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One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This
Goodreads Choice Award
Nominee for Readers' Favorite Nonfiction (2025)From award-winning novelist and journalist Omar El Akkad comes a powerful reckoning with what it means to live in the heart of an Empire which doesn’t consider you fully human.
On Oct 25th, after just three weeks of the bombardment of Gaza, Omar El Akkad put out a “One day, when it’s safe, when there’s no personal downside to calling a thing what it is, when it’s too late to hold anyone accountable, everyone will have always been against this.” This tweet was viewed over 10 million times.
One Day Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This chronicles the deep fracture which has occurred for Black, brown, indigenous Americans, as well as the upcoming generation, many of whom had clung to a thread of faith in western ideals, in the idea that their countries, or the countries of their adoption, actually attempted to live up to the values they espouse.
This book is a reckoning with what it means to live in the west, and what it means to live in a world run by a small group of countries—America, the UK, France and Germany. It will be The Fire Next Time for a generation that understands we’re undergoing a shift in the so-called ‘rules-based order,’ a generation that understands the west can no longer be trusted to police and guide the world, or its own cities and campuses. It draws on intimate details of Omar’s own story as an emigrant who grew up believing in the western project, who was catapulted into journalism by the rupture of 9/11.
This book is his heartsick breakup letter with the west. It is a breakup we are watching all over the U.S., on college campuses, on city streets, and the consequences of this rupture will be felt by all of us. His book is for all the people who want something better than what the west has served up. This is the book for our time.
On Oct 25th, after just three weeks of the bombardment of Gaza, Omar El Akkad put out a “One day, when it’s safe, when there’s no personal downside to calling a thing what it is, when it’s too late to hold anyone accountable, everyone will have always been against this.” This tweet was viewed over 10 million times.
One Day Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This chronicles the deep fracture which has occurred for Black, brown, indigenous Americans, as well as the upcoming generation, many of whom had clung to a thread of faith in western ideals, in the idea that their countries, or the countries of their adoption, actually attempted to live up to the values they espouse.
This book is a reckoning with what it means to live in the west, and what it means to live in a world run by a small group of countries—America, the UK, France and Germany. It will be The Fire Next Time for a generation that understands we’re undergoing a shift in the so-called ‘rules-based order,’ a generation that understands the west can no longer be trusted to police and guide the world, or its own cities and campuses. It draws on intimate details of Omar’s own story as an emigrant who grew up believing in the western project, who was catapulted into journalism by the rupture of 9/11.
This book is his heartsick breakup letter with the west. It is a breakup we are watching all over the U.S., on college campuses, on city streets, and the consequences of this rupture will be felt by all of us. His book is for all the people who want something better than what the west has served up. This is the book for our time.
208 pages, ebook
First published February 25, 2025
5897 people are currently reading
147713 people want to read
About the author
Omar El Akkad
17 books2,190 followersOmar El Akkad is an author and journalist. He was born in Egypt, grew up in Qatar, moved to Canada as a teenager and now lives in the United States. The start of his journalism career coincided with the start of the war on terror, and over the following decade he reported from Afghanistan, Guantanamo Bay and many other locations around the world. His work earned a National Newspaper Award for Investigative Journalism and the Goff Penny Award for young journalists. His fiction and non-fiction writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, Le Monde, Guernica, GQ and many other newspapers and magazines. His debut novel, American War, is an international bestseller and has been translated into thirteen languages. It won the Pacific Northwest Booksellers’ Award, the Oregon Book Award for fiction, the Kobo Emerging Writer Prize and has been nominated for more than ten other awards. It was listed as one of the best books of the year by The New York Times, Washington Post, GQ, NPR, Esquire and was selected by the BBC as one of 100 novels that changed our world. His new novel, What Strange Paradise, was released in July, 2021 and won the Giller Prize, the Pacific Northwest Booksellers’ Award, the Oregon Book Award for fiction, and was shortlisted for the Aspen Words Literary Prize. It was also named a best book of the year by the New York Times, the Washington Post, NPR and several other publications. Omar lives near Portland, Oregon, where is on the faculty of the Pacific University MFA in Writing program.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 6,290 reviews
January 14, 2025
This one is fantastic. Some really beautiful and sharp writing on empire and the hypocrisy that makes empire possible and powerful. It’s smart how he anchors the book with Gaza and genocide and circled back through both personal essay, cultural touchstones, and other examples of empire sacrificing humans to save itself. The moral clarity is refreshing as hell.
February 28, 2025
This should 100% be required reading.
March 17, 2025
I’m not sure I’ve ever finished a book and then immediately restarted it
December 14, 2025
yes.
i was in a continual state of wonder reading this book, at how each and every point it makes can make so much sense and yet be so controversial.
i had a small collection of quotes i wanted to include in this review until it became clear that they were growing too many in number and the more logical thing would be to five star this book and tell you to read it yourself.
it can be so easy to distance ourselves from atrocities, to choose the lesser of two evils and to close our eyes to the world.
resist that.
bottom line: read this.
i was in a continual state of wonder reading this book, at how each and every point it makes can make so much sense and yet be so controversial.
i had a small collection of quotes i wanted to include in this review until it became clear that they were growing too many in number and the more logical thing would be to five star this book and tell you to read it yourself.
it can be so easy to distance ourselves from atrocities, to choose the lesser of two evils and to close our eyes to the world.
resist that.
bottom line: read this.
July 3, 2025
Omar El Akkad’s latest is a tour de force of grievance tourism, a literary Rorschach test where every Israeli action is a genocide, every Palestinian civilian a saint, and every Western journalist a weeping martyr to the 'cause'.
With prose so melodramatic it makes Les Misérables read like a Twitter thread, El Akkad spins a narrative so one-dimensional it could double as a propaganda pamphlet for Hamas recruitment drives.
A tiresome, ideologically rigid screed masquerading as a legitimate exploration of conflict. The whole thing hinges on the book-cover-artwork depicting an intersection of a “palestinian” "journalist" and an Israeli drone, a contrivance so strained it borders on parody.
El Akkad, an Egyptian-Canadian author whose earlier work American War showed glimmers of promise, here delivers a text so burdened by its own moralizing that it collapses under the weight of its pretensions. The journalist’s reflection, “We are all complicit in the silence that screams louder than bombs,” is emblematic of the book’s hollow grandstanding—a line that sounds profound but is utterly devoid of substance, much like the rest of the book. If anything, the silence is for the lack of condemnation of the heinous act of barbarity that started the misery which was wholly orchestrated, celebrated and perpetrated by Gazans.
The book’s historical inaccuracies are not merely errors; they are deliberate distortions designed to manipulate the reader. El Akkad falsely asserts that Israeli settlements in Gaza persisted, even though they were totally dismantled – synagogues, cemeteries, and all – two decades before the Hamas pogrom, a claim so blatantly false it undermines any pretense of credibility.
The depiction of Gaza as a prelapsarian paradise before Israeli intervention is not just ahistorical; it is a grotesque oversimplification that ignores the region’s complex socio-political realities.
One particularly egregious scene fabricates an Israeli airstrike on a Gaza hospital in 2010, an event that never occurred but is rendered with such graphic detail that it feels less like proper reporting and more like vapid propaganda.
The book’s antisemitic slant is impossible to overlook, with Israeli characters uniformly painted as malevolent oppressors while “palestinian” figures are sanctified to the point of absurdity. This one-sidedness is not just intellectually dishonest; it is a betrayal of the very principles of storytelling.
As a reader, I found the book’s audacity not bold but grating. El Akkad’s ambition is undercut by his inability to craft characters with any depth or nuance, reducing them to mere mouthpieces for his ideological agenda. The "down with the West" chants are predictable, relying on tired tropes of victimhood and villainy that offer no insight, only cliché.
The book’s “plot” is less a story than a feverish collage of cherry-picked tragedies—amputated legs, screaming children, severed heads—dripping with the emotional depth of a TikTok sob story. El Akkad’s genius lies in his ability to ignore context entirely, as if Israel’s existential battles with Hamas (a terrorist organization that deliberately uses civilians as human shields) are just “another round of shelling” in a cosmic game of “who’s more oppressed.” The Palestinians, of course, are perpetual victims, while Israelis are uniformly depicted as bloodthirsty maniacs who “blockade aid” because… "because they’re evil", apparently.
El Akkad’s writing is full of self-indulgence gems. Sentences like “the ground beneath me coming apart” and “the only thing that seems paramount is to spoil my kids” drip with the profundity of a barstool philosopher. His “analysis” of media bias? A predictable litany of “The Guardian called it ‘food aid–related deaths’” — as if any mention of Hamas’s role in provoking conflict is too much to ask.
Thankfully, El Akkad’s anti-Semitic rage against “Western complicity” in Israel’s “genocide” is so unhinged it inadvertently highlights the absurdity of blaming democracies for defending themselves against Hamas’s rockets. Who could forget his “brilliant” comparison of Israel’s security measures to South African apartheid? A stroke of genius, really, since Israel’s flawed but functioning democracy is nothing like the racist regime that imprisoned Nelson Mandela.
El Akkad’s wet dream moment comes when he gushes over the International Court of Justice’s politicized ruling against Israel. Never mind that the ICJ’s “evidence” includes Netanyahu quoting the Bible — a move so desperate it makes Hamas’s fake hospital complexes look legitimate. The book’s climax? A toddler’s finger painting titled “Palestinian statehood,” which El Akkad calls “a brief respite from duplicity.” Because nothing says “justice” like a toddler’s finger painting.
