Another Story Bookshop, Toronto Palestine Film Festival and McClelland and Stewart present the Toronto launch of Omar El Akkad's new book "One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This"
Featuring a conversation with Elamin Abdelmahmoud, audience Q & A and book signing.
Doors open at 7:00pm/ Event begins at 7:30pm
General seating
Tickets are $10 for admission only or $39 for book and ticket. Book will be provided at the event. $10 from each ticket sale, including the book and ticket combo, will be donated to The Middle East Children's Alliance (mecaforpeace.org). Another Story Bookshop will have books by Omar El Akkad for sale.
From award-winning novelist and journalist Omar El Akkad comes a powerful reckoning with what it means to live in the heart of an Empire which doesn’t consider you fully human.
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 North 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.
This book is a reckoning with what it means to live in the west.The Fire Next Time for a generation that understands we’re undergoing a shift in the so-called ‘rules-based order,’ a generation that understands the west can no longer be trusted to police and guide the world, or its own cities and campuses. It draws on intimate details of Omar’s own story as an emigrant who grew up believing in the western project, who was catapulted into journalism by the rupture of 9/11.
This is his heartsick breakup letter with the west. It is a breakup we are watching all over the world, on college campuses, on city streets, and the consequences of this rupture will be felt by all of us. His book is for all the people who want something better than what the west has served up. This is the book for our time.
OMAR EL AKKAD is an author and journalist. He was born in Egypt, grew up in Qatar, moved to Canada as a teenager and now lives in the United States. He is a two-time winner of both the Pacific Northwest Booksellers’ Award and the Oregon Book Award. His books have been translated into 13 languages. His debut novel, American War, was named by the BBC as one of 100 novels that shaped our world.
Elamin Abdelmahmoud is the host of CBC Radio’s daily arts, pop culture and entertainment show Commotion and a former writer for BuzzFeed News. His work has appeared in the Globe and Mail, Maclean's, Rolling Stone and others. Elamin is the author of Son of Elsewhere: A Memoir in Pieces.
Founded in 2008 in commemoration of the 60th year of the Nakba, the Toronto Palestine Film Festival is a volunteer-run festival dedicated to showcasing diverse Palestinian narratives and talents through cinema, music, art, cuisine and literature to audiences year-round. TPFF 2025 will be held September 24-28 in theatre and online. Join our newsletter to learn about exciting upcoming events www.tpff.ca.
