Ein Tag im Leben von Abed Salama: Die Geschichte einer Jerusalemer Tragödie

by Nathan Thrall, Deprijck Lucien (translator)

Ausgezeichnet mit dem Pulitzer-Preis 2024 in der Kategorie »General Nonfiction«
»Buch des Jahres 2023« The New Yorker
Auf einer Straße außerhalb Jerusalems verunglückt ein Schulbus. Der besorgte Vater Abed Salama fährt sofort zur Unfallstelle. Doch die verletzten Kinder wurden bereits in verschiedene Krankenhäuser der Stadt gebracht, zu der Abed mit seinen palästinensischen Papieren keinen Zugang hat. Seine Odyssee auf der Suche nach seinem Sohn ist verwebt mit den Geschichten unterschiedlicher Menschen, deren Wege unerwartet Unter ihnen eine Erzieherin und ein Mechaniker, die Kinder aus dem Wrack bergen, und ein israelischer Kommandant und ein palästinensischer Beamter, die mit den Folgen des Unfalls konfrontiert werden.
In seinem gut recherchierten Werk, das wenige Tage vor dem Anschlag am 7. Oktober 2023 veröffentlicht wurde, geht Nathan Thrall nicht nur auf die komplexe Geschichte der Besetzung ein, vielmehr macht er sichtbar, was oft übersehen das Leben der Menschen in einem zerrütteten Land.
»Ich kenne kein anderes Werk über Israel und Palästina, das diese Tiefe an Einsicht und Verständnis erreicht. Das Buch kann als ein Abriss moderner palästinensischer Geschichte, eingefasst in die persönlichen Erinnerungen verschiedener Individuen, gelesen werden.« David Shulman | New York Review of Books

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Middle East, Politics, Audiobook, Israel, Biography

294 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 3, 2023

About the author

Nathan Thrall is an American author, essayist, and journalist, who is known for his 2023 nonfiction work A Day in the Life of Abed Salama: Anatomy of a Jerusalem Tragedy, and is a contributor to several literary magazines. As of 2023 he is a professor at Bard College in New York state.

Thrall is the former director of the Arab-Israeli Project at the International Crisis Group, where from 2010 until 2020 he covered Israel, the West Bank, Gaza, and Israel's relations with its neighbors.

Thrall is Jewish, and his mother is a Jewish émigrée from the Soviet Union.

Reviews

[ancientreader · Rating 5 out of 5]

I requested this ARC after seeing Masha Gessen's interview with Nathan Thrall. In their introductory paragraph, Gessen speaks of the "intractable narratives" of Israel/Palestine; Thrall can't make those narratives any more tractable but he does illuminate them. I believed, until I read this book, that I had a reasonably clear understanding of the conditions of Palestinian life under occupation. I did not.

The day in A Day in the Life (I'm sure the echo of Ivan Denisovich is intentional) is the one in which Salama's five-year-old son, Milad, was killed in a school-bus accident. I say "accident," and the proximate cause was indeed accidental -- the driver of an 18-wheeler, speeding on a wet, narrow road, smashed into the bus -- but never was any accident, or its aftermath, so overdetermined by the historical conditions under which it took place. Everything from the road conditions, to the age of the school bus, to the route the bus had to take, to, most painfully of all, the long delay before ambulances and firefighters arrived, and the system of permits and checkpoints that prevented private cars from taking burned children to the best hospitals (which were, of course, not in the parts of the Occupied Territories where Palestinians live) was a function of -- well, "settler colonialism" is almost too abstract a term. Some Israeli middle-schoolers responded to news reports of the children's injuries and deaths with glee. On social media. Under their own names. Thrall quotes an Israeli -- a member of a haredi organization that collects the bodies of the dead for burial -- who is not unsympathetic to the bereaved parents but who says that of course he isn't as upset by the deaths of Palestinian children as he would be by the deaths of Jewish children. Any Jew who says otherwise, this man claims, must be lying.

I don't believe it for a minute, but that hardly matters; what matters is that anyone can say such a thing with no apparent shame. What matters is that an entire country has been organized in such a way as to make the worst days of so many people's lives inevitable. Where does such a cycle of dehumanization and vengeance end? Does it ever?

Many thanks to NetGalley and Henry Holt/Metropolitan Books for the ARC of this book.

[Shishuraj · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heart wrenching book. I had placed a hold on it from the library a while ago, but it arrived on October 14th, only a few days after Israel had begun carpet bombing Gaza in retaliation to the Hamas revolt on Oct 7. In the beginning of the book, the author paints a picture of Palestinians living, not just surviving. Of course doing that is hard with the illegal Israeli occupation constantly affecting their lives in multiple ways. It was still refreshing to read however. The book is centered on a tragedy though, and reading about it is infuriating, and the fact that nothing has changed since, in fact it may have gotten worse, is incredibly depressing.

P.S. the top reviews of this book on Goodreads are such trash. Y’all should stop reading imo.

[Traci Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall this book is really good. The story of Abed Salama is so sad. The title led me to believe the book would be focused on one day, but instead it attempts to cover the last 50+ years of Palestinian and Israeli relations (and doesn't do it in a way that holds true to the one day constraint).The writing is great and the book is well researched. I found this book to have a lot of potential and be readable but in the end to be lacking a clear editorial structure. It felt like an article that was turned into a book without having thought about how that transition would be executed.

[Michał Michalski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ja pierdole.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quite short in length, but incredibly powerful in its telling.

I feel A Day in the Life of Abed Salama is a bit of a misnomer, as not only do the different chapters cover different time periods and phrases of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but there are a lot more individual characters (and perspectives) as well.

At times, I admittedly had a bit of trouble keeping track of all of the different characters, their backstories, and relations/relationships to one another.

However, all of the animosity, racism, entitlement, neglect, and abuse toward Palestinians does reach its breaking point on the day of the bus crash, when you learn just how easily this tragedy could have been prevented (and the even more sinister question lurking beneath the surface - did Israeli top officials intentionally allow this to happen?)