This book is a triumph of style over substance, a $25 cry for attention that mistakes outrage for analysis. El Akkad’s real talent? Writing himself into the role of a woke prophet, scolding the West for not caring enough about Palestinian suffering while ignoring Hamas’s role in perpetuating it. If you’re looking for an honest read, skip this and pick up a history textbook. Or better yet, a dictionary — El Akkad’s grasp of nuance is vocabulary-challenged.
A self-indulgent, one-sided tantrum that mistakes Hamas’s terrorism for “resistance” and Israel’s self-defense for “genocide.”
The book’s audience appears to be those already entrenched in its ideological camp, as it provides no challenge or complexity to provoke genuine thought.This is not just a bad book; it is a dangerous one, a cautionary tale of how literature can be weaponized to distort history and perpetuate division. One day everyone will see the genocidal antisemitic and colonial lies of HamAss.
With prose so melodramatic it makes Les Misérables read like a Twitter thread, El Akkad spins a narrative so one-dimensional it could double as a propaganda pamphlet for Hamas recruitment drives.
A tiresome, ideologically rigid screed masquerading as a legitimate exploration of conflict. The whole thing hinges on the book-cover-artwork depicting an intersection of a “palestinian” "journalist" and an Israeli drone, a contrivance so strained it borders on parody.
El Akkad, an Egyptian-Canadian author whose earlier work American War showed glimmers of promise, here delivers a text so burdened by its own moralizing that it collapses under the weight of its pretensions. The journalist’s reflection, “We are all complicit in the silence that screams louder than bombs,” is emblematic of the book’s hollow grandstanding—a line that sounds profound but is utterly devoid of substance, much like the rest of the book. If anything, the silence is for the lack of condemnation of the heinous act of barbarity that started the misery which was wholly orchestrated, celebrated and perpetrated by Gazans.
The book’s historical inaccuracies are not merely errors; they are deliberate distortions designed to manipulate the reader. El Akkad falsely asserts that Israeli settlements in Gaza persisted, even though they were totally dismantled – synagogues, cemeteries, and all – two decades before the Hamas pogrom, a claim so blatantly false it undermines any pretense of credibility.
The depiction of Gaza as a prelapsarian paradise before Israeli intervention is not just ahistorical; it is a grotesque oversimplification that ignores the region’s complex socio-political realities.
One particularly egregious scene fabricates an Israeli airstrike on a Gaza hospital in 2010, an event that never occurred but is rendered with such graphic detail that it feels less like proper reporting and more like vapid propaganda.
The book’s antisemitic slant is impossible to overlook, with Israeli characters uniformly painted as malevolent oppressors while “palestinian” figures are sanctified to the point of absurdity. This one-sidedness is not just intellectually dishonest; it is a betrayal of the very principles of storytelling.
As a reader, I found the book’s audacity not bold but grating. El Akkad’s ambition is undercut by his inability to craft characters with any depth or nuance, reducing them to mere mouthpieces for his ideological agenda. The "down with the West" chants are predictable, relying on tired tropes of victimhood and villainy that offer no insight, only cliché.
The book’s “plot” is less a story than a feverish collage of cherry-picked tragedies—amputated legs, screaming children, severed heads—dripping with the emotional depth of a TikTok sob story. El Akkad’s genius lies in his ability to ignore context entirely, as if Israel’s existential battles with Hamas (a terrorist organization that deliberately uses civilians as human shields) are just “another round of shelling” in a cosmic game of “who’s more oppressed.” The Palestinians, of course, are perpetual victims, while Israelis are uniformly depicted as bloodthirsty maniacs who “blockade aid” because… "because they’re evil", apparently.
El Akkad’s writing is full of self-indulgence gems. Sentences like “the ground beneath me coming apart” and “the only thing that seems paramount is to spoil my kids” drip with the profundity of a barstool philosopher. His “analysis” of media bias? A predictable litany of “The Guardian called it ‘food aid–related deaths’” — as if any mention of Hamas’s role in provoking conflict is too much to ask.
Thankfully, El Akkad’s anti-Semitic rage against “Western complicity” in Israel’s “genocide” is so unhinged it inadvertently highlights the absurdity of blaming democracies for defending themselves against Hamas’s rockets. Who could forget his “brilliant” comparison of Israel’s security measures to South African apartheid? A stroke of genius, really, since Israel’s flawed but functioning democracy is nothing like the racist regime that imprisoned Nelson Mandela.
El Akkad’s wet dream moment comes when he gushes over the International Court of Justice’s politicized ruling against Israel. Never mind that the ICJ’s “evidence” includes Netanyahu quoting the Bible — a move so desperate it makes Hamas’s fake hospital complexes look legitimate. The book’s climax? A toddler’s finger painting titled “Palestinian statehood,” which El Akkad calls “a brief respite from duplicity.” Because nothing says “justice” like a toddler’s finger painting.
This book is a triumph of style over substance, a $25 cry for attention that mistakes outrage for analysis. El Akkad’s real talent? Writing himself into the role of a woke prophet, scolding the West for not caring enough about Palestinian suffering while ignoring Hamas’s role in perpetuating it. If you’re looking for an honest read, skip this and pick up a history textbook. Or better yet, a dictionary — El Akkad’s grasp of nuance is vocabulary-challenged.
A self-indulgent, one-sided tantrum that mistakes Hamas’s terrorism for “resistance” and Israel’s self-defense for “genocide.”
The book’s audience appears to be those already entrenched in its ideological camp, as it provides no challenge or complexity to provoke genuine thought.This is not just a bad book; it is a dangerous one, a cautionary tale of how literature can be weaponized to distort history and perpetuate division. One day everyone will see the genocidal antisemitic and colonial lies of HamAss.
April 16, 2025
If every liberal read this , we might actually be able to make some progress.
February 15, 2025
A powerful argument that if the West is Star Wars, we are the empire, not the resistance.
did-not-finish
September 2, 2025I'm so disappointed by this - after 50%, I have to give up on what I'm finding to be a self-indulgent and exploitative way to use the genocide in Palestine to market what is otherwise a personal memoir. I don't disagree with the points Akkad makes by any means - Western media and Liberalism have actively sought to erase Palestine and eradicate its citizens while hiding behind a virtuous persona. Language is a tool deliberately used to weaponize, undermine, and misrepresent marginalized groups (particularly those from the Middle East in a post-9/11 context).
I have an issue with this not in the subject or themes but in the execution. This is not well-written and alternates between a personal memoir and highlights from Palestine since October 7th, 2023. The two arcs have some thematic overlap, but I can't overlook the blatant hypocrisy in some of the storytelling choices this makes. The discourse is primarily focused on headlines or scant facts about the events in Palestine with virtually no references or sources. In the age of misinformation (deliberate or otherwise) AND about a subject that is so contentious to the general public, it is important to have reliable sources to support your claims. Otherwise, the content of the book can be easily dismissed as not being truthful or valid.
While I'm no expert on Palestine and every historical event leading up to the event of October 7th, I would expect a book about this to provide the reader with more historical context and meaningful discourse. The delivery of this feels like the quality and reputability I'd find in an Instagram carousel or substack article, not a published book with a hefty relative cost. Anyone who has kept up with the events in Palestine and done some critical thinking about Western media would find very little new information from this.
I struggle to even recommend this as a good introductory source to the recent portrayal of Palestine because it's so surface-level and broken up with Akkad's history which is largely unrelated. The systemic racism, xenophobia, and misrepresentation that immigrants like Akkad experience in the West is important, but this is hardly novel nor does it provide sufficient spotlight to Palestinians. It seems ironic Akkad spends so much time being critical of America for treating the Middle East as a monolith yet also implies that his own experiences mirror the recent events in Palestine. America is largely the culprit behind these tenuous international relations and acts of violence, but that doesn't make the experiences equal.
I'm glad some readers are finding value in this, as it spotlights some important issues that should act as catalysts for change, resistance, and reform to existing systems. With that said, I think there are considerably better resources on Palestine and I am disappointed with the approach this took to represent them.
I have an issue with this not in the subject or themes but in the execution. This is not well-written and alternates between a personal memoir and highlights from Palestine since October 7th, 2023. The two arcs have some thematic overlap, but I can't overlook the blatant hypocrisy in some of the storytelling choices this makes. The discourse is primarily focused on headlines or scant facts about the events in Palestine with virtually no references or sources. In the age of misinformation (deliberate or otherwise) AND about a subject that is so contentious to the general public, it is important to have reliable sources to support your claims. Otherwise, the content of the book can be easily dismissed as not being truthful or valid.
While I'm no expert on Palestine and every historical event leading up to the event of October 7th, I would expect a book about this to provide the reader with more historical context and meaningful discourse. The delivery of this feels like the quality and reputability I'd find in an Instagram carousel or substack article, not a published book with a hefty relative cost. Anyone who has kept up with the events in Palestine and done some critical thinking about Western media would find very little new information from this.
