I just finished “One Day, Everyone will have Always Been Against This” by Omar El Akkad.
I’ve been a fan of Omar’s work since his first book “American War” and have read all three of his published books.
I know, however, reading Omar’s work won’t leave me feeling full. Even his fiction will leave you with a weight of guilt that makes you question your human experience. It will remind you of your privilege and luck for being located in a safe corner of the world, and you will feel the weight and responsibility of what was done by the people before you to secure that safety you now take for granted.
I go into a new story by Omar ready to be hurt again.
I was not disappointed.
One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This is the chilling reality we live in. Where children being murdered in broad daylight and recorded for millions of people to see is simply the cost of doing business.
A reality where the people who protest this genocide openly risk their job, their investors or their lives.
Where politicians play god.
This is not fiction.
Weaved throughout the book, Omar talks about his journalism career and how it connects him with his writing. He also talks about his personal experiences being a ‘brown’ man in western culture. His observations and his reality can be hard to digest for the reader - this book took me 3 months to finish- but I feel a responsibility to know their experiences. There’s that tinge of hope in me that knowing these uncensored perspectives will make me a better human.
At the end of the book you’ll doubt everything. And that is the point.
I give this book 5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐. It’s exactly what the world needs to read.