Going off the reactions of the Israeli youth (laughing and saying from “the bottom of their hearts, they felt absolutely ecstatic upon hearing the news of the accident - one in which five 4-5 year old Kindergartners died needlessly) as well as the lack of Israeli authorities to launch any official investigation into culpability, it’s not exactly an unreasonable question to ask.

Sure, there may be extremists on both sides, but let’s please stop kidding ourselves as to whom the actual victims are; that there are no differences between the oppressors and the oppressed. Given the time and America’s unflinching support for Israel, books like this should be required reading for K-12 schools so that people can finally start to learn both sides of the story, rather than Zionist propaganda.

Five stars due to its necessity.

[Nada Elshabrawy · Rating 5 out of 5]

a devastating story. fuck occupation. freepalestine.

--------------------------

“There was no suggestion that Israel’s fund for accident victims should compensate the families of green ID holders, whose children were killed on a road controlled by Israel and patrolled by its police. No one argued that a single, badly maintained artery was insufficient for the north-south transit of Palestinians in the greater Jerusalem–Ramallah area, or objected that the checkpoints were used to stem Palestinian movement and ease settler traffic at rush hour. No one noted that the absence of emergency services on one side of the separation wall was bound to lead to tragedy. No one said that the Palestinians in the area were neglected because the Jewish state aimed to reduce their presence in greater Jerusalem, the place most coveted by Israel. For these acts, no one was held to account.”

[Stitching Ghost · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a great book if you like books that thoroughly resist the temptation to idealize the victims and make them into saints. The only thing that I really struggled with is that we got a fair bit about a lot of the people involved and being terrible with names there's probably a couple people whose stories got tangled up in my brain. There's a lot of traumatic stuff in there so do approach with caution if you're in a fragile place.

[Tim · Rating 5 out of 5]

The disparity between the Palestinians and Israelis is still hard for many to internalize. One is an occupier, the other is an occupied people. Those Palestinians inside Israel (not under direct control in the occupied territories) are 2nd class citizens in practice since the arrival of Zionism and legally since 2018. Those in the occupied territories, meaning The West Bank and Gaza have no rights. They are under the complete authority of the Israeli military in everything that matters. The present "war" is described by many reputable orgs as but an escalation in a genocide that's been ongoing - the desire to eliminate the Palestinians in whole or in part. The military occupation of the Palestinians is designed to make life miserable, to control and humiliate through every aspect of existance and to make the ordinary day tortorous with the ultimate desire to force Palestinians off the land through death, displacement or immigration. This has been going on since the founding of the State of Israel and prior.

This story - a true one - is written like a novel by a Jewish American who masterfully shows all the little ways that these societies intersect to create layered problems and personalities. You have the Palestinian collaborators next to the freedom fighters alongside the peace minded Israelis and messianic settlers mixed in with diverse motivations and generational trauma around a singular tragic incident that might not have had to happen at all were it not for the Israeli military occupation and total control over Palestinian life.

It's an accident that might have happened anywhere, but it was the response and aftermath that showed the daily injustices of military occupation perhaps most in the indifference to the victims. It's the indifference towards the fate of the kids in the bus that caused many of them to die - a systemic indifference - and it's the same indifference we see from the people either in America or Israel towards what is currently happening to the Palestinians in both Gaza and now the West Bank that is allowing this to continue. That the indifference continutes today, when the extermination is at it's most severe stage is truly terrifying.

Imagine what is involved with Israeli occupation, prior to October 7, which many human rights orgs have described as one of if not the most brutal in recorded history. Someone arrives at your familial multi generational home one day puts a gun at your head and tells you to leave within an hour or they'll kill you. You leave to a refugee camp and these same soldiers now live in your home and restrict you from coming back to your old neighborhood. If you fight to get your land back they kill you. There's a stark illustration of the tragedy inolved here when one of the characters is sentenced to be held in a prison that is on his family's former land, now stolen by Israel (again true story all of this). Yet nothing happened before October 7 to precipitate the current horror if we're to believe our media.

Further, the daily injustices of being stopped at checkpoints, of complete Israeli impunity in the territories, of having all rules for your daily life made by the enemy and someone who wants you most of all to be gone or die, how can you wrap your head around living under such a system? How would this affect how you feel about that entity and how in the hell can we treat this as a "normal war" between two equal sides? There is an occupier and an occupied people. This book helps us understand what that actually means and a tiny bit of how it must feel in the raw emotions of a singular tragedy.

[Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was interesting. I agree the other reviewers that the title felt misleading. I expected the book to be a deep dive into the day of the accident, and it wasn’t. While it covered real people because so many were introduced it was hard to really bond with each person because each of them only had a small portion of the book devoted to them. I wished the book told us how other survivors of the crash were doing now.

Additionally, the book was written as nonfiction… but I definitely noticed some biases/selective interpretations of history. For example, Deir Yassen, it’s well known that Israel built a psych hospital over the remains of the village, but the book claims that a Jewish village was built over the remains. I googled it, and the Jewish village in question was built in the early 1900s well before the massacre.

He also attributed the Second Intifada to Sharon’s visit to Haram Al Sharif but historians today discredit that and point to a variety of other factors and decisions that led to it.

These are pretty basic things, but it makes one then question the veracity/accuracy of the rest of the book. While I do not doubt the checkpoints, the oppression, the daily struggle of the Palestinians, it made me wonder what else the author might have changed or leaned on to prove his point/message/aim.

I’m skeptical of any book that presents either group as wholly evil or good, and I felt that this nonfiction book had a clear bias. And some may wonder why that matters, but the truth of the situation is sad enough without giving into biases.

Additionally I can’t help but wonder, if the author believes everything he wrote… then why in the world is he still living in Jerusalem?

[piperitapitta]

Tragedia a Gerusalemme, al di là del muro

Immagine tratta dal libro, pp. 132-33.