I struggle to even recommend this as a good introductory source to the recent portrayal of Palestine because it's so surface-level and broken up with Akkad's history which is largely unrelated. The systemic racism, xenophobia, and misrepresentation that immigrants like Akkad experience in the West is important, but this is hardly novel nor does it provide sufficient spotlight to Palestinians. It seems ironic Akkad spends so much time being critical of America for treating the Middle East as a monolith yet also implies that his own experiences mirror the recent events in Palestine. America is largely the culprit behind these tenuous international relations and acts of violence, but that doesn't make the experiences equal.
I'm glad some readers are finding value in this, as it spotlights some important issues that should act as catalysts for change, resistance, and reform to existing systems. With that said, I think there are considerably better resources on Palestine and I am disappointed with the approach this took to represent them.
December 30, 2024
Absolutely essential reading. Moral clarity that cuts like a knife.
October 17, 2025
Second read: An absolute banger of a book. A must read. Catch it on my best books of the year list in three months.
"Maybe this is the truly weightless time, after the front page loses interest but before the history books arrive."
There is hardly a two-page spread in my copy of this book that doesn't have a tab on it. This book is filled with lines and paragraphs so meaningful or cutting that I thought, "well, I will want to read that again."
This book is a scathing indictment of "lawn sign" liberals in the west — those "ethically double-jointed" people (and systems) who can and do twist their morals to suit their own self-interest. The momentum behind this book definitely comes in his analysis of Gaza and Palestine, and the hypocritical underbelly of Democratic politics in the west. Even a reluctant reader would have a hard time denying his points. The recent stance of mainstream U.S. Democrats has been to claim moral superiority while silently or sheepishly cosigning a genocide.
He frequently points to contemporary examples, like an interview with AOC where she claimed not to associate herself with a stance on what's happening in Gaza. "I wonder what it must feel like," he writes, "It must take great courage to dissociate so fully, and under such difficult circumstances." He sums up his points pretty well here: "One remarkable difference between the modern Western conservative and their liberal counterpart is that the former will gleefully sign their name on the side of the bomb while the latter will just sheepishly initial it."
His criticism of western liberals works so well, not simply because his statements are glaringly true and backed up by many citations. It's because he takes it a step further to skewer the Democratic party's current approach to swaying voters: "Vote for the liberal though he harms you, because the conservative will harm you more." He points out that when Democrats beg for votes as the lesser of two evils, they no longer have any obligation to deliver anything once elected. You're voting them in to avoid a different negative outcome. So, simply by being elected they've already delivered the only thing they promised you.
If those paragraphs above make this book seem like it's exclusively about Democratic politics in America, that's kind of misleading. The undercurrent of the book is this thesis of the hypocrisy of Western liberal ideas, but he weaves in his own lived experiences to the book. In one section, he discusses living through a wildfire in Oregon with his days-old newborn child. He talks about a formative memory of his father being denied entry to a country, simply because he shared a name with a terrorist. He covers much of the literary world's response to October 7th, and the impact that had on Muslim and Middle-Eastern writers. His reporting takes him to Guantanamo Bay during the same time as a group of Uyghurs, who were wrongfully imprisoned by the Chinese government and cannot find a country willing to grant them refugee status.
His perspective on this is global and nuanced, and shaped by the lived experience of a reporter who has seen a lot of shit. He's also an incredibly powerful storyteller with a confident handle on the things he wants to say and the beliefs that underpin those things. Reading this feels like watching a skilled craftsman at work.
To sum up this longwinded review, I think this is a deeply important book, that will become more resonant with time. "One day this will end. [...] The same people who did the killing and financed the killing and justified the killing and turned away from the killing will congratulate themselves on doing the right thing. It is very important to do the right thing, eventually."
Read this book, talk about this book, prod at the things that make you uncomfortable until you can figure out why. I'll just end with some quotes (truly I could've left hundreds of them), that resonated with me:
"And it may seem now like it's someone else's children, but there's no such thing as someone else's children." (page 125)
"The starting point of history can always be shifted such that one side is always instigating, the other always justified in response." (page 24)
"And at every moment of arrival the details and the body count may differ, but in the marrow there is always a commonality: an ambitious, upright, pragmatic voice saying, Just for a moment, for the greater good, cease to believe that this particular group of people, from whose experience we are already so safely distanced, are human." (page 28)
"When The Guardian runs a headline that reads, "Palestinian Journalist Hit in Head by Bullet During Raid on Terror Suspect's Home," it is not simply a case of hiding behind passive language so as to say as little as possible, and in doing so risk as little criticism as possible. Anyone who works with or even has the slightest respect for language will rag at or poke at these tortured, spineless headlines, but they serve a very real purpose. It is a direct line of consequence from buildings that mysteriously collapse and lives that mysteriously end to the well-meaning liberal who, weaned on such framing, can shrug their shoulders and say, Yes, it's all so very sad, but you know, it's all so very complicated." (page 70)
Read it. That's all.
—
First read: Ten stars, easily one of the best books i’ll read this year and a book i would recommend everyone read
"Maybe this is the truly weightless time, after the front page loses interest but before the history books arrive."
There is hardly a two-page spread in my copy of this book that doesn't have a tab on it. This book is filled with lines and paragraphs so meaningful or cutting that I thought, "well, I will want to read that again."
This book is a scathing indictment of "lawn sign" liberals in the west — those "ethically double-jointed" people (and systems) who can and do twist their morals to suit their own self-interest. The momentum behind this book definitely comes in his analysis of Gaza and Palestine, and the hypocritical underbelly of Democratic politics in the west. Even a reluctant reader would have a hard time denying his points. The recent stance of mainstream U.S. Democrats has been to claim moral superiority while silently or sheepishly cosigning a genocide.
He frequently points to contemporary examples, like an interview with AOC where she claimed not to associate herself with a stance on what's happening in Gaza. "I wonder what it must feel like," he writes, "It must take great courage to dissociate so fully, and under such difficult circumstances." He sums up his points pretty well here: "One remarkable difference between the modern Western conservative and their liberal counterpart is that the former will gleefully sign their name on the side of the bomb while the latter will just sheepishly initial it."
His criticism of western liberals works so well, not simply because his statements are glaringly true and backed up by many citations. It's because he takes it a step further to skewer the Democratic party's current approach to swaying voters: "Vote for the liberal though he harms you, because the conservative will harm you more." He points out that when Democrats beg for votes as the lesser of two evils, they no longer have any obligation to deliver anything once elected. You're voting them in to avoid a different negative outcome. So, simply by being elected they've already delivered the only thing they promised you.
If those paragraphs above make this book seem like it's exclusively about Democratic politics in America, that's kind of misleading. The undercurrent of the book is this thesis of the hypocrisy of Western liberal ideas, but he weaves in his own lived experiences to the book. In one section, he discusses living through a wildfire in Oregon with his days-old newborn child. He talks about a formative memory of his father being denied entry to a country, simply because he shared a name with a terrorist. He covers much of the literary world's response to October 7th, and the impact that had on Muslim and Middle-Eastern writers. His reporting takes him to Guantanamo Bay during the same time as a group of Uyghurs, who were wrongfully imprisoned by the Chinese government and cannot find a country willing to grant them refugee status.
His perspective on this is global and nuanced, and shaped by the lived experience of a reporter who has seen a lot of shit. He's also an incredibly powerful storyteller with a confident handle on the things he wants to say and the beliefs that underpin those things. Reading this feels like watching a skilled craftsman at work.
To sum up this longwinded review, I think this is a deeply important book, that will become more resonant with time. "One day this will end. [...] The same people who did the killing and financed the killing and justified the killing and turned away from the killing will congratulate themselves on doing the right thing. It is very important to do the right thing, eventually."
Read this book, talk about this book, prod at the things that make you uncomfortable until you can figure out why. I'll just end with some quotes (truly I could've left hundreds of them), that resonated with me:
"And it may seem now like it's someone else's children, but there's no such thing as someone else's children." (page 125)
"The starting point of history can always be shifted such that one side is always instigating, the other always justified in response." (page 24)
"And at every moment of arrival the details and the body count may differ, but in the marrow there is always a commonality: an ambitious, upright, pragmatic voice saying, Just for a moment, for the greater good, cease to believe that this particular group of people, from whose experience we are already so safely distanced, are human." (page 28)
"When The Guardian runs a headline that reads, "Palestinian Journalist Hit in Head by Bullet During Raid on Terror Suspect's Home," it is not simply a case of hiding behind passive language so as to say as little as possible, and in doing so risk as little criticism as possible. Anyone who works with or even has the slightest respect for language will rag at or poke at these tortured, spineless headlines, but they serve a very real purpose. It is a direct line of consequence from buildings that mysteriously collapse and lives that mysteriously end to the well-meaning liberal who, weaned on such framing, can shrug their shoulders and say, Yes, it's all so very sad, but you know, it's all so very complicated." (page 70)
Read it. That's all.
—
First read: Ten stars, easily one of the best books i’ll read this year and a book i would recommend everyone read
May 29, 2025
I really wanted to give this book good-faith for the opportunity to challenge some of my perceptions of the Israel-Hamas war. What could have been a thoughtful critique is instead an exercise in intellectual dishonesty.
You’d think that a memoir on Gaza would be written by someone who at the very least is Palestinian. The author is Egyptian-Canadian based in Portland and centers himself in the narrative, using the war as a backdrop for his musings on geopolitics, power, and privilege. He has no direct connection to Palestine, yet positions himself as an authority on its struggle. He’s spent his career as a reporter—where are the Palestinian voices in this book?
