One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This | Omar El Akkad

The sadness leaks off the pages of Omar El Akkad's One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This. The book is both journalistic and poetic, blending reportage with reflection to illuminate the deep disappointment felt, not only by the author, but by many of us witnessing the hypocrisies of global power.

El Akkad exposes the double standards applied by Western governments. In matters of human rights and international law, certain lands - and their people - are deemed less worthy of justice than others. The book makes it painfully clear how leaders of the West cannot, or will not, call out the Genocide in Gaza. Yet, if the roles were reversed, the world would move mountains to defend the lives of Israelis. It's brutally simple: racism, anti-Islamism, and political convenience dictate who is protect and who will be abandoned.

The text pulses with anger, but it is not merely a polemic. El Akkad's prose is beautifully lyrical and gives a human face to despair, amplifying the frustration felt by those who witness these injustices yet feel powerless. This book was cathartic - the author articulates certain truths that are often too ugly for mainstream discourse. It forces readers to confront the stark realities of global politics and its moral failings.

This is an important and very necessary book that reminds us that history always comes down to one single question: When it mattered, who sided with justice and who sided with power?