Quanta, quanta tristezza.
E quello che è ancora più triste è che pur affermando e difendendo l’unicità di ogni storia e la perdita di ogni essere umano, è sempre la stessa storia e ogni storia finisce per essere uguale alle tante altre lette, raccontate, ascoltate provenienti da questa terra martoriata: Milad e Salaah come Abir e Smadar, vittime senza colpa di una tragedia che continua a ripetersi ancora, ancora e ancora.
Le pagine del capitolo finale, quello dell’epilogo, racchiudono un elenco di colpe, oggettive, però, dalle quali non ci si può sottrarre e alle quali andrebbero aggiunte le colpe, morali, anche di tutta la comunità internazionale che da troppo tempo finge di non vedere.
Che gli “All Eyes On Rafah” di queste ultime settimane non si distolgano, non si stanchino di guardare, che l’attenzione dei media e dei singoli che da ottobre si è riversata su Gaza, Cisgiordania e Israele, possa mantenersi ancora alta, che si lavori per una pace che mai come adesso è sembrata impossibile, che tutto questo sangue e questo dolore non scivolino, ancora una volta, nel nulla.




Avrei voluto dire che la scrittura di Thrall non mi piaceva, che non mi convinceva, che forse il racconto di questa storia, terribile, ormai vecchia di oltre dieci anni, non sembrava aggiungere niente di nuovo; se non che il reportage dal quale parte scritto per la “New York Review of Books” è del 2021 (l’incidente in cui morirono una maestra e sei bambini è del 16 febbraio dello 2012) e che il libro, che quest’anno ha vinto il Premio Pulitzer per la non fiction, anticipa nella sua scrittura e pubblicazione gli attacchi di Hamas del 7 ottobre; se non che quello che è accaduto, della impossibilità di soccorrere, essere soccorsi e la ricerca kafkiana negli ospedali di feriti e vittime nell’impossibilità di poterli raggiungere schiacciati da cavilli burocratici, checkpoint e segregati da un muro in una selva di strade e zone A, B e C e di documenti blu, verdi e arancioni, e infine le morti di questi innocenti, vittime sacrificali di tutta questa serie di assurdità, tutto questo, dicevo, non è accaduto come conseguenza di un attacco armato, ma è anche il risultato, come scrive Maria Nadotti nell’articolo di Doppiozero, di una rete di infrastrutture create per rendere la vita complicata, impossibile, ingabbiata, e che le cause vanno ricercate e le colpe distribuite in maniera molto più precisa:

Vi propongo qui un passo di quanto ne scrisse il 17 febbraio 2012 Yousef Munayyer, direttore esecutivo del Jerusalem Fund e del suo programma educativo, il Palestine Center:
«Voglio essere chiaro: i bambini morti oggi sono morti in un incidente. Questo incidente è stato molto probabilmente causato dalle cattive condizioni meteorologiche e non sto incolpando Israele o gli israeliani di esserne la causa diretta. Piuttosto, ciò che è importante notare è che l’infrastruttura dell’occupazione costringe regolarmente i palestinesi a condizioni disagevoli e, in molti casi, non sicure, dove la probabilità di eventi pericolosi aumenta».

Il corsivo è mio.

Qui un bel ritratto di Nathan Thrall.

Incontriamo Thrall, 44 anni, nella calma di un sabato mattina a Gerusalemme, nei saloni dello Ymca, storico hotel/ostello della città: quindici minuti in linea d’aria da Anata, il villaggio al centro del libro. Ma, come spesso accade qui, un mondo a parte. «Proprio questo volevo raccontare», spiega l’autore, di ritorno da un tour promozionale in Australia. «Vivo a Gerusalemme da molti anni e ho ben presente per esperienza personale quanto poco sanno gli israeliani dei palestinesi e di come vivono. Questo rende impossibile ogni forma di comprensione, di empatia: ero qui nel 2012 quando avvenne l’incidente. Ricordo benissimo che per i media palestinesi fu una storia enorme. Ma per quelli israeliani, nonostante la strage di bambini fosse avvenuta alle porte di Gerusalemme, vicinissima a un checkpoint con soldati israeliani, su un territorio controllato da Israele, fu ridotta a una notizia in breve».
(Dal'intervista di Francesca Caferri sul Venerdì del 12 aprile 2024)

[Leonidas Moumouris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Πριν λίγες μέρες γύρισα από τη Σουηδία. Χωμένος στα ζεστά μου ρούχα παρατηρούσα το ανώτερο βιοτικό επίπεδο των Σουηδών που ως ένα σημείο εξηγείται από την απόχη της Σουηδίας από κάθε πόλεμο τα τελευταία 200 χρόνια. Οχτώ γενιές Σουηδών δεν έχουν ζήσει αυτή τη φρίκη που διαβάζοντας αυτό το βιβλίο σου δημιουργεί ασφυξία.
Όσοι γεννήθηκαν λοιπόν σε εκείνα τα μέρη, αυτή η τυχαιότητα που σου καθορίζει τη ζωή, δεν είχαν ανάλογες δυνατότητες.
Ο συγγραφέας επιλέγει ένα κεντρικό συμβάν, ένα θανατηφόρο ατύχημα με σχολικό λεωφορείο για να ξετυλίξει την πολιτική, κοινωνική, θρησκευτική, πολεοδομική κατάσταση της περιοχής.
Στο βιβλίο θα διαβάσεις 63 ονόματα που με κάποιον τρόπο εμπλέκονται στο βασικό θέμα. Ο τρόπος που αναφέρονται σου κάνει γνωστό τον τρόπο που λειτουργεί αυτή η χώρα. Απ'τη διγαμία μέχρι τις πράσινες και μπλε ταυτότητες που σου επιτρέπουν ή όχι να περάσεις σε Ισραηλινό έδαφος. Ακόμα κι αν είσαι ασθενοφόρο ή αστυνομία δεν είναι δεδομένο πως μπορείς.
Η ιστορία του τοίχους που πνίγει σιγά σιγά τους Παλαιστίνιους. Οι δυναμικές ανάμεσα στην οικογένεια, ανάμεσα σε άντρες και γυναίκες...
Είναι πολλές οι πληροφορίες. Είναι ένας λαβύρινθος που δικαιολογεί κάπως και την άγνοια των περισσοτέρων μας για το τι ακριβώς συμβαίνει στην περιοχή.
Δυστυχώς η ιστορία που διάβασα δεν είναι μυθοπλασία. Είναι αληθινή.
Δυστυχώς.
Δυστυχώς αυτό που συμβαίνει αυτή τη στιγμή είναι κάτι αδιανόητα χειρότερο απ'όσα θα διαβάσετε σε αυτό το σκληρό βιβλίο.
Ευτυχώς κάποιοι γεννήθηκαν στη Σουηδία, δυστυχώς κάποιοι στη Παλαιστίνη.