The author notes how people look away from horror, yet he does exactly that when it comes to the horror of October 7. Nowhere does he acknowledge the Israeli families burned alive in their homes, the women raped, the concertgoers gunned down in cold blood. He gives a single passing mention of the hostages and number of Israelis killed and then moves on. The irony is staggering—he demands moral reckoning from others while refusing to confront the full scale of the terror that started this war.
Instead, he spends the bulk of the book scrutinizing Israel, waiting until the very end to clarify that he despises Hamas just as much as every other authoritarian regime.
His quick mention of Oct 7 is drowned in rhetorical sleight of hand, implying that Hamas’s brutality was somehow a logical, if tragic, response to Israel’s treatment of Palestinians, and how there’s a western bias for perceiving virtuous resistance vs the brutal massacre carried out by Hamas against civilians. This isn’t analysis—it’s moral obfuscation.
It’s frustrating, because a thoughtful, nuanced critique of the war is necessary. There was a real opportunity here to challenge assumptions, to engage in good faith, to bring something new to the table. Instead, the book repackages the same talking points that play well on social media but collapse under scrutiny. A missed opportunity, but hey—at least it’s well-written and short.
If you want to hear mg full thoughts on this I wrote even more about it on substack https://open.substack.com/pub/thatpet...
You’d think that a memoir on Gaza would be written by someone who at the very least is Palestinian. The author is Egyptian-Canadian based in Portland and centers himself in the narrative, using the war as a backdrop for his musings on geopolitics, power, and privilege. He has no direct connection to Palestine, yet positions himself as an authority on its struggle. He’s spent his career as a reporter—where are the Palestinian voices in this book?
The author notes how people look away from horror, yet he does exactly that when it comes to the horror of October 7. Nowhere does he acknowledge the Israeli families burned alive in their homes, the women raped, the concertgoers gunned down in cold blood. He gives a single passing mention of the hostages and number of Israelis killed and then moves on. The irony is staggering—he demands moral reckoning from others while refusing to confront the full scale of the terror that started this war.
Instead, he spends the bulk of the book scrutinizing Israel, waiting until the very end to clarify that he despises Hamas just as much as every other authoritarian regime.
His quick mention of Oct 7 is drowned in rhetorical sleight of hand, implying that Hamas’s brutality was somehow a logical, if tragic, response to Israel’s treatment of Palestinians, and how there’s a western bias for perceiving virtuous resistance vs the brutal massacre carried out by Hamas against civilians. This isn’t analysis—it’s moral obfuscation.
It’s frustrating, because a thoughtful, nuanced critique of the war is necessary. There was a real opportunity here to challenge assumptions, to engage in good faith, to bring something new to the table. Instead, the book repackages the same talking points that play well on social media but collapse under scrutiny. A missed opportunity, but hey—at least it’s well-written and short.
If you want to hear mg full thoughts on this I wrote even more about it on substack https://open.substack.com/pub/thatpet...
November 20, 2025
Now Winner of the National Book Award for Nonfiction 2025
El Akkad eloquently spells out the obvious and renders it even more impactful by not only offering journalistic research, but also personal experience: There is systemic violence against brown people, which now culminates in a genocide in the Middle East. Frankly, I went into this hoping to not encounter another text that talks about Israeli Jews as privileged white settler colonialists, conveniently omitting that the Jewish people have been historically persecuted for thousands of years and thus feeding into the narrative of antisemites that the Jews are powerful and run everything or some shit. They don't, Jewish people are a minority under constant threat of hate crimes, their synagogues in Germany need heightened protection to this day. The very emphasis on Jewish people being white underlines that this racial color theory is a ridiculous construct serving only to establish and then weaponize narratives (the Nazis maintained that they are NOT white / aryan and also NOT actual people to justify their genocide, now there's an emphasis on Jewish people BEING white to show them, a persecuted people, as part of the powerful majority; the color of their skin is of course irrelevant in all of this). And to state it right away: El Akkad does not elaborate on the plight of the Jews, or the Hamas terror, and El Akkad's statement that the brown people affected by state violence counter this with love is ... well, it's strange and counterfactual. In the Middle East, we are witnessing a dynamic of hate that spirals out of control. BUT: Israel holds more power, and not only that.
It is true that Israel, the state founded as a safe haven for Jewish people after the Holocaust, now commits a genocide against Palestinians, and large parts of the world - especially Germany, for obvious reasons - is out of its depths how to deal with this insanity, also because Hamas (which is not the same as the Palestinian people) is a terror organization. Which is no excuse to stand by, as El Akkad rightfully points out. That is unless the West wants to become a cynical joke, perpetually displaying how what he calls "liberal" values are mere lip service, cheap talk that cannot gloss over the complacency. He particularly talks about American politics (which by now has become a way worse shit show than he ever imagined), but the dynamic he portrays crosses borders and can be studied in various Western countries: The impression that democratic parties (so not the Democrats, but parties defending democratic values) have become unable to counteract systemic problems, because unfortunately, politics is exactly what people imagine it to be. So people tune out - or, even worse, vote to abolish democracy (so in the US: the Republicans). Meanwhile, the slaughter in the Middle East continues.
Which leads us to another conundrum in the text, or at least it's a conundrum for me: El Akkad pondering that boycotting the system is a valid option. See, I disagree with his whole "empire" rhetoric, because democratic states are founded on the people voting, which confronts all of us with the fact that it's not some evil machine making inhumane decisions, it's politicians whom voters in the country gave a mandate to do just that. Until recently, I would have argued that we need to change the political system from within, but lately, I haven't been so sure about that: As El Akkad says, there are too many people willing to comply with whatever for their self-interest, and I'd like to add that the system attracts these types, because those on top can count on their compliance (hence: vote within the party power pyramid) if their personal gain (jobs, promotions, you name it) is high enough. More and more, I see the value in the type of resistance El Akkad talks about.
Which does not let us as individuals off the hook when it comes to moral complicity: El Akkad frequently points out that the narratives we tell ourselves help to gloss over moral corruption, which is true. But this is a genocide, and people all over the world have noticed. The people perpetrating it do not only fail to make their children safer in a geopolitical sense (on the contrary!), they have build the groundwork for a shame that will follow generations of Israelis everywhere in the world, which the book also points out. Of course, zero Palestinian lives are saved because of it now.
There needs to be pressure for a two-state-solution, but as long as the US is busy turning one of the oldest democracies in the world into a fascist nightmare run by a geriatric clown with impulse control issues and the European Union is not unified enough in its position, I don't know where the pressure required is supposed to come from.
El Akkad eloquently spells out the obvious and renders it even more impactful by not only offering journalistic research, but also personal experience: There is systemic violence against brown people, which now culminates in a genocide in the Middle East. Frankly, I went into this hoping to not encounter another text that talks about Israeli Jews as privileged white settler colonialists, conveniently omitting that the Jewish people have been historically persecuted for thousands of years and thus feeding into the narrative of antisemites that the Jews are powerful and run everything or some shit. They don't, Jewish people are a minority under constant threat of hate crimes, their synagogues in Germany need heightened protection to this day. The very emphasis on Jewish people being white underlines that this racial color theory is a ridiculous construct serving only to establish and then weaponize narratives (the Nazis maintained that they are NOT white / aryan and also NOT actual people to justify their genocide, now there's an emphasis on Jewish people BEING white to show them, a persecuted people, as part of the powerful majority; the color of their skin is of course irrelevant in all of this). And to state it right away: El Akkad does not elaborate on the plight of the Jews, or the Hamas terror, and El Akkad's statement that the brown people affected by state violence counter this with love is ... well, it's strange and counterfactual. In the Middle East, we are witnessing a dynamic of hate that spirals out of control. BUT: Israel holds more power, and not only that.
It is true that Israel, the state founded as a safe haven for Jewish people after the Holocaust, now commits a genocide against Palestinians, and large parts of the world - especially Germany, for obvious reasons - is out of its depths how to deal with this insanity, also because Hamas (which is not the same as the Palestinian people) is a terror organization. Which is no excuse to stand by, as El Akkad rightfully points out. That is unless the West wants to become a cynical joke, perpetually displaying how what he calls "liberal" values are mere lip service, cheap talk that cannot gloss over the complacency. He particularly talks about American politics (which by now has become a way worse shit show than he ever imagined), but the dynamic he portrays crosses borders and can be studied in various Western countries: The impression that democratic parties (so not the Democrats, but parties defending democratic values) have become unable to counteract systemic problems, because unfortunately, politics is exactly what people imagine it to be. So people tune out - or, even worse, vote to abolish democracy (so in the US: the Republicans). Meanwhile, the slaughter in the Middle East continues.
Which leads us to another conundrum in the text, or at least it's a conundrum for me: El Akkad pondering that boycotting the system is a valid option. See, I disagree with his whole "empire" rhetoric, because democratic states are founded on the people voting, which confronts all of us with the fact that it's not some evil machine making inhumane decisions, it's politicians whom voters in the country gave a mandate to do just that. Until recently, I would have argued that we need to change the political system from within, but lately, I haven't been so sure about that: As El Akkad says, there are too many people willing to comply with whatever for their self-interest, and I'd like to add that the system attracts these types, because those on top can count on their compliance (hence: vote within the party power pyramid) if their personal gain (jobs, promotions, you name it) is high enough. More and more, I see the value in the type of resistance El Akkad talks about.
Which does not let us as individuals off the hook when it comes to moral complicity: El Akkad frequently points out that the narratives we tell ourselves help to gloss over moral corruption, which is true. But this is a genocide, and people all over the world have noticed. The people perpetrating it do not only fail to make their children safer in a geopolitical sense (on the contrary!), they have build the groundwork for a shame that will follow generations of Israelis everywhere in the world, which the book also points out. Of course, zero Palestinian lives are saved because of it now.
There needs to be pressure for a two-state-solution, but as long as the US is busy turning one of the oldest democracies in the world into a fascist nightmare run by a geriatric clown with impulse control issues and the European Union is not unified enough in its position, I don't know where the pressure required is supposed to come from.
October 29, 2025
I need everyone to read this book.
Free Palestine.
Free Palestine.
July 7, 2025
5⭐️ Omar El Akkad is a brilliant writer who succinctly provides a much needed breakup letter w/ Western liberalism in One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This.
if you do not currently see how western media is filled with shameful zionist propaganda that refuses to report the truth of the genocide we are witnessing of the Palestinian people, this book gives direct examples and discusses how they provide protection for average American “liberals” while ultimately causing them to turn a blind eye to these atrocities.
gut wrenching - eye opening- powerful
a must read!!
some of my many highlights because i couldn’t pick just one:
“To orient oneself in relation to this kind of equivocation as it exists in the West—where a genocide is a conflict of equals, and really who’s to say what a sufficient number of dead civilians is, and it’s all so complicated anyway—is to temporarily forget that most of the world sees this for what it is right now. This mandatory waiting period, in which the rest of the planet politely pleads with the West’s power centers to bridge the gap between its lofty ideals and its bloodstained reality, to do anything at all, is not some natural phenomenon, but the defining feature of neoliberalism. What purer expression of power than to say: I know. I know but will do nothing so long as this benefits me. Only later, when it ceases to benefit me, will I proclaim in great heaving sobs my grief that such a thing was ever allowed to happen. And you, all of you, even the dead in their graves, will indulge my obliviousness now and my repentance later because what affords me both is in the end not some finely honed argument of logic or moral primacy but the blunt barrel of a gun.”
“Rules, conventions, morals, reality itself: all exist so long as their existence is convenient to the preservation of power. Otherwise, they, like all else, are expendable.”
“A reporter is supposed to agitate against power, against privilege. Against the slimy wall of press releases and PR nothingspeak that has come to protect every major business and government boardroom ever since Watergate. A reporter is supposed to agitate against silence.”
“In times like these, one remarkable difference between the modern Western conservative and their liberal counterpart is that the former will gleefully sign their name on the side of the bomb while the latter will just sheepishly initial it.”
!!!!!!!!
if you do not currently see how western media is filled with shameful zionist propaganda that refuses to report the truth of the genocide we are witnessing of the Palestinian people, this book gives direct examples and discusses how they provide protection for average American “liberals” while ultimately causing them to turn a blind eye to these atrocities.
gut wrenching - eye opening- powerful
a must read!!
some of my many highlights because i couldn’t pick just one:
“To orient oneself in relation to this kind of equivocation as it exists in the West—where a genocide is a conflict of equals, and really who’s to say what a sufficient number of dead civilians is, and it’s all so complicated anyway—is to temporarily forget that most of the world sees this for what it is right now. This mandatory waiting period, in which the rest of the planet politely pleads with the West’s power centers to bridge the gap between its lofty ideals and its bloodstained reality, to do anything at all, is not some natural phenomenon, but the defining feature of neoliberalism. What purer expression of power than to say: I know. I know but will do nothing so long as this benefits me. Only later, when it ceases to benefit me, will I proclaim in great heaving sobs my grief that such a thing was ever allowed to happen. And you, all of you, even the dead in their graves, will indulge my obliviousness now and my repentance later because what affords me both is in the end not some finely honed argument of logic or moral primacy but the blunt barrel of a gun.”
“Rules, conventions, morals, reality itself: all exist so long as their existence is convenient to the preservation of power. Otherwise, they, like all else, are expendable.”
“A reporter is supposed to agitate against power, against privilege. Against the slimy wall of press releases and PR nothingspeak that has come to protect every major business and government boardroom ever since Watergate. A reporter is supposed to agitate against silence.”
“In times like these, one remarkable difference between the modern Western conservative and their liberal counterpart is that the former will gleefully sign their name on the side of the bomb while the latter will just sheepishly initial it.”
!!!!!!!!
December 14, 2024
it is an admirable thing, in a politics possessed of a moral floor, to believe one can change the system from the inside, that with enough respectful prodding the establishment can be made to bend, like that famous arc, toward justice. but when, after decades of such thinking, decades of respectful prodding, the condition one arrives at is reticent acceptance of genocide, is it not at least worth considering that you are not changing the system nearly as much as the system is changing you?the third of omar el akkad's books (following two award-winning novels), one day, everyone will have always been against this is an incisive, trenchant work about colonialism, slaughter and mass murder, western liberalism, state violence, hypocrisy, amorality, cowardice and privilege, apathy, institutional fealty, and, pardon the redundancy, the inherent effects of empire. with sharp, scathing, and often sardonic critique, el akkad reckons with the ongoing atrocities in gaza (and other assorted moral malfeasances), as well as the international, governmental, political, and organizational indifferences that de facto enable (if not outright support) their continuation.
the moral component of history, the most necessary component, is simply a single question, asked over and over again: when it mattered, who sided with justice and who sided with power? what makes moments such as this one so dangerous, so clarifying, is that one way or another everyone is forced to answer.with unflinching clarity, moral resolve, historical contextualization, and a reliance on logic, reason, and basic human decency, el akkad's writing recalls the most potent works of chris hedges (both authors have spent time as war correspondents). one day, everyone will have always been against this braids the philosophical and the personal, with el akkad relating anecdotes and asides both from his days reporting overseas and more recent ones as a new father. el akkad writes far too beautifully for so sorrowful a subject — juxtaposing massacres, indignation, heartbreak, and anguish in language that persuades and entreats as it denounces. this is a work of courage and rectitude and virtue of the highest order, absolutely merciless in its calling to account.
one day there will be no more looking away. looking away from climate disaster, from the last rabid takings of extractive capitalism, from the killing of the newly stateless. one day it will become impossible to accept the assurances of the same moderates who say with great conviction: yes the air has turned sour and yes the storms have grown beyond categorization and yes the fires and the floods have made of life a wild careen from one disaster to the next and yes millions die from the heat alone and entire species are swept into extinction daily and the colonized are driven from their land and the refugees die in droves on the borders of the unsated side of the planet and yes supply chains are beginning to come apart and yes soon enough it'll come to our doorstep, even our doorstep in this last coddled bastion of the very civilized world, when one day we turn on the tap and nothing comes out and we visit the grocery store and the shelves are empty and we must finally face the reality of it as billions before us have been made to face the reality of it but until then, until that very last moment, it's important to understand that this really is the best way of doing things.
February 10, 2025
“The system does not work for you, was never intended to work for you, but as an act of magnanimity on our part, you may choose the degree to which it works against you.”
This book is an essential 2025 read. Well-written, thoroughly researched and devastatingly beautiful.
Highly recommended.
This book is an essential 2025 read. Well-written, thoroughly researched and devastatingly beautiful.
Highly recommended.
November 13, 2025
Students are being reprimanded, arrested, and having graduation withheld for harboring critical views of the Israeli government. The Trump Administration is fulfilling one of the promises in Project 2025 by trying to put an end to the Pro-Palestine movement by deporting protestors, threatening organizations and businesses that are Pro-Palestinian, and labelling protestors as terrorists.
Meanwhile, innocent men, women, and children are being killed by Israeli guns and bombs in a genocidal attempt to eradicate a "problem" that has been around since Israel's inception. Anyone who criticizes the Israeli government is labelled "anti-semitic", despite the fact that some of the critics are Jews themselves. The innocent men, women, and children are simply swept under the umbrella of Hamas; all Palestinians are guilty. Their crime? Being Palestinian.
Omar El Akkad's book "One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This" is a moving attempt to appeal to both Reason and Heart in a militant Imperialist world culture. As of yet, the book has not been banned. Akkad, as of yet, has not been sent to a "re-education" camp for subversive views. This, at the very least, offers some hope.
History is wrought with campaigns by larger groups to eradicate smaller groups that pose an obstacle in some way. We, as Americans, should know all about this. Our country was founded on genocide. It's only through the distance of time that we have become "enlightened" at the atrocities committed in the past. But our enlightenment only extends to groups that have been eradicated or nearly eradicated in the past. It conveniently ignores the present-day atrocities.
Our present-day atrocities are, of course, all easily justified. The smaller groups who obstruct larger groups from completing their goals are simply defined as subversives, deviants, miscreants, criminals, or terrorists.
