Review: One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This
- tatedecaro
- 7 hours ago
- 2 min read
5/5 stars
"On October 25, 2023, after just three weeks of the bombardment of Gaza, Omar El Akkad put out a tweet: '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. "
The best way to describe this book is that is it a continuation of this one tweet - a way to point out the atrocities of war, of immigration policy, of racism (and more), to highlight the hypocritical rhetoric of those in power, and to open our eyes to the realities of the death of real, living, breathing humans, however far away they may be, however unlike us they may seem.
I started underlining poignant quotes from the book that made me think, or cry, or nod furiously, or feel like screaming, with the thought that I would share them in a review... only to realize quite quickly that I'd be copying about 1/4 of the book if I did that. Instead, I urge everyone to read this book and find and feel those quotes yourself. This should be required reading - in schools, in clubs, in religious institutions.
Yes, it's about Gaza, but it's so much more than that. Whatever the war, whoever the people are who are being dehumanized, wherever the killing and justifying takes place - it's always the same, and it always demands of us that we not look away. It always requires the diligent work of treating people with dignity and respect.
It's a memorial - honoring and and commemorating the dead.
It's a reckoning - calling out the hypocrisy we are all guilty of.
It's a question - asking if we are capable of admitting the duplicity of turning a blind eye.
It's a rallying cry - demanding empathy, morality, and action.
UP NEXT: The Carpool Detectives, by Chuck Hogan
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