One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This | 
It was late, my father was done work for the night. Because he was technically part of the tourism industry, and the Egyptian economy has for a very long time depended on tourism to ward off complete collapse, he was afforded special dispensation to be out during curfew hours. The soldiers on the corner did not know this./1
I've explained, politely, to deeply well-meaning people that I don't have a problem shaking hands with women— maybe other Muslims do, I couldn't tell you; we don't all know each other.
I've sat through a wildly uncomfortable book interview once after I joked that I write all my novels in Arabic and then run them through Google Translate and the interviewer believed me.
I've smiled and nodded. I was nice about it.
Which is to say, I was a coward.
One day it will be considered unacceptable in the polite liberal circles of the West not to acknowledge all the innocent people killed in that long ago unpleasantness. The truth and reconciliation committees are coming. The land acknowledgements are coming. The very sorry descendants are coming After all, grief in arrears is grief just the same./1
I know now there are people, some of them once very dear to me, whom I will never speak to again, so long as I can help it. It‘s the people who said nothing. The people who knew full well what was happening and said nothing because there was a personal risk of a chance of getting yelled at or, God forbid, a chance of professional ramifications. It‘s the people who dug deeply into the paramount importance of their own safety, their own convenience.
In the end, we will be asked to normalize not just unlimited extraction and unlimited suffering, but total absence: a hollow that will look an awful lot like the one we were asked to overlay onto the minimum wage workers and climate refugees and the victims of endless colonial wars, and yes, even those dead Palestinian children, who, had they been allowed to live, might have done something terrible. Just cease to believe these people were human.
Interviewing one of Uber‘s executives, who demonstrated the company‘s algorithms with the enthusiasm of a child at Christmas, I couldn‘t help but think that what this company really innovated was not some new solution to the travelling salesman problem, but the establishment of a new lower norm of employee treatment. Success, growth, and profit came from taking what at one time had been decent stable jobs and rebranding them as side hustles.
#Bookspin November:
1. Beyond Survival
2. Cobalt Red
3. The Underground Girls of Kabul
4. Flesh and Blood so Cheap
5. Waiting to be Arrested
6. Cesar Chavez
7. Trailblazer
8. The Deviants‘ War
9. Some People Need Killing
10. Four Shots
11. Small Acts of Courage
12. Necessary Trouble
13. Buses are a‘Coming
14. Generation Revolution
15. Dorothy Day
16. Call Him Jack
17. Give Us The Ballot
18. Kids These Days
19. Salt Thief
20. American Midnight
pickI don't know that I would have read this in physical form, but after listening to the audio, there are definitely passages I would have liked to have been able to capture. This is a brilliant meditation on the Israel/Palatine conflict, the way language is manipulated to justify atrocities, and the other-ing of whomever those in power need to diminish to maintain power. Goddamn, humans suck!
pickThis may be the most honest book I have ever read. It gives us a clearer view of privilege (as simple as the lottery of birth), but only if you accept it and let it reach you. The biggest problems in the world are caused by people viewing others as "less than", & blind obedience or loyalty to any country is harmful. We should always question if we are doing the right thing, and in the situation he talks about here, we have not. Required reading.
pickIt‘s impossible for me to put into words how impactful and important this book is. This was one of many quotes that struck me right in the heart.
pickHow could I write a review on this book. My thoughts and feelings could not even be comparable to what the author has written.
pickI just finished reading this book a moment ago. I have a lot of thinking to do . I have marked bits do I can talk them through with my partner. This would be the best book I‘ve read this year so far. My immediate thought was that everyone should have a go at reading this book. Right I‘m away to have a big think!
pick23-4 Sep 25 (audiobook)
A short and concise look at the atrocities being committed in Gaza and the ability of much of the world to ignore it. One of those books that will unfortunately primarily be read by those who share the author‘s view.
Particularly important given the events of the past week at the UN. Very pleased that Australia was amongst those to recognise the Palestinian state.
pick@Chelsea.Poole was right. We all should read this. It‘s horrific and it makes me so sad and scared and I really wonder if we will ever be able to return (?) to a place of respect and peace and trying to understand one another. But maybe that‘s me, speaking from out of my bubble. Do read it.
📸 Amersfoort, Netherlands
pickAbsolutely necessary and horrific. I do think so many people would benefit from reading this. I did, but be prepared for the graphic nature. We should be seeing this. We should be horrified. Babies are dying, families are starving, and here I am posting a book review.
pick5⭐️ I'm speechless. So I'll leave it to Tommy Orange.
