A sort of half-memoir and half-collection of essays of Omar El Akkad's reflections about the on-going genocide in Gaza since October 2023 and his own life experiences in Canada, the United States, and the WBody Content est. El Akkad explores Western power, cruelty, contradictions and hypocrisies which he argues are deeply embedded, if not fundamental, to Western Liberalism. What explains these contradictions?

My first impulse is to mock the contradiction, but there’s no contradiction, not really, because the bedrock of this particular identity isn’t conformity or nonconformity—it’s self-interest

This book pissed me off. It is not a hopeful book. There isn't much advice or any marching orders for readers. Even El Akkad personally vacillates between feelings of admiration and pointlessness in the small acts of solidarity and support for Palestinians he has witnessed in his writing community. If there is anything to take away from this book it is El Akkad's thoughts on negation, the idea that "walking away" is something powerful and is dangerous for such a simple act:

What will always flummox the state is the prospect of the individual—of many individuals—employing negation as a political tactic. What to do with someone who doesn’t rush the podium, doesn’t spit on the flag, doesn’t do anything to ease the state’s transition into the comfortable arena of violence? What to do with someone who says: I will have no part of this, when the entire functionality of the system is dependent on active participation?

Do not let the star review fool you. This is not the type of book I want read often but it is a necessary type of book to shake the foundations of the self-interest I am trained to elevate and protect daily. We (Westerners) are intimately connected to people across the globe who suffer so that we may consume and serve our interests...and there is nothing honorable or exceptional about this system once you see and understand this connection.