Published Feb. 13, “One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This” is a nonfiction account of its author, Omar El Akkad, as he witnesses the unfolding situation in Gaza due to the Israel-Palestine war and correlates it to his criticisms of the West. He covers his experience as a Muslim man living in America, as a father, a journalist and as someone who wants to see social change in the West.
The book begins by describing El Akkad’s family in America in 2024, who live in an Oregon cabin filled with toys and modern conveniences. Then El Akkad describes his childhood memory of living in Egypt during the Gulf War and Iraq War, which were stoked by the U.S.’s interest in Middle Eastern oil. The book continually draws connections between the Israel-Palestine war in Gaza, wherein tens of thousands of civilians have been killed, and other Middle East conflicts led by U.S.-allied forces. El Akkad squarely blames the U.S. for the war, noting that U.S. media coverage of Gaza is skewed and the Biden administration had continued to fund Israel.
One main theme of the book, that American society is not insulated from its government’s conflicts abroad, was an interesting concept in how El Akkad presented it. The namesake of the book goes to a tweet that El Akkad put out soon after the 2023 Oct. 7 attack on Israel, reading “One day, everyone will have been against this.” El Akkad writes that America will come to regret its support for Israel and that those who think the Israel-Hamas war will not affect them will wake up to an unpleasant reality. He uses it as a call to action, summarizing how the U.S public is connected to the consequences of the destruction of Gaza very effectively.
The most powerful part of the book to me was El Akkad’s description of working-class life in America. He explains that, as a journalist, his life was constantly a whirlwind race to keep himself financially stable while also trying to report on events in the war-torn Middle East. As an author, meanwhile, the same pressures exist on him to write about topics that are “safe” for the mainstream, even as he desperately chases cash prizes for literature to pay the bills. It attracted me to how down-to-earth his struggle felt, like the same struggle that any adult in the United States faces.
Literary flair in the book often helps accentuate the gruesome nature of war and the physiological horror experienced by its victims. Many times El Akkad attempts to contend with what he sees in Gaza, and how it is whitewashed in American society. He interrogates white Americans’ reactions to the war, between privileged liberals who rationalize in stunning ways, and everyday people who have been inculcated by the government to distrust or fear the Arab world. Comparing and contrasting with vivid description is about as far as literary technique goes, however. There aren’t many devices or plot moments to engage the reader, other than the interest in learning El Akkad’s analysis of America and the war.
The book does a good job of bringing to light the crushing silence of the literary world concerning the war. El Akkad describes how some of his writer friends who were small-time were the most outspoken, while the most recognized writers were quiet and hesitant about making their opinions heard. I found it a striking contrast that El Akkad laid out, one that elevated the author’s internal struggle.
One issue I have about the novel is the author’s confused conclusion that he comes to regarding America’s future. At some points the author seems pessimistic, concluding that war is an inevitability under the permanent dominance of the American empire and that working people can do little more than sulk. But other times the certainty of resistance seems to show through, with El Akkad highlighting. I wish El Akkad provided a definite message to readers giving hope amid the war. It seems the author himself hadn’t discovered the true answer to the struggle of resistance throughout the novel.
Overall, “One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This” is a sober novel that covers many real-world crises, both in Gaza and the consequential impact it has on the psyches of witnesses in America. While it doesn’t have concise messaging or great literary technique, its narrative does get at the heart of an authentic question that American activists face: how, where, and in what roles can the struggle to end war be fought for? For El Akkad, the struggle didn’t end on social media.
