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One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This. Omer El Akkad. Key Points and best quotes.

 


Omar El Akkad's "One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This" is a compelling critique of Western liberalism, especially in light of the Gaza conflict post-October 2023. Through interconnected essays, El Akkad examines the moral inconsistencies within Western societies, emphasizing the gap between declared values and actual practices. Drawing from his personal experiences—being born in Egypt, raised in Qatar and Canada, and working as a journalist covering global conflicts—he offers a unique perspective on identity, belonging, and moral responsibility.

Key Themes:

  1. Western Hypocrisy and Moral Contradictions:

    • El Akkad highlights the disparity between Western nations' professed commitment to human rights and their actions, particularly regarding the Palestinian plight. He critiques the performative empathy that often conceals a deeper indifference to systemic injustices. As he notes, "Rules, conventions, morals, reality itself: all exist so long as their existence is convenient to the preservation of power."

  2. The Role of Journalism and Media Bias:

    • Reflecting on his journalism career, El Akkad discusses the challenges of maintaining neutrality in the face of evident oppression. He argues that the media often perpetuates biased narratives, leading to public apathy. He emphasizes that "journalism at its core is one of the most activist endeavours there is. A journalist is supposed to agitate against power, against privilege... A journalist is supposed to agitate against silence."

  3. Personal Narrative and Identity:

    • El Akkad intertwines his personal journey with broader political commentary, exploring the complexities of being an immigrant and a journalist in the West. He shares experiences of systemic racism and the struggle to find belonging in societies that often view him with suspicion. He poignantly states, "I live here because it will always be safer to live on the launching side of the ... ."

Omar El Akkad's "One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This" offers a profound critique of Western liberalism and its contradictions, especially concerning the Gaza conflict post-October 2023. Here are some notable quotes from the book and others books of him. 

  1. On Performative Empathy:

    • "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."

  2. On Western Liberalism's Contradictions:

    • "It's difficult to live in this country in this moment and not come to the conclusion that the principal concern of the modern American liberal is, at all times, not what one does or believes or supports or opposes, but what one is seen to be."

  3. On Historical Narratives and Oppression:

      • "While the terrible thing is happening—while the land is still being stolen and the natives still being killed—any form of opposition is terroristic and must be crushed for the sake of civilization." 

4.                On Western hypocrisy.

 West you talk about doesn’t exist. It’s a fairytale, a fantasy you sell yourself because the alternative is to admit that you are the least important character in your own story. You invent an entire world because your conscience demands it, you invent good people and bad people and you draw a neat line between them because your simplistic moralities demands it. But the two kinds of people in this world are not good and bad, they are engines and fuel. Go ahead, change your country, change your name, change your accent, pull the skin right off your bones, but in their eyes they will always be the engines and you will always, always be fuel."

From the book, "On strange Paradise"

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