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Quote by Omar El Akkad

“In time, there will be nothing particularly controversial about using these words to describe the things they were created to describe. (The very history of the word “genocide,” meant as a mechanic of forewarning rather than some after-the-fact resolution, is littered with instances of the world’s most powerful governments going to whatever lengths they can to avoid its usage, because usage is attached to obligation. It was never intended to be enough to simply call something genocide: one is required to act.) Once far enough removed, everyone will be properly aghast that any of this was allowed to happen. But for now, it’s just so much safer to look away, to keep one’s head down, periodically checking on the balance of polite society to see if it is not too troublesome yet to state what to the conscience was never unclear.”

Quote by Omar El Akkad

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One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This

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Omar El Akkad

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“Instead, as the scope and scale of annihilation intensifies, an opposite presupposition becomes necessary, one that imposes onto the dead the appropriate mendacity to justify their killing. A few weeks in, the notion that Palestinians deserve to die because some of them voted for Hamas becomes insufficient to hold up the body count. Soon Palestinians become indistinguishable from Nazis, and then worse than Nazis. As their eradication continues, they must transform into the worst human beings on earth, the weight of their deaths only then sufficiently lightened.”

“Time and again, in conversation with friends, some of whom have lost family members in this killing spree, there is a sense that one must be going mad: to see so plainly the destruction, the murdered children filmed and presented for the world to look upon and then to hear the leaders of virtually every western nation contend that this is not happening, that whatever is happening is good and righteous and should continue and that in fact the well-being of the Palestinian people demands this continue--it’s enough to feel like you’re losing your mind.”

“Uno de ellos, el más viejo, el que había visto muchas guerras, murmuró: —Los dioses le dieron la victoria. Pero le cobraron un precio que ni ellos mismos sabrían pagar. Aquiles lo escuchó. Y por primera vez en mucho tiempo, sus ojos no reflejaron orgullo ni dolor. Solo un cansancio tan hondo que parecía venir del fondo de los siglos. —No fue victoria —dijo, con una voz que ya no temblaba porque no le quedaba nada dentro—. Fue un pacto. Mi última gota de humanidad por su muerte. Se alejó entonces, dejando atrás el cadáver irreconocible del traidor y el cadáver aún caliente del hombre que había sido. Sus pasos resonaron en la piedra como los de un espectro que aún no sabe que ha muerto. Y en el silencio que siguió, alguien señaló el suelo: dos charcos de sangre, separados, pero del mismo color. Del mismo peso. De la misma eternidad. Allí yacían dos hombres. Uno había dejado de respirar. El otro, de ser. Los dioses, desde lo alto, guardaron silencio. Porque sabían que, a veces, la venganza más perfecta es también la tumba del vengador…”

“If it saves lives, a dishonourable defeat in war is an honourable act! Where people die, there is no honour, no victory, no winning! A war is not fought to save the future of future generations, because every generation is valuable, every generation has the right to live! Any action aimed at further shortening the already limited lifespan of humankind is despicable!”

“It's 4am again and I'm just getting started. People are boring and I want to burn with excitement or anger and bleed, bleed through my words. I want to get all fucked up and write real and raw and ugly and beautifully. I bet you're sleeping safe and calm, and you can stay there, it's safer there, and you wouldn't stand one night on this journey my mind wanders off to every night you close your eyes. I'll stay here one day and I will never come down. I promise I can fly before I hit the ground. It doesn't even hurt anymore. I swear, it doesn't hurt.”

“You can always hear the people who are willing to sacrifice somebody else's life. They're plenty loud and they talk all the time. You can find them in churches and newspapers and legislatures and congress. That's their business. They sound wonderful. Death before dishonor. This ground sanctified by blood. These men who died so gloriously. They shall not have died in vain. Our noble dead. Hmmmm. But what do the dead say?”