[Joachim Stoop · Rating 4 out of 5]

4,5

Zen = dit boek lezen met alle door zionistische pers en lobby geprepareerde zoete broodjes vretende jaknikkers indachtig en alle columns van Maarten Boudry, Mia Doornaert en Leon de Winter over Israel- Palestina in je achterhoofd en dan zeer vredig je gal en haatgevoelens wegslikken. Dat is zen. Maar het is god-ver-dom-me moeilijk..


Dit boek is een zeer goed gedocumenteerde perspectivistische reportage die de grotere contouren van het Israel-Palestina blootlegt en aankaart -feitelijk, zonder woede, maar wel woedend makend.

[Ief Stuyvaert · Rating 5 out of 5]

De hoogmoed van Israël versus de onmacht van Palestina, genotuleerd door een Amerikaanse journalist in Jeruzalem.

Non-fictie die leest als fictie.

En fictie had moeten zijn. 

Maar helaas.

Alles in deze onvoorstelbare Palestijnse Tragedie is echt gebeurd.

Aanleiding is een busongeval, veroorzaakt door noodweer, erbarmelijke infrastructuur en menselijk falen. Maar de oorzaak ligt veel dieper.

Twee branden, drie huwelijken en evenveel begrafenissen heeft Thrall nodig om een ontluisterend beeld te schetsen van een mensonterend regime.

Hoe mensen have en goed wordt afgenomen, afgesloten worden van degelijk onderwijs, verklikt en gevangen worden gezet, letterlijk van het kastje naar De Muur worden gestuurd - dichterbij de ongemakkelijke, maar verpletterende waarheid kun je maar moeilijk komen.

‘An Arab Kid Died, Ha Ha Ha Ha’ heet een documentaire die eerder over het busongeval werd gemaakt, een titel die verwijst naar de teneur van de Facebook-berichten die erover de ronde deden.

Geschreven en gretig gedeeld door jonge Israëli.

Alleen dàt al doet je als lezer ineenkrimpen.

Van plaatsvervangende schaamte.

Neen, fijn om lezen is het niet.

Noodzakelijk wel.

[Gisela Slotnisky-Eskinazi · Rating 1 out of 5]

Poorly written and researched. I felt this author pretty much ignored the both side issues that is leading to so much hate and violence. His work looks like searched from TikTok and social media! I just rolled my eyes when he wrote the part that Jews were never pushed out from Morocco 🫣! Is like saying Jews were never pushed of Eastern Europe… Oy! What an ignorant!

I wanted to read this book as I thought to learn more about the conflict and left emptier and upset that someone so ignorant and so wrong gets to write a book and get it published creating even more hate between their parties. After learning that the author is an American, I understood it all…
Save yourselves time and read more educated writers! I personally love the book, Shoot me, I am dead. To explain better the ongoing conflict between Palestinian and ISrael.

[Daniel Simmons · Rating 2 out of 5]

In yesterday's news, I saw that this book won the Pulitzer for nonfiction. I think this is one of those cases where readers and reviewers confuse topicality for quality.

[Leigh Kramer · Rating 5 out of 5]

An important eye-opening read. In February 2012, a semi truck collided with a school bus full of Palestinian kindergarteners in the fringes of Jerusalem. There was no help from Israeli police, firefighters, or soldiers despite pleas as the bus burned. Palestinian drivers on the road worked to get the children and teachers out instead. The children were taken to different hospitals in Jerusalem and the West Bank, with no record of who was taken where and no central figure helping the parents find them.

It is a harrowing account as we go from the kids’ excitement about a field trip to their parents’ terror over trying to not only figure out what hospital their child might be at but whether they can cross a checkpoint to get to them. The book starts with Abed Salama’s son Milad getting ready for the day and then everyone learning about the accident. Then the author zooms out to share about Abed’s life, as well as the history of other parents and some of the first responders.

Through it all, Palestinian parents await the fate of their children and navigate a more difficult hospital system than necessary. In the aftermath, Abed finally finds his son and learns Milad was one of the children who died, burned so badly he could only be identified by DNA test. The stories of other children and families are just as heartbreaking, even for the ones who survived the traumatic crash.

This highlights the systemic issues that led to an unnecessary tragedy, one that the Israeli government has never taken responsibility for. There is no excuse for the callousness of those who did not intervene sooner or at all. It unfortunately explains so much about current events, that not even children are safe or worthy of protection and compassion.

The Stacks Podcast had a fantastic interview with the author, who is a Jewish American living in Israel, which is how I learned about this book. It’s well worth a listen.


Content notes: PTSD, mass casualty accident involving a school bus and semi trailer, death of six children and one teacher, severe burns, amputation, missing and injured children, children shot by Israeli Border Police and soldiers, arrest and incarceration of children, torture of prisoners (including children), intimate partner violence (including man’s family encouraging him to beat his wife and hire someone to kill her), substance abuse, past suicide bombings, murder, massacre, gun violence, bombing, stabbing, physical assault, parents arranged marriage between their 17 year old daughter and a 29 year old man, forced family separation (abduction of refugee Mizrahi Jewish infants and children who were then adopted by Ashkenazi Jews), police corruption and violence, military corruption and violence, abuse of power, medical abuse (border police won’t let patients pass to go to the hospital), incarceration, solitary confinement, inhumane treatment of prisoners, leukemia, Alzheimer’s, blood clot and severe heart failure (result of grief), racism, sexism, purity culture, verbal abuse, social media bullying (Israelis rejoicing in the deaths of Palestinian children), refugee camps, street harassment, cousin marriage, polygamy, divorce, pregnancy, ableist language, mentions of rape, reference to a man’s friend who died by suicide

[None Ofyourbusiness Loves Israel · Rating 1 out of 5]

A work that purports to offer a poignant, humanizing portrait of Palestinian Authority miserable life and victimhood, but it ultimately succumbs to its own heavy-handed agenda, sacrificing nuance for sensationalism. This book is not just a distortion; it is a dangerous piece of propaganda.

