Omar El Akkad is an Egyptian-Canadian novelist and journalist. Getty Images
Omar El Akkad is an Egyptian-Canadian novelist and journalist. Getty Images
Omar El Akkad is an Egyptian-Canadian novelist and journalist. Getty Images
Omar El Akkad is an Egyptian-Canadian novelist and journalist. Getty Images

Omar El Akkad's book, One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This, finalist in National Book Award


Razmig Bedirian
  • English
  • Arabic

Egyptian-Canadian author Omar El Akkad’s One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This is a finalist for the National Book Awards.

The book is among five titles that are competing in the non-fiction category of the annual US awards. The others include Motherland: A Feminist History of Modern Russia, from Revolution to Autocracy by Julia Ioffe; Things in Nature merely grow by Yiyun Li; Wards of the State: The Long Shadow of American Foster Care by Claudia Rowe; and When it all Burns: Fighting Fire in a Transformed World by Jordan Thomas.

One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad. Photo: Knopf
One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad. Photo: Knopf

One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against is El Akkad’s first work of non-fiction, written after the Gaza war began, accusing the Western world of complicity in Palestinian enclave’s destruction.

The book has been commended for blending memoir with political meditation and reportage, discussing how ideals of freedom and justice have collapsed under the guise of neutrality. The title of the book reflects how moral stances easily shift once violence has passed. El Akkad reflects upon these topics as he also recounts his own upbringing across Egypt, Qatar and Canada.

Another regional name is also in the running for this year’s National Book Awards.

The True Story of Raja the Gullible by Rabih Alameddine is competing for the fiction award. Other finalists in that category include A Guardian and a Thief by Megha Majumdar; The Antidote by Karