Bibi

“My friends never stopped wanting a different life, I wanted to tell her. But I have managed, Mother, not to want a different life most of the time and that is some achievement.”
― Hisham Matar, My Friends

“To be from countries such as ours... is to continually feel obliged to explain them.”
― Hisham Matar, My Friends

“When rumors of the potential coup in Argentina had begun to rattle around diplomatic circles, some in the American government “discreetly and through third parties” suggested that the military dictatorship be formally recognized. Once the junta took over, the US Congress approved a request from Kissinger to send it $49 million in military assistance. Even as news of torture, rape, and kidnappings began to emerge, the secretary of state was unflaggingly sanguine. “We want you to succeed,” Kissinger told an Argentine official a few months after the coup. “If there are things that have to be done, you should do them quickly.” It would eventually become clear that Kissinger and other top officials were fully aware of what the military was up to in Argentina and throughout the Condor countries. In fact, the United States had helped author the playbook they followed.”
― Haley Cohen Gilliland, A Flower Traveled in My Blood: The Incredible True Story of the Grandmothers Who Fought to Find a Stolen Generation of Children

“God veil our faults," as the old folks say. A simple, much overused prayer. But what little wisdom it contains. A philosophy of sorts. I love how modest it is. I mean, they could have said, "God erase our faults," Now that would've been ambitious. But "veil" is better. It presupposes that to live a life is to have faults, that no one is perfect and certainly no one is innocent. Not even you and I.”
― Matar Hisham, My Friends