Omar El Akkad's book is a passionate and compelling indictment of western hypocrisy over Gaza, blending personal experience with sharp moral logic. It challenges the complacency of liberal responses and the performative nature of empathy, making a powerful case against the west's role in ongoing injustices.
Omar El Akkad's 'One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This' is a powerful collection of essays that delves into the western world's hypocrisy and complacency regarding the situation in Gaza. Drawing from his extensive experience as a journalist and novelist, El Akkad offers a personal and impassioned critique of the moral failings of both the right and the left. He challenges the notion that western empathy is often performative and expedient, highlighting the stark contrast between the west's preached values of justice and democracy and its actions to protect wealth and power. The book is organized as a series of linked essays, making it both compelling and hard to put down. By the end, readers are left with a deep sense of the inescapable ugliness of the situation, as well as a renewed understanding of the complexities involved. For those who have experienced similar injustices, the book resonates deeply, offering a voice to the often-unheard arguments against western hypocrisy.
Quick quotes
Where’s the Palestinian Martin Luther King?
This is an account of a fracture, a breaking away from the notion that the polite, western liberal ever stood for anything at all.
While the terrible thing is happening — while the land is still being stolen and the natives still being killed — any form of opposition is terroristic and must be crushed for the sake of civilisation.