Thrall, a journalist with a background in Middle Eastern studies, attempts to frame the story around Abed Salama, an Arab father residing in the Palestinian Authority searching for his son, Muhammed, after a tragic school bus accident. The book does mention early on in passing the fact that Mr. Salama is a convicted terrorist that served jail time, but ignores this fact for the rest of the book, even though this is a central cause to his delayed border crossing, as it would be anywhere on the planet. This omission is a deliberate attempt to sanitize Salama's past and portray him solely as a victim.

The book is so laden with inconsistencies and selective storytelling that it undermines its own credibility. For example, Thrall claims the accident occurred near Ramallah, but later places it outside Jericho without explanation. He describes Abed’s village as devoid of electricity in the 1980s, yet in another scene, Abed watches television as a child.

He says that Abed descends from village "Royalty" that owns acres upon acres of land, but offers no evidence or explanation to this strange claim, likely fabricated to add a sense of lost grandeur. The Israeli soldiers are depicted as uniformly cruel, with one scene showing them confiscating water bottles from children—a detail that strains believability given the region’s climate and the routine cooperation between Israeli and Palestinian Authority civilians in many areas. Thrall’s portrayal of Israelis as monolithic oppressors is not just reductive; it echoes harmful stereotypes that have long been used to demonize Jews. This is not storytelling; it’s ideological manipulation, a clear attempt to revive ancient blood libels.

The book’s historical inaccuracies are equally troubling, and show a clear pattern of Anti-Jewish hate. Thrall asserts that Israel’s West Bank barrier was constructed solely to annex land, ignoring its role in preventing suicide bombings that killed hundreds of Israelis during the Second Intifada, a campaign of terror that targeted innocent civilians.

He claims Israeli hospitals routinely deny care to Palestinian Authority citizens, a claim flatly contradicted by the thousands of PA citizens who receive treatment in Israeli hospitals each year, including at places like Hadassah Medical Center, where Jewish and Arab doctors work side by side in a testament to coexistence.

In one particularly egregious passage, Thrall suggests that Israeli archaeologists deliberately destroy heritage sites, a claim that overlooks the numerous joint Israeli-Palestinian Authority preservation efforts, such as the restoration of the ancient Jericho synagogue, a site that showcases the deep historical ties between Jews and the land of Israel. He also neglects to mention the destruction of ancient Jewish Synagogues by Arabs during the 1948 war.

The timeline is riddled with errors: Abed is said to have been born in 1967, yet he recalls the 1948 Arab-Israeli war with firsthand clarity. Thrall’s depiction of Israeli society is equally skewed. He ignores the vibrant coexistence in cities like Haifa, Jaffa, Ramla, Abu Gosh, and countless others where Arab and Jewish communities collaborate on cultural and social initiatives, and where Arab citizens of Israel enjoy full rights.

He omits the fact that Israeli universities are among the most diverse in the region, with Arab students making up a significant percentage of the student body. Instead, he focuses on isolated incidents of conflict, presenting them as the norm. This selective framing is not just dishonest; it’s a disservice to readers seeking a balanced understanding of the region, and a clear campaign of delegitimization of the Jewish state.

What makes A Day in the Life of Abed Salama particularly problematic is its reliance on tropes that border on antisemitism. Thrall’s description of Israeli settlements as “metastasizing tumors” is not just inflammatory; it dehumanizes an entire population, reducing complex political and historical realities to a simplistic metaphor of disease. His portrayal of Israeli soldiers as indifferent to suffering evokes age-old stereotypes that have been used to justify violence against Jews for centuries. It ignores the IDF’s efforts to minimize civilian casualties, and the constant threat of terror they face.

The book’s audience, likely already sympathetic to the brainwashing of Jihadists, is fed a one-sided view that omits any positive examples of Israeli society, such as the work of organizations like Save a Child’s Heart, which provides life-saving cardiac surgery to Palestinian Authority children free of charge. It ignores the many Arabs who work along side Israelis in peace efforts.

Thrall’s decision to frame the conflict in binary terms of oppressor and oppressed is not just intellectually lazy; it’s morally irresponsible. It actively denies the Jewish peoples right to self determination in their ancestral homeland. Zionism is a movement of liberation and self determination, and the state of Israel is a beacon of democracy, acceptance, equity and progress in the middle east that Jihadi forces of darkness and bigotry want to extinguish.

The book’s cliffhanger ending, in which Abed’s fate remains unresolved, feels less like a narrative choice and more like a manipulative ploy to elicit emotional investment in a story that fails to deliver on its promise of fairness or depth.

Thrall’s work is not just a failure of journalism; it’s a missed opportunity to foster understanding in a region that desperately needs it. For readers seeking a balanced perspective, this book is not just disappointing—it’s dangerously misleading and hate filled.

