Can't Put It Down..

In a busy and very very hot day preparing for a possible trip to the cottage, I started this book I had picked up at the library yesterday.and everything else was set aside.The novel I had been reading was put on the back-burner and forgotten for now. 

I dove into this non-fiction book by Omar El Akkad and didn't surface again until dinnertime! At last, someone was saying out loud and with rage, the kind of things that have been driving me mad for so long. 

Omar El Akkad is an acclaimed author and journalist who in October 2023, just three weeks into Israel's bombardment of Gaza,  tweeted: 
"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 always have been against this." Hence the title of his book. 

Quoting excerpts from the Amnesty International Book Club.......

"Like many of us, El Akkad once believed in the West's promise - that it stood for justice and freedom. But after a decade-long career reporting on everything from the War on Terror, Ferguson, climate disasters and now Gaza, he's done pretending."

"This book is his raw, furious, grieving realization that the West was never built for everyone. That some people  - Arabs, Muslims, immigrants, whoever's outside the circle of privilege, and crucially, Palestinians - were never meant to be seen as fully human."

"This isn't his story - it's the story of this moment. It's the same rupture happening in living rooms, on campuses, and in protests across North America. If you've ever looked at the world and thought, there has to be something better than this, there has to be someone as deeply disturbed and opposed to this as I am - this book is for you."

I am more than halfway through the book already and am so glad I chose to read it! There are images and phrases in this book that I will never forget.