Akkad states it succinctly: "One of the most damaging, longest-lasting consequences of the War on Terror years is an utter obliteration of the obvious moral case for nonviolence. The argument that violence in any form debases us and marks the instant failure of all involved is much more difficult to make when the state regularly engages in or approves of wholesale violence against civilians and combatants alike. Instead, the case for nonviolence becomes, in the ugliest way, pragmatic: the state wants violence, because in that playing field it maintains every advantage, from bigger guns to total immunity to the privilege of perpetual victimhood." (p. 138)
Meanwhile, innocent men, women, and children are being killed by Israeli guns and bombs in a genocidal attempt to eradicate a "problem" that has been around since Israel's inception. Anyone who criticizes the Israeli government is labelled "anti-semitic", despite the fact that some of the critics are Jews themselves. The innocent men, women, and children are simply swept under the umbrella of Hamas; all Palestinians are guilty. Their crime? Being Palestinian.
Omar El Akkad's book "One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This" is a moving attempt to appeal to both Reason and Heart in a militant Imperialist world culture. As of yet, the book has not been banned. Akkad, as of yet, has not been sent to a "re-education" camp for subversive views. This, at the very least, offers some hope.
History is wrought with campaigns by larger groups to eradicate smaller groups that pose an obstacle in some way. We, as Americans, should know all about this. Our country was founded on genocide. It's only through the distance of time that we have become "enlightened" at the atrocities committed in the past. But our enlightenment only extends to groups that have been eradicated or nearly eradicated in the past. It conveniently ignores the present-day atrocities.
Our present-day atrocities are, of course, all easily justified. The smaller groups who obstruct larger groups from completing their goals are simply defined as subversives, deviants, miscreants, criminals, or terrorists.
Akkad states it succinctly: "One of the most damaging, longest-lasting consequences of the War on Terror years is an utter obliteration of the obvious moral case for nonviolence. The argument that violence in any form debases us and marks the instant failure of all involved is much more difficult to make when the state regularly engages in or approves of wholesale violence against civilians and combatants alike. Instead, the case for nonviolence becomes, in the ugliest way, pragmatic: the state wants violence, because in that playing field it maintains every advantage, from bigger guns to total immunity to the privilege of perpetual victimhood." (p. 138)
April 22, 2025
“One day, when it’s safe, when there’s no personal downside to calling a thing what it is, when it’s too late to hold anyone accountable, everyone will have always been against this.”
I recommend this to anyone who has asked themselves the same questions as El Akkad: “What is wrong with me that I can’t keep living as normal? What is wrong with all those people who can?” I found myself inhaling this book in a couple of days—so many of El Akkad’s thoughts being ones I’d had over the past year and a half, but especially in the first few months following October 2023.
I also recommend this to anyone who can’t seem to understand how one might have chosen to vote in the 2024 election for every race other than the top of the ticket.
Though the principles here may feel obvious to some, I think this is a book that can challenge a lot of people’s views on the American empire and Western liberalism. For others, for me, it might be a salve.
This isn’t a factual account of history or even of the past year and a half, but rather a personal reflection. If you’re looking to learn about history, I would direct you elsewhere, but if you’re interested in reading a beautifully written reckoning with what it means to live in the empire and to be complicit in the genocide in Gaza with unflinching moral clarity, look no further.
I recommend this to anyone who has asked themselves the same questions as El Akkad: “What is wrong with me that I can’t keep living as normal? What is wrong with all those people who can?” I found myself inhaling this book in a couple of days—so many of El Akkad’s thoughts being ones I’d had over the past year and a half, but especially in the first few months following October 2023.
I also recommend this to anyone who can’t seem to understand how one might have chosen to vote in the 2024 election for every race other than the top of the ticket.
Though the principles here may feel obvious to some, I think this is a book that can challenge a lot of people’s views on the American empire and Western liberalism. For others, for me, it might be a salve.
This isn’t a factual account of history or even of the past year and a half, but rather a personal reflection. If you’re looking to learn about history, I would direct you elsewhere, but if you’re interested in reading a beautifully written reckoning with what it means to live in the empire and to be complicit in the genocide in Gaza with unflinching moral clarity, look no further.
March 18, 2025
With the start of 2025 comes the first wave of books published post October 7th. I have a handful of them on my radar and One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This was the first of which to come in at the library. Unfortunately I found this to be a weak introduction to this new era of discourse on the subject of Palestine.
This sub 200 page book looks to accomplish a lot and overall barely scratches the surface doing so. Author Omar El-Akkad jumps between his personal background on immigrating, living in the Middle East and the West, his thoughts on journalism and the publishing industry, the contradictions of liberals, commentary on imperialism, and references to events of the last 17 months through the eyes of someone living in the west looking from afar.
Maybe I should have looked more into what this book entailed before reading it but when it comes to covering this subject this really isn’t the kind of book I look for. Personally, if I’m going to be spending my time reading about this subject I’d like to be learning something new, reading from the perspective of a journalist, researcher, activist, or eyewitness.
I found much of what was on display here to be rather surface level and scattered in its presentation. Throughout this short book’s chapters was a rotation of these subjects which was intended to paint a picture of various themes but overall lead to a very disjointed reading experience. The fast pace of this book also doesn't help as it leads to much of the discussion passing you by without any second thought put to it.
As someone who is an Arab American in the West who has spent the last 17 months absorbed in following these events I found much of what was presented here to be pretty limited in scope, a recap of what it was like living in 2024 at best. If you have also been following along and witnessing this genocide in real time you will already be well aware of the kinds of feelings evoked by baring witness to it. The events mentioned here really are only alluded to and will conjure memories of what you have seen in the last year and a half but that is really it.
This leads me to wonder who this book is really for? The kinds of people closely following the situation will probably already have eclipsed the need for a book like this and the kinds of people who might benefit most from something like this may be lost by not having the proper context or background, as there are no sources or references to event specifics. I can see the value and catharsis in relating to someone else when it comes to discussing these subjects but I would imagine many people have had these kinds of conversations already, with deeper substance, sometime in the last year and a half.
In October 2023, after about two weeks of witnessing nonstop violence, I knew I needed to find others to talk to about this and relate with. Since then I have joined many community groups and organizations who centralize around supporting each other during this time, caring for the community and offering a place for people to express their thoughts and emotions. I really don’t see how anyone could have made it through the last 17 months without this kind of community space or at the very least reaching out to a friend or two to have these kinds of conversations on their own.
The most egregious element of this book I've seen in its criticisms is El-Akkad's use of the suffering of the Palestinians in Gaza in tandem with his own narrative as an Egyptian-Canadian immigrant and his experiences in Canada and the US. I get trying to relate to an event like this in any way that you can, as it is near impossible to make sense of the chaos in contradiction of so many individuals and institutions as of late but it still comes across as exploitative in telling your own story first as so little is actually devoted to the perspectives of those actually experiencing this first hand in Gaza.
Overall this book comes across as an elongated opinion piece that couldn’t find its place being published somewhere online. I’ve never recommended using social media over reading a book but I’ve seen much better presentations of these kinds of ideas and discussions from short form videos and infographics over the last few months (many of which also included sources and further discussion).
I will say that the book does get better in its presentation and purpose in the latter half. Particularly in the last two chapters. Instead of just broadly rehashing the last 17 months it looked more at the current climate and where to go in the future. I think this is a great value and the most one could get out of this book. El-Akkad offers a glimmer of hope in the face of extreme despair, something I think we could all use in this current moment. He drives home the point that no effort towards liberation is too small and that we all have an obligation to do our part.
Maybe I’m in the minority here, as many people seem to really love this book, but with all the great books on Palestine out there I think we should be allowed to be critical of those that don’t meet the mark, and not just praise them for having the same opinion as us. There are many great books by Palestinians, as well as researchers and activists who support them, that offer much more value in information. When it comes to a contemporary criticism of imperialism and white supremacy I found Ta-Nehesis Coates’s The Message to be a much better book. His balance of the personal with the bigger picture is presented much better and he is overall just a better writer.
One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This occasionally takes jabs at the performative actions of liberals (something I certainly don’t shy away from critiquing myself) but with how surface level some of the discussion here is I don’t see El-Akkad’s perspective as much different from those he is critiquing, just from a slightly farther left lens. If you are someone who is praising this book I would implore you to reflect on how you have engaged with this subject the last 17 months and what Palestinian Liberation truly means to you.
This sub 200 page book looks to accomplish a lot and overall barely scratches the surface doing so. Author Omar El-Akkad jumps between his personal background on immigrating, living in the Middle East and the West, his thoughts on journalism and the publishing industry, the contradictions of liberals, commentary on imperialism, and references to events of the last 17 months through the eyes of someone living in the west looking from afar.
Maybe I should have looked more into what this book entailed before reading it but when it comes to covering this subject this really isn’t the kind of book I look for. Personally, if I’m going to be spending my time reading about this subject I’d like to be learning something new, reading from the perspective of a journalist, researcher, activist, or eyewitness.
I found much of what was on display here to be rather surface level and scattered in its presentation. Throughout this short book’s chapters was a rotation of these subjects which was intended to paint a picture of various themes but overall lead to a very disjointed reading experience. The fast pace of this book also doesn't help as it leads to much of the discussion passing you by without any second thought put to it.
As someone who is an Arab American in the West who has spent the last 17 months absorbed in following these events I found much of what was presented here to be pretty limited in scope, a recap of what it was like living in 2024 at best. If you have also been following along and witnessing this genocide in real time you will already be well aware of the kinds of feelings evoked by baring witness to it. The events mentioned here really are only alluded to and will conjure memories of what you have seen in the last year and a half but that is really it.
