‘Meet the Thinker: Omar El Akkad’

In October 2023, three weeks into Israel’s destruction of Gaza, the Egyptian-Canadian author Omar El Akkad tweeted: “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.”

The tweet went viral and would become the title of El Akkad’s non-fiction debut, which he will present at Bozar. Drawing on his personal life as an immigrant, war reporter, novelist, and father, the book reckons with the West’s self-image and double moral standards.

Omar El Akkad started his career in the early days of the war on terror, taking him from Afghanistan to Guantanamo Bay and beyond. His award-winning novels American War (2017) and What Strange Paradise (2021) explore themes of displacement and the human cost of conflict.

Moderator: Brigitte Herremans

Language: English