[Ieva Andriuskeviciene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Labai bijojau imtis dadartiniam politiniam kontekste, bet gavosi vienas geriausių pasirinkimų. Ji išleista visiškai naujai, prieš dabartinius įvykius
Knygos ašis, per lietų, 2012 vasario 16ą, apsivertęs autobusas su privačios mokyklos vaikais vežamais į ekskursiją. Avarija sluoksnis po sluoksnio atskleidžia istoriją, Izeraelio-Palestinos santykių tragiškumą. Kelias kuriuo naudojosi Palestiniečiai, bet priklauso Izraeliui. Gelbėtojai iš West banko užtruko kelias valandas dėl patikros postų. Izraelio greitosios kurios buvo kelių minučių atstumu, bet neskubėjo važiuoti dėl saugumo nes teritorija sudėtinga
Knyga ne grožinė, visi veikėjai tikri (kai kuriems pakeisti vardai), bet struktūra kaip gero romano
Abed Salama, kurio sūnus buvo autobuse, važinėja per visas liginines ir tikisi surasti jį gyvą. Į Jeruzalės teritoriją patekti negali nes tiesiog neturi tinkamo leidimo
Čia sutinkame įvairius su tragedija susietus žmones. Iš abiejų barikadų pusių, tiek žydus tiek palestiniečius. Su savo gyvenimo istorijom ir tragedijom
Huda, gydytoja atvažiavusi gelbėti aukų. Jos istorija nuo Maskvos iki Budapešto kur augindama 3 mažamečius vaikus, išmokus kalbą, baigė medicinos studijas ir savo namuose priiminėjo diplomatus. Tuo tarpu vyras sakė, kad mokslai jos reikalas ir jei ji nori mokintis tai gali daryt savo laiku, kai vaikai sužiūrėti, valgyt padaryta ir namai švarūs.
Vienoje vietoje kažkiek keliai susikerta su įvykiais aprašomais Apeirogone, nes Hudos sūnus mėto akmenis į karius ir jo draugą nušauna Izraelio kariai.
Sutinkame vairuotoją kuris neteko kojų ir visą likusį gyvenimą kankinosi naktimis sapnuodamas košmarus ir bėgo iš degančio autobuso
Ibrahim ir Saar, visą gyvenime likę draugais nors abu yra priešingų vyriausybių pareigūnai, supratę, kad daugiausia pasiekti gali darant paslaugas vienas kitam
Dany Tirza, architektas pastatęs West banko sieną tikintis, kad taika tarp žydų ir palestiniečių visai netoli ir pasiekiama
Sužinojau daug naujo, praktiškai nieko nenumaniau apie Mizrahi žydus, kilusius iš Centrinės ir Vakarinės Azijos, Arabų šalių. Skirtingai nei Europos žydai, jie turintys prastesnį išsilavinimą, mažiau turto buvo diskriminuojami. Apgyvendinti savotiškuose getuose kur vyravo nusikaltimai, narkotikai. Jautėsi visiškai apgauti nes emigravo į pažadėtą žemę, o teko kovot už vietą po saule
Taip pat, nelabai žinojau apie Geva Binyamin (kitaip pavdinamą Adam) žydų gyvenvietę West banko teritorijoje, jos susikūrimą
Kufr Aqab, rytų Jeruzalės biurokratinė skylė, rajonas atkirstas siena ir pergrūstas gyventojų kurie arba neišgali gyventi Jeruzalėje, bet ten dirba, turi leidimus. Arba vienas poros narių neturi mėlyno ID leidžiančio kirsti sieną laisvai. Dar vadinama “meilės kaimynyste” nes tai vienintelė vieta kur gali gyventi palestiniečiai turintys skirtingus leidimus. Jais nesirūpina nei Palestinos valdžia nei Izraelio, Ten auga nelegalūs aukšti pastatai, trūksta vandens ir elektros, nusikaltimai. Išsikrausčius į West bank, prarasi savo mėlynąjį ID. Toks uždaras ratas nes gyventojai moka mokesčius, bet nieko už tai negauna. Nei mokyklų nei šiukšlių išvežimo nei kelių tiesiamų nei ligoninių. Kaimas kuris turėjo tik 10000 gyventojų, pavirto į didmiestį su 150000
Liūdniausia buvo Nancy istorija, jauna mama kurios sūnui žuvus autobue, vyras ir visa vyro šeima kaltino ją nes būtent ji išleido vaiką važiuoti su mokykla. Visaip ją kankino “už bausmę”
Knyga žiauri, daug skausmo, pvz liepsnojant autobusui vaikai tylėjo nes galvojo, kad čia pragaras
Labai sunku būti empatiškam Abed kai jis svajoja apie SSR universitetus. Iš išdidumo paniekina savo pirmąją tikrą meilę ir vedęs kitą moterį, kuri niekuo jam nenusikalto ją baudžia abejingumu. Ir vat jam reikia pokyčių tai nusprendžia antrą žmoną pasiimti, nors tada buvo Jordanijos įstatymai ir toks veiksmas legalus, bet niekas tuo legalumu nesinaudojo. Ir visa giminė labai prieštaravo
Sako jis:
“Maybe he deserved to be punished for his mistake, but not with a life sentence, he reasoned”.
O va žmona kuri realiai buvo ideali, tai dzin. Nuspelno gyvenimo bausmės už nieką
Dar kai jam nenorint (?!!!) pirma žmona pastoja jis baisiai pasipiktina
“It takes no more than a sneeze to get that woman pregnant”
Paskui susižadėjo su mergaite kuri gyeni Izraelio teritorijoje, pamelavęs, kad išsiskyrė. Ir vat jam ta Jameela šeima atrodė per daug “žydiska”, manierizmai ir kultūra. Metė, nevedė. Nors mėlynas pasas, leidžiantis lengvai kirsti Izraelio teritoriją, labai viliojo. Pirmai žmonai pasakant, kad vedė antrą žmona, susikviečia šeimą visa kartu. Kad scenos neiškeltų
Labai patiko, bijojau didelio šališkumo kur akis norėsis vartyt, kokie vieni geri, o kiti labai blogi. Bet kaip tik knyga turi tą balansą, padeda suprasti tą beviltišką uždarą ratą. Kai norint apsisaugoti nuo terorizmo, pastatoma siena, taip tik dar labiau užaštrinant ir tą patį terorizma. Kritikuojamos abi pusės, abi valdžios. Nėra juoda/balta naratyvas
Ar autorius siūlo atsakymus ir išeitis? Tikrai ne, tai paprastų žmonių gyvenimai, žmogiškumo paieškos tragedijos fone. Ar avarijos buvo galima išvengti? Tikrai taip, autobusas buvo netinkamas važiuoti per lietų, gelbėtojai tiesiog nevažiavo nes niekas nenorėjo kištis.
Labai rekomenduoju!

