toy.](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Gb9CHV-WUAAvrRf.jpg)
![this is what follows the previous text:
"This one with an arm on the front of the body is the Gorgon. It's based on a Buffalo mine-sweeping vehicle. [blabber that can’t fit in alt’s character limit] With you here, they can do their job. I'm really glad."
"Th-They sure are amazing, huh."
I just barely managed to get that much out. I didn't have a lot of practice at keeping a conversation going while a man bragged, so I had no idea how I was supposed to respond here.
"Wow." That one word was all Toriko said. It still made the lieutenant smile, and he looked up at the monster of armor and gun turrets with pride.
"Please wait here a moment. Everyone will gather
around quickly."
With the welding done, the soldiers came down from on top of the vehicle. The lieutenant gave some quick orders, and then two stood sentry while the rest rushed off.
"..Don't you think we could have complimented him
a bit more?"
"If he's satisfied, I'd say it's fine. Could you pass me
yours, Sorawo?"](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Gb9CHV9WIAAfP-y.jpg)
overall, i don’t think it’s right to talk about Israel’s colonisation in such a lighthearted way. it spreads misinformation without debunking it.
it’s clearly shown the mc doesn’t know anything about it and doesn’t care to explore it further.
i am pretty shocked that i’ve never seen anyone talk about this before, we can’t ignore manga’s wrongdoings. i even looked up a lot of keyword combinations of it and only one tweet denounced it which is not okay honestly
these are the creator’s other stories
i forgot to mention the manga panels come from chapter 27
the light novel excerpt comes from volume 2, chapter 5 of file 5
they are both official translations
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