This leads me to wonder who this book is really for? The kinds of people closely following the situation will probably already have eclipsed the need for a book like this and the kinds of people who might benefit most from something like this may be lost by not having the proper context or background, as there are no sources or references to event specifics. I can see the value and catharsis in relating to someone else when it comes to discussing these subjects but I would imagine many people have had these kinds of conversations already, with deeper substance, sometime in the last year and a half.
In October 2023, after about two weeks of witnessing nonstop violence, I knew I needed to find others to talk to about this and relate with. Since then I have joined many community groups and organizations who centralize around supporting each other during this time, caring for the community and offering a place for people to express their thoughts and emotions. I really don’t see how anyone could have made it through the last 17 months without this kind of community space or at the very least reaching out to a friend or two to have these kinds of conversations on their own.
The most egregious element of this book I've seen in its criticisms is El-Akkad's use of the suffering of the Palestinians in Gaza in tandem with his own narrative as an Egyptian-Canadian immigrant and his experiences in Canada and the US. I get trying to relate to an event like this in any way that you can, as it is near impossible to make sense of the chaos in contradiction of so many individuals and institutions as of late but it still comes across as exploitative in telling your own story first as so little is actually devoted to the perspectives of those actually experiencing this first hand in Gaza.
Overall this book comes across as an elongated opinion piece that couldn’t find its place being published somewhere online. I’ve never recommended using social media over reading a book but I’ve seen much better presentations of these kinds of ideas and discussions from short form videos and infographics over the last few months (many of which also included sources and further discussion).
I will say that the book does get better in its presentation and purpose in the latter half. Particularly in the last two chapters. Instead of just broadly rehashing the last 17 months it looked more at the current climate and where to go in the future. I think this is a great value and the most one could get out of this book. El-Akkad offers a glimmer of hope in the face of extreme despair, something I think we could all use in this current moment. He drives home the point that no effort towards liberation is too small and that we all have an obligation to do our part.
Maybe I’m in the minority here, as many people seem to really love this book, but with all the great books on Palestine out there I think we should be allowed to be critical of those that don’t meet the mark, and not just praise them for having the same opinion as us. There are many great books by Palestinians, as well as researchers and activists who support them, that offer much more value in information. When it comes to a contemporary criticism of imperialism and white supremacy I found Ta-Nehesis Coates’s The Message to be a much better book. His balance of the personal with the bigger picture is presented much better and he is overall just a better writer.
One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This occasionally takes jabs at the performative actions of liberals (something I certainly don’t shy away from critiquing myself) but with how surface level some of the discussion here is I don’t see El-Akkad’s perspective as much different from those he is critiquing, just from a slightly farther left lens. If you are someone who is praising this book I would implore you to reflect on how you have engaged with this subject the last 17 months and what Palestinian Liberation truly means to you.
July 1, 2025
I came to this book with an open mind. I assumed it would be critical of Israel—that much was clear from the outset—but I was still taken aback by the sheer number of omissions on the author’s part. It wasn’t until Chapter 6 that things began to make sense. There, Omar cites Hemingway’s iceberg principle as a guiding inspiration: that most of the story should remain submerged beneath the surface. Omit the obvious, show don’t tell, never state major events outright.
In that light, the omissions are no accident—they are the point. It’s far easier to convince the reader that the West is the root of all evil if you leave out the atrocities committed by non-Western powers. There’s no mention of Arab-on-Arab violence, like Syria’s brutal 14-year civil war, the humanitarian catastrophe in Sudan (supported by Middle Eastern powers and Russia), or the devastating Saudi-led war in Yemen, which has killed thousands over the past decade and a half.
By omitting these realities, the book creates a distorted moral landscape—one in which the war in Gaza can be presented as the worst humanitarian crisis in modern memory, without context or comparison. I do feel deep compassion for the innocent Palestinian children Omar honors in his writing. I only wish he had acknowledged that their suffering also lies, in part, at the feet of Hamas. Beyond rejecting multiple ceasefire offers, Hamas has built some of the largest bomb shelters in the world, their vast tunnel system—yet civilians are not allowed to enter them. Those details, apparently, are irrelevant when constructing a sweeping indictment of the Western Empire.
If you asked Omar, I imagine he’d say everything in the Middle East would be just fine—if only the Ottoman Empire had survived World War I.
In that light, the omissions are no accident—they are the point. It’s far easier to convince the reader that the West is the root of all evil if you leave out the atrocities committed by non-Western powers. There’s no mention of Arab-on-Arab violence, like Syria’s brutal 14-year civil war, the humanitarian catastrophe in Sudan (supported by Middle Eastern powers and Russia), or the devastating Saudi-led war in Yemen, which has killed thousands over the past decade and a half.
By omitting these realities, the book creates a distorted moral landscape—one in which the war in Gaza can be presented as the worst humanitarian crisis in modern memory, without context or comparison. I do feel deep compassion for the innocent Palestinian children Omar honors in his writing. I only wish he had acknowledged that their suffering also lies, in part, at the feet of Hamas. Beyond rejecting multiple ceasefire offers, Hamas has built some of the largest bomb shelters in the world, their vast tunnel system—yet civilians are not allowed to enter them. Those details, apparently, are irrelevant when constructing a sweeping indictment of the Western Empire.
If you asked Omar, I imagine he’d say everything in the Middle East would be just fine—if only the Ottoman Empire had survived World War I.
April 3, 2025
So you’re not from Gaza, maybe I could get over that? But then you erased the entire horrors and massacre of Oct 7. I think that’s a no.
September 24, 2025
reading vlog: https://youtu.be/0GAE2aO9Hg8
an incredibly powerful, must read book for everyone this year! it's so important to recognise how global structures support the continuation of this genocide, and the author deftly weaves you though so many different topics. however, i wish it was longer!! sometimes the memoir/non-fic split left me wanting more in terms of facts + first hand accounts, which I think there would have been space for with a longer page count.
an incredibly powerful, must read book for everyone this year! it's so important to recognise how global structures support the continuation of this genocide, and the author deftly weaves you though so many different topics. however, i wish it was longer!! sometimes the memoir/non-fic split left me wanting more in terms of facts + first hand accounts, which I think there would have been space for with a longer page count.
June 10, 2025
We say that sometimes, when it’s our children killed: “remember.”
And it may seem now that it’s someone else’s children, but there’s no such thing as someone else’s children.
And it may seem now that it’s someone else’s children, but there’s no such thing as someone else’s children.
March 19, 2025
It's tough, this having come out around the same time as Mohammed El-Kurd's Perfect Victims, which is truly a masterpiece on how we navigate this world of genocide and betrayal. I was drawn to One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This from the title alone. But I found myself slightly disappointed in El Akkad's presentation of the power dynamics in U.S. politics, offering far too much excuse to the Democratic Party (even when his scorn is searing). He also seems to cling to credibility/respectability by frequently demonizing China and Russia, parroting lies about the former and Adrian Zenz's lies about Xinjiang; as well as his denouncement of the Palestinian resistance. There were moments I enjoyed which felt like the more poetic meditations on the psychological toll of this genocide: "no description of the moon, no matter how stunning, how true, reflects as much beauty back into the world as a missile obliterating a family in their home takes out of it."
November 26, 2024
Brilliant and evocative, this was a short but impactful read that I stayed up way too late reading. This was a thoughtful, sharp, and powerful book that at turns critiques Western imperialism and neoliberalism, and offers a passage through collective grief into collective action. At times this was devastating, I saw much of myself and my own experiences in this book. Omar El Akkad’s words are a balm, to carry you through the heart of empire, while simultaneously functioning as a handful of sand that you can toss into the gears of the machine.
This was more affecting than expected. I think reading this as a Brown Muslim who now lives IN the empire (Canada), it was relatable in a profoundly visceral way. I like to highlight passages that I find powerful, and while read this, I decided to add tabs to each page with a quote or passage that moved me... My copy of this book is cluttered with tabs, and green with highlights. El Akkad is a talented writer, and there's no doubt about that. Each word and phrase and passage is written with care. He paints a portrait of grief and rage that articulates something many of us have been bearing.
I definitely don't think this book is for everyone. For some, it may feel obvious, or antithetical to their belief system. For some, they may feel called out, or uncomfortable. For some, this is a challenge to their desire to looking away, or perhaps even cheering for a system of violence that aims to quash, diminish, and destroy the 'other'. However, I think there are people who will find this book an answer, a balm, a meditation. Something to hold onto when things get difficult. Others may find it challenging, but hopefully in a way that galvanizes.
We talk a lot about reading and what it can do, and for me, one of the most important things reading can do for us is challenge us. To hold our systems of belief and our schools of thought up to the light - and maybe, just maybe, they won't hold up to additional scrutiny. And this book does that.
While this book was devastating, it also offered a path forward - through the grief, desolation, devastation, and range, and towards a new, better future. One of hope and community, and most importantly, love.
I look forward to the book being out in the world.
I received an advanced reading copy of this book from the publisher.
This was more affecting than expected. I think reading this as a Brown Muslim who now lives IN the empire (Canada), it was relatable in a profoundly visceral way. I like to highlight passages that I find powerful, and while read this, I decided to add tabs to each page with a quote or passage that moved me... My copy of this book is cluttered with tabs, and green with highlights. El Akkad is a talented writer, and there's no doubt about that. Each word and phrase and passage is written with care. He paints a portrait of grief and rage that articulates something many of us have been bearing.