[Álvaro Curia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pensava que era uma obra de ficção com alguns factos históricos. Não me estava a convencer porque parecia demasiado impossível.

Descobrir que esta é uma obra de não ficção, um longo artigo jornalístico… é devastador. “Como é que nós chegámos aqui?”

Para um entendimento do que se passa naquela zona do mundo, partindo da tragédia de uma família.

Há a versão portuguesa publicada pela Zigurate.

[Kaggelo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Όλες οι αρετές της καλής λογοτεχνίας είναι συγεντρωμένες εδώ. Αριστοτεχνικό ύφος γραφής, πλοκή που κόβει την ανάσα, ολοζώντανοι χαρακτήρες που ξεδιπλώνονται σε όλο το βάθος και την πολυπλοκότητά τους. Ένα έργο που σου προκαλεί -όχι με τον εύκολο τρόπο- γνήσια και έντονα συναισθήματα. Ένα έργο που μιλάει για το τρομακτικό σκοτάδι της ανθρώπινης φύσης.
Όλα τα παραπάνω μπορεί να τα συναντήσει κανείς σε πολλα σπουδαία βιβλία. Όμως εδώ υπάρχει και κάτι άλλο. Πρόκειται για αληθινή ιστορία. Τα πάντα, και η παραμικρή λεπτομέρεια, έχουν συμβεί πραγματικά και παρουσιάζονται όλα άρτια τεκμηριωμένα.
Συνταρακτικό.

[Margarida Galante · Rating 5 out of 5]

Este é um livro muito duro. Várias vezes tive que fazer pausas. Já seria suficientemente difícil se fosse uma história de ficção, mas é terrível pois relata vidas reais.

Trata-se de uma espécie de reportagem longa que parte de um acidente com um autocarro escolar palestiniano, numa estrada sob supervisão israelita, em Jerusalém.
Abed Salama procura o seu filho que ia no autocarro, numa visita de estudo a um parque temático.

A estrutura do livro é genial pois Nathan Thrall, através da história de Abed e de outros, que de alguma forma se vão cruzando através dos acontecimentos desse dia, mostra como é a vida de quem nasceu do lado errado. O que aconteceu neste dia retrata as dificuldades com que se confrontam nas suas vidas, os muros e cercas, a segregação e isolamento, os postos de controlo, as estradas proibidas ou permitidas, os cartões de identidade azuis ou verdes, o medo e a revolta, o ódio que gera ainda mais ódio.

Nathan Thrall é norte-americano, jornalista, analista e ensaísta. Vive em Jerusalém.
Este livro foi publicado em 2023, antes dos ataques de 7 outubro, e ganhou, em 2024, o Prémio Pulitzer de não-ficção.

Reforço, é um livro duríssimo, mas muito importante para perceber um pouco melhor o que se passa, há muito tempo, naquela zona do mundo. Infelizmente, tudo está ainda pior agora.

[Chrissie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a non-fiction book which reads like a novel. The focus is on an accident involving a bus carrying Palestinian kindergarten children, and the aftermath, but there is also commentary about the history of Israel's occupation of Palestine.

There is no light in this book, and I truly wish I could see one in the future for this region.

[marta (sezon literacki) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Punktem wyjścia dla tego reportażu jest wypadek szkolnego autobusu, w wyniku którego giną dzieci jadące na wycieczkę. Jednym z pasażerów był Milad, syn tytułowego Abeda Salamy, który na przestrzeni tej książki próbuje dowiedzieć się czy jego syn żyje. Trudności wynikają przede wszystkim z podziałów administracyjnych między Izraelem a Strefą Gazy i Zachodnim Brzegiem. Historia Abeda jest pretekstem do ukazania codziennego życia Palestyńczyków znajdujących się pod okupacją, a autor dosyć szeroko nakreśla też kontekst historyczny, dużo uwagi poświęca przepisom i dokumentacji. Choć jest to reportaż, jego struktura przypomina powieść (nie jestem fanką takich rozwiązań w literaturze faktu), wydarzenia przeskakują do przeszłości bohaterów, co ma pomóc w historycznym ujęciu tego konfliktu, ale mam poczucie, że jest to książka dobra dla osób, które już dosyć dobrze orientują się w historii Palestyny. Momentami miałam wrażenie chaosu, a część wydarzeń była dla mnie mało zrozumiała i myślę, że nie wyniosłam z tej książki tyle, ile ona oferuje. Wciąż oczywiście warto czytać i edukować się na temat Palestyny, więc ciężko reportażu Thralla nie polecać - zdobył on zresztą Pulitzera w 2024 roku.

[Moonkiszt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This read was educational for me, on this heartbreaking conflict that is just about older than time. There are plenty of reviews arguing one side or the other, or both. It feels ironic to me that the aggressors in this telling are the Israelis. After all the displacement for thousands of years one would think a more thoughtful approach to a homeland being established would be considered. . .but then again territorial rage appears to honor no measure of time past, bones buried, generations raised up.

I'm seriously undereducated and ignorant on this world-changing issue, uncomfortable, and would love to turn away. But for now, I will continue to look toward Jerusalem and seek education and understanding as to the extent of my obligations - such as they may be - to assist and support fellow humans in such dire straits.

Kudos to Nathan Thrall for sounding the bell, for telling the other side of a story most of us have have grown up knowing, hearing, only one side of - and thinking that one side was the complete and whole truth. It clearly isn't.

24/52:35

[Conceição Puga · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Um Dia na Vida da Abed Salama: Anatomia de uma Tragédia em Jerusalém”, de Nathan Thrall, jornalista e escritor norte-americano residente em Jerusalém, conta a história de um homem, Abed, que procura o hospital para onde o seu filho, Milad, poderá ter sido levado depois de o autocarro onde seguia se ter incendiado a caminho de um dia feliz. Mas Abed não pode circular livremente em Jerusalém, porque não tem a cor certa no bilhete de identidade.

Este livro é um relato detalhado que ilustra, de forma comovente e perturbante, a profunda crueldade do conflito israelo-palestiniano.