“I can‘t think of a more important piece of writing to read right now. I found hope here, and help, to face what the world is now, all that it isn‘t anymore. Please read this. I promise you won‘t regret it.”—Tommy Orange, author of Wandering Stars and There There
pickWow. This is vey hard to read, because who wants to think about genocides, corrupt governments, murders committed and excused by politicians. But that‘s why it‘s important to pay attention.
pickNot a light beach read but a great book. Just a gut punch of truth about how we can look away from atrocities so easily now
pickA call for compassion and to resist the ongoing dehumanisation practiced by governments and media outlets. 8/10
pickHoly fuck. Exquisitely sharp writing.
Secondary to what he's saying, of course, the message is most important, but it's of unimaginable benefit to have crucial matters communicated in such a fashion.
There's a skilled interweaving of El Akkad's experiences both growing up and throughout his journalistic career with directly addressing the genocide in Gaza, the murder of Palestinians, 1/?
“To be accused of speaking too loudly about one injustice but not others by someone who doesn't care about any of them is to be told, simply, to keep quiet.“
“...any institution that prioritizes cashing the checks over calling out the evil is no longer an arts organization. It's a reputation-laundering firm with a well-read board.“ 💅🏼
I sense much of this book is going to stick with me, this passage in particular. An important question.
“She is made of dreaming.“
pickThis book could not be of more urgent importance. It begs us not to turn away from the horror in Gaza, or the depth of suffering being inflicted on Gaza‘s children. El Akkad reflects on his experiences growing up in Egypt, Qatar, and Canada. Now living in the US, he reflects on his disillusionment and painful coming to terms with the gulf between the values the West purports (fairness, human rights) and reality (government actions/lack of action).
pickThis is the best book I‘ve read this year. It‘s imperfect, heartbreaking, challenging and cutting of every hypocrisy the West has in reference to the war in Gaza. The topic is the killing of innocent people in Gaza, but his points are far ranging and covers more ground than this one war. It‘s superb- as is leaves very few innocent other than the Gaza children.
pickIn this vital condemnation of the genocide in Gaza, El Akkad juxtaposes scenes from that devastated place with moments from his own life as well as the reactions of many in the west, from looking away to applauding the violence. It is not a screed or polemic but a devastating examination of facts. Everyone should read this.
In my latest Friday Reads booktube episode: artisan cheese touring on Vancouver Island; Victoria gardens; and 6 books.
https://youtu.be/B4BlfSUOVi0
#trans authors #OzFiction #kidlit #memoir #Gaza
What are you willing to give up to alleviate someone else‘s suffering? […] the prevailing answer echoing from the mouths of so many of one‘s own neighbours is: Nothing at all.
How does one finish the sentence: “It is unfortunate that tens of thousands of children are dead, but…”
The literary critic Northrop Frye once said all art is metaphor & a metaphor is the grammatical definition of insanity. What art does is meet us at the site of our insanity, our derangement, the plainly irrational mechanics of what it means to be human.
pickI don‘t write in books- ever. However as I listened to this audio. I kept longing for a physical copy that I could underline in. I thought this was incredible.
I don't buy many hardcovers, but I had a gift card at my local indie store so I nabbed this.
pickI have so much I want to say about this, but I‘m alternating between rage and grief, so I‘ll settle for this. Part memoir, part history, part journalistic reporting on current events, this is a concise damnation of Western imperialism, particularly the pervasive Islamophobia and unwavering support for genocide. If it doesn‘t make you mad, you aren‘t paying attention. Free Palestine. 🇵🇸
This is our now at your local bookstore, it should be required reading for all Westerners. El Akkad talks about not just Palestine but about many other countries and how the west puts money over people.
Essential reading.
pick4.5⭐
Essential reading. This is going to upset a lot of people. They need to be upset.
El Akkad New book is part memoir, part political discourse, part Palestinian war criticism. Knowing where he came from is critical of understanding his views on modern day American politics and the war on Palestine.
Release date Feb 25th. I have preordered my copy, I needed to reread the published copy and make a bunch of notes.
Your papers, he said.
My father pulled out his paperwork.
Without reading it, the soldier tore it in half and threw it on the floor.
Your papers, he repeated. (edited) 3h