I definitely don't think this book is for everyone. For some, it may feel obvious, or antithetical to their belief system. For some, they may feel called out, or uncomfortable. For some, this is a challenge to their desire to looking away, or perhaps even cheering for a system of violence that aims to quash, diminish, and destroy the 'other'. However, I think there are people who will find this book an answer, a balm, a meditation. Something to hold onto when things get difficult. Others may find it challenging, but hopefully in a way that galvanizes.
We talk a lot about reading and what it can do, and for me, one of the most important things reading can do for us is challenge us. To hold our systems of belief and our schools of thought up to the light - and maybe, just maybe, they won't hold up to additional scrutiny. And this book does that.
While this book was devastating, it also offered a path forward - through the grief, desolation, devastation, and range, and towards a new, better future. One of hope and community, and most importantly, love.
I look forward to the book being out in the world.
I received an advanced reading copy of this book from the publisher.
July 30, 2025
It’s so invigorating to read books written by authors who don’t systematically view the Middle East or Muslim countries through rose-tainted Western glasses. the Hollywood-style lens that glorifies the West while villainizing any culture rooted in Muslim beliefs has honestly become exhausting.
One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This is not just a book—it’s a necessary intervention. It lays bare the West’s selective outrage and its geometric-variable hypocrisy, exposing how global narratives are shaped to serve power, not justice. with clear, eloquent prose, it dissects media manipulation, the “world’s sheriff” complex, and the grotesque hypocrisy in how violence is reported; depending on who commits it, and who suffers from it.
the author doesn’t shy away from the present-day genocide unfolding in Gaza. they confront it directly, with urgency and compassion, refusing the silence and selective empathy that have become so normalized. the book becomes a mirror : forcing the reader to examine the systems that allow, excuse, and even cheerlead atrocities when they align with Western interests.
this is one of those reads that shifts something in you. a call to awareness, to accountability, and to resistance. One I won’t stop recommending.
One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This is not just a book—it’s a necessary intervention. It lays bare the West’s selective outrage and its geometric-variable hypocrisy, exposing how global narratives are shaped to serve power, not justice. with clear, eloquent prose, it dissects media manipulation, the “world’s sheriff” complex, and the grotesque hypocrisy in how violence is reported; depending on who commits it, and who suffers from it.
the author doesn’t shy away from the present-day genocide unfolding in Gaza. they confront it directly, with urgency and compassion, refusing the silence and selective empathy that have become so normalized. the book becomes a mirror : forcing the reader to examine the systems that allow, excuse, and even cheerlead atrocities when they align with Western interests.
this is one of those reads that shifts something in you. a call to awareness, to accountability, and to resistance. One I won’t stop recommending.
July 11, 2025
One of the most hard-hitting, poignant books I’ve ever read. Every page required an immediate reread and pause for digestion.
Beautiful, painful, and so overwhelmingly necessary.
CW: war, genocide, violence, suicide, racism, colonialism, Islamophobia, xenophobia, grief
Beautiful, painful, and so overwhelmingly necessary.
CW: war, genocide, violence, suicide, racism, colonialism, Islamophobia, xenophobia, grief
December 5, 2025
Devastating, incandescent with feeling and erudition on what it means to live in the world while every day unimaginable atrocities happen
Rules, conventions, morals, reality itself, all exist so long as their existence is convenient to the preservation of power, otherwise they, like all else, are expendable
More thoughts to follow, but a gut punch of a book and an appeal to agency and against numbness.
Rules, conventions, morals, reality itself, all exist so long as their existence is convenient to the preservation of power, otherwise they, like all else, are expendable
More thoughts to follow, but a gut punch of a book and an appeal to agency and against numbness.
March 6, 2025
[ 6 Mar 2025 ]
Yeah, no, this is not it. This took me AGESSSSS to finish, because I puzzled over nearly every paragraph, trying to figure out why this didn’t work for me. A carefully considered and analyzed full-length review will come later, but for now I’ll leave two questions here:
1. For a book that uses the Palestinian genocide as the springboard for all of its critique of Western liberal empire, where are the Palestinian voices?
2. Where are the facts, primary sources, bibliography, historical context, etc?
Yeah, no, this is not it. This took me AGESSSSS to finish, because I puzzled over nearly every paragraph, trying to figure out why this didn’t work for me. A carefully considered and analyzed full-length review will come later, but for now I’ll leave two questions here:
1. For a book that uses the Palestinian genocide as the springboard for all of its critique of Western liberal empire, where are the Palestinian voices?
2. Where are the facts, primary sources, bibliography, historical context, etc?
April 30, 2025
IM SO DISSAPPOINTED :(
I am very torn on this book. On the one hand, the overall message is incredibly important. We should be confronted with the atrocities that are currently being committed in Gaza, and the justification the West uses, when in reality, it is those same governments who are committing the same, if not worse crimes. There are also good/interesting points brought up about what it's like to be an immigrant to the west - one that particularly resonated with me was the fact that the west excepts immigrants to 'assimilate' however, we never assimilated to the cultures we invaded - this is particularly relevant at the time of reading as conversations in Australian media are focusing on Indigenous ceremonies, specifically Welcome to Country. We are so quick to ostracise people for not 'fitting in' with 'our' culture, yet we are not even trying to assimilate with First Nations culture. Many more examples of this can be found across the globe. This is just one example of many good observations in this book. I also think we should be listening to Arab voices on these matters more, as well as many other minority groups we seem to ignore.
However I quickly became disillusioned with this book. Akkad has chosen to intertwine his life story throughout the discussions of genocide and the fact that the west is doing nothing about it. One of his points is that there is so much noise drowning out stories from the ground - which is definitely true - but this book is also doing exactly what he criticises. By interweaving a story about how he grew up and left Egypt, moved to Canada and his subsequent life as a Journalist (never stationed in Palestine btw otherwise I would completely understand the decision to include a memior-esk story line) he is literally creating all this noise instead of writing a book that focuses TRUELY on the injustice. The commentary on xenophobia is important but makes no sense in the Palestinian context / the overall narrative Akkad is trying to portray. And within that narrative, it makes no sense. This book is a pretty surface-level exploration of the issues at hand. I wish it went further in-depth.
Again I want to preface that I 1000000% agree with what Akkad was trying to say here, I just think the execution could have been so much better. The people of Palestine deserve more of a spotlight. Would I still recommend reading? Sure! But I would definitely recommend at least some basic knowledge on world politics before hand otherwise I feel like you might be quite lost.
Quotes I liked:
-'It is a hallmark of failing societies, I've learned, this requirement that one always be in possession of a valid reason to exist.'
-'When those dying are deemed human enough to warrant discussion, discussion must be had. When they're deemed nonhuman, discussion becomes offensive, an affront to civility.'
-'Once far enough removed, everyone will be properly aghast that any of this was allowed to happen. But for now, it's just so much safer to look away, to keep one's head down, periodically checking on the balance of polite society to see if it is not too troublesome yet to state what to the conscience was never unclean.'
I am very torn on this book. On the one hand, the overall message is incredibly important. We should be confronted with the atrocities that are currently being committed in Gaza, and the justification the West uses, when in reality, it is those same governments who are committing the same, if not worse crimes. There are also good/interesting points brought up about what it's like to be an immigrant to the west - one that particularly resonated with me was the fact that the west excepts immigrants to 'assimilate' however, we never assimilated to the cultures we invaded - this is particularly relevant at the time of reading as conversations in Australian media are focusing on Indigenous ceremonies, specifically Welcome to Country. We are so quick to ostracise people for not 'fitting in' with 'our' culture, yet we are not even trying to assimilate with First Nations culture. Many more examples of this can be found across the globe. This is just one example of many good observations in this book. I also think we should be listening to Arab voices on these matters more, as well as many other minority groups we seem to ignore.
However I quickly became disillusioned with this book. Akkad has chosen to intertwine his life story throughout the discussions of genocide and the fact that the west is doing nothing about it. One of his points is that there is so much noise drowning out stories from the ground - which is definitely true - but this book is also doing exactly what he criticises. By interweaving a story about how he grew up and left Egypt, moved to Canada and his subsequent life as a Journalist (never stationed in Palestine btw otherwise I would completely understand the decision to include a memior-esk story line) he is literally creating all this noise instead of writing a book that focuses TRUELY on the injustice. The commentary on xenophobia is important but makes no sense in the Palestinian context / the overall narrative Akkad is trying to portray. And within that narrative, it makes no sense. This book is a pretty surface-level exploration of the issues at hand. I wish it went further in-depth.
Again I want to preface that I 1000000% agree with what Akkad was trying to say here, I just think the execution could have been so much better. The people of Palestine deserve more of a spotlight. Would I still recommend reading? Sure! But I would definitely recommend at least some basic knowledge on world politics before hand otherwise I feel like you might be quite lost.
Quotes I liked:
-'It is a hallmark of failing societies, I've learned, this requirement that one always be in possession of a valid reason to exist.'
-'When those dying are deemed human enough to warrant discussion, discussion must be had. When they're deemed nonhuman, discussion becomes offensive, an affront to civility.'
-'Once far enough removed, everyone will be properly aghast that any of this was allowed to happen. But for now, it's just so much safer to look away, to keep one's head down, periodically checking on the balance of polite society to see if it is not too troublesome yet to state what to the conscience was never unclean.'
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