My Head Is Full of Books: Nonfiction Review: ONE DAY, EVERYONE WILL HAVE ALWAYS BEEN AGAINST THIS

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Thursday, November 27, 2025

Nonfiction Review: ONE DAY, EVERYONE WILL HAVE ALWAYS BEEN AGAINST THIS

Title: One Day Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad

Books Beginnings quote:

Friday56 quote (from page 22, the last preview page):

Summary:

On Oct 25th, 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.

One Day Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This chronicles the deep fracture which has occurred for Black, brown, indigenous Americans, as well as the upcoming generation, many of whom had clung to a thread of faith in western ideals, in the idea that their countries, or the countries of their adoption, actually attempted to live up to the values they espouse. (Publisher)

Review: This National Book Award recipient has much to digest within its pages. Clearly the author is frustrated beyond words at the world's seeming disregard for the plight of the people in Gaza. But he places the lion's share of blame on progressives and left-leaning people who give lip service to being horrified by the atrocities in Gaza at the hands of Israel, yet take no action to go along with their words and objectively support Israel's right to exist and self-defense. Conservatives don't bear the brunt of El Akkad's disdain because they are who they say they are -- hard-liners, racists who generally hate anyone who is brown-skinned, reflexively supporting Israel no matter what. I guess he is saying the right has no answers and he doesn't expect their help. Since I'm a progressive, I felt chastised as I read. But it was a wakeup call, too. I'm glad the book received the award so it will receive some attention and hopefully wake up a bunch of us "slacker left-leaning progressives" (and hopefully others) with this call to action.

As Don and I discussed after finishing the audiobook, he was more critical ranking it with 3 stars. His biggest complaint was how the book -- he called it a long opinion piece -- called us out for our apathy without many constructive suggestions of ways to help. Call our congresswoman? She's a Democrat and her party isn't in power? Then what?

As we listened we found ourselves going back in time since the book was clearly written during President Biden's term. The book was already in the publishing stages when the 2024 election went to Donald Trump. We couldn't help wonder whether the author has any different feelings toward the Biden administration's approach to Israel's war on Gaza since things have certainly gotten no better under Trump. There was no postscript to the audiobook to answer this question. One thing so many people don't seem to understand about politics: when you are frustrated by the party in power (especially one you largely agree with) and kick them out, the other side is going to be worse. At least Democrats have been advocating for a two-state solution and self-determination for Palestinians for decades. Trump and his acolytes only want tough talk in support of Israel, and want to raze Gaza to redevelop the coastline with luxury resorts for the rich and powerful.

Clearly there are no easy answers and this conflict has been going on for thousands of years. Sigh.

The audiobook was narrated by the author, El Akkad, which I really appreciated. A bit about the author is probably warranted: Omar El Akkad was born in Egypt. He and his family were forced to leave their home due to the politics in the country. His father relocated the family first to Qatar for a few years. When he was 16 his family moved to Montreal, Quebec, where Omar finished high school. Eventually he got an entry-level job at the Globe and Mail newspaper and worked his way up to an investigative reporter. Often he received assignments because he was a Muslim or because he was an Arab, as if he would be the only one to understand the issue. Now he and his family live in Portland, Oregon.

Our ratings: Don -- 3 stars; Anne -- 4 stars.

Challenges: Nonfiction November and Novellas in November (for short nonfiction, 208 pages.)