Clear-eyed and sharply on the pulse of the collapsing political landscape that we find ourselves in, it would be easy to assume that this book is a hard read. And it is — but it is also filled with personal touches and a gentle mirth, in slyly sarcastic remarks that reflect the irony of discussion of such clear-cut topics.
Part essay, part memoir, part journalistic recollection of the last two years, Omar El Akkad's ONE DAY, EVERYONE WILL HAVE ALWAYS BEEN AGAINST THIS looks at the global response to the world's response to the genocide in Gaza, in the context of everything that came before and everything that has come since. It slices open the way that respectability politics has been weaponised, the ways that we’re seeing the obvious cracks in empire, and the impending shift away from the masses being okay with the status quo.
El Akkad highlights the importance of language when faced with a man-made crisis on a scale like this, the significance of what is not being said or being allowed to be said. Because as he points out: ‘what good are words, severed from anything real?’ When we’re too frightened to speak up for fear of consequences, in a time when ‘for some, the worst plausible thing might be the ending of their bloodline in a missile strike. … For others, the worst plausible thing is being yelled at.’ And to be clear — it’s not just now, this is how things have been for a lot of people, for a long time. But it’s the first time we’ve seen a reckoning like this on such a scale.
This is a book that I would love to give to people who are still unthinkingly siding with empire, while knowing that it’s a book that they’ll want to have nothing to do with because the facts are inarguable but incongruent with their world view and self-identification. It’s a book that points to their exact positioning, and it’s not a flattering look.
If you read one thing this year, read this. If you are in any way implicated in the west, read this. If you’ve been struggling with nonfiction, try this. If your gut reaction is to look away instead of bearing witness: read this.
