Book Review: “One Day Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This” by Omar El Fakkad
In One Day Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This, journalist and novelist Omar El Akkad reflects on how governments, institutions, and the public respond to mass suffering — particularly in the context of war, colonialism, and racialized violence — by justifying the unjustifiable until it becomes socially unacceptable to do so. El Akkad examines with cliarty how narratives of security, inevitability, and “complexity” are used to excuse policies that result in widespread civilian harm, only for those same policies to be quietly disowned later. His central argument is stark: history is full of moments where those in power insist they are acting reasonably, while future generations will judge those actions very differently.
El Akkad’s work challenges readers to confront how institutions, media, and individuals normalize injustice in real tijme, then retreat into moral revisionism once the damage is done. This critique reinforces that human rights violations are not sudden accidents. They are enabled by silence, selective empathy, and the refusal to apply universal standards consistently.
The conclusions are clear: human rights are not a retrospective position, but a present-tense obligation. If regret is predictable, then accountability must be immediate, rooted in the courage to act while it still matters.
Take Action:
Donate a copy of One Day Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This to your local or school library. If you don’t have a local bookstore to support, you can purchase it through www.bookshop.org, which donates a portion of their proceeds to independent bookstores.