[Roula · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ο μικρός Μιλάντ περιμένει με ανυπομονησία την εκδρομή που θα πάνε με το νηπιαγωγείο του . Λίγες ώρες μετά το πούλμαν ανατρέπεται από σύγκρουση με νταλίκα και λαμπαδιαζει με αβοήθητους τον οδηγό ,τις δασκάλες και τα δεκάδες νήπια που ξεκίνησαν για μια όμορφη εκδρομή .από εκεί και πέρα το χάος ...πυροσβέστες δεν έρχονται , ασθενοφόρα καθυστερούν τραγικά λόγω της κίνησης στη Ραμάλα ,αλλά και ασυνεννοησία για το ποιοι πρέπει να επέμβουν . Η μεριά των Ισραηλινών ή των Παλαιστινίων? Ποιος πρέπει να περιθάλψει στα νοσοκομεία του τα παιδιά? Ποιος έφταιγε για το δυστύχημα? Ο οδηγός? Το περίπου 30 ετών πουλμαν? Η βροχερή μέρα ,ακατάλληλη για την εκδρομή ? .. Όταν ο κόσμος έχει φτάσει στο σημείο να κοιτάει χρώματα ,εθνικότητες ,κάρτες και ταυτότητες για να ξέρει ποιους επιτρέπεται να σώσει ,τότε σίγουρα κάτι έχει πάει πολύ στραβά ...χρειάζονται ειδικές άδειες για να γίνουν έρευνες για το δυστύχημα όπως επίσης και για τους συγγενείς ,ειδικές κάρτες που θα εξασφαλίζουν άδεια για να πάνε να δουν τα καμένα παιδιά τους στο νοσοκομείο ...
Αυτό που μου έδωσε αυτό το βιβλίο ήταν το ότι συχνά οι περισσότεροι - πάντως σίγουρα εγώ - ρίχνουμε το βλέμμα μας σε μέρη του κόσμου όταν γίνονται κάποια τραγικά γεγονότα ,επιθέσεις ,πόλεμοι κλπ και τότε μόνο αναγνωρίζουμε και στεκόμαστε με προσοχή και ευαισθησία και ενσυναίσθηση απέναντι σε κάτι που όμως είναι η καθημερινότητα για κάποιους ανθρώπους .
Ο συγγραφέας ,με αφορμη αυτό το τραγικό δυστύχημα που ξέρεις από την αρχή ότι θα σε καραρρακωσει ψυχολογικά ,αναλαμβάνει να μιλήσει για ένα θέμα πολύ επίκαιρο ,δυστυχώς ,την κατάσταση που επικρατεί στην καθημερινότητα Παλαιστινίων και Ισραηλινών ,αλλά και για πιο βαθιά θέματα όπως το πώς ένα τραγικό συμβάν επηρεάζει τις ζωές ανθρώπων με πολύ διαφορετικούς τρόπους .
Δε μπορώ εύκολα να φανταστώ πώς είναι να ζεις υπό ένα τέτοιο καθεστώς μόνιμης αδικίας ,φόβου και διαχωρισμού . Όμως επειδή η ιστορία δείχνει ότι μόνο μια στιγμή απέχουμε όλοι από όλα ,πρέπει να αρχίσουμε να τα σκεφτόμαστε ίσως πιο έντονα όλα αυτά .το βιβλίο αυτό με διέλυσε ,φυσικά ,αλλά το προτείνω σε όλους χωρίς αμφιβολία ...
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟/5 αστέρια

[Ena u zemlji knjiga · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nakon čitanja romana potpuno je jasno zašto je autor dobitnik velike Pulitzerove nagrade. Po profesiji novinar, Thrall je veoma vješto stvarnu tragediju pretočio u roman i dao glas ocu koji je u saobraćajnoj nesreći izgubio sina koji je to jutro krenuo na školski izlet. On će u potrazi za istinom naići na niz poteškoća, put će mu biti ispunjen preprekama koje se nama koji živimo slobodan život čine nemogućim. Jedini njegov "grijeh" je to što je Palestinac. Sjajna je ovo priča o malim ljudima, hrabroj potrazi za istinom, preispitivanju postupaka iz prošlosti i životu u jednom od najnesretnijih krajeva svijeta. Velika preporuka. Uskoro u izdanju Buybooka.

[Marta Cava]

Sota l'aparent narració d'un tràgic accident d'un autobús ple de nens, l'autor va desgranant la vida dels protagonistes i, sobretot, l'apartheid que pateix el poble palestí. Una acaba de llegir el llibre i només pot preguntar-se qui té més culpa de tot plegat: un conductor negligent o un estat que posa traves a un poble, fins i tot quan hi ha una de les tragèdies més grans? Dels millors llibre sobre Israel-Palestina que he llegit mai

[Introverticheart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pełnokrwisty reportaż, kawałek świetnej reporterskiej pracy.
Niemal nieobecny autor, w oszczędnym, ale dosadnym, pozbawionym zbędnych ozdobników i manier języku, prowadzi czytelnika przez meandry skomplikowanej sytuacji politycznej Bliskiego Wschodu i przez pryzmat tragicznego w skutkach wypadku ukazuje konflikt izraelsko-palestyński, mocuje go w kontekście, unika jednoznacznych ocen, choć nazywa rzeczy po imieniu.
Bardzo sobie cenię taką formę, zwłaszcza po ciągle w Polsce praktykowanego reportażu literackiego. Wstrząsający zapis jednego dnia pod okupacją.

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this hard to finish and even harder to rate.
It uses the incident of a tragic school bus crash to illustrate the misery of life for the Palestinians under Isreali occupation ( " conquest " would be the more accurate term). Thrall takes you through the history of one family caught up in the tragedy, and through them, the history of the West Bank. He gives the reader an understanding of the decades of accumulated grievances and hatred, on both sides. A pessimistic book, because of its realism, it leaves its audience with little hope for resolution- and this was well before the present war in Gaza and the West Bank ( for which this book provides important context, IMO). Not easy but worth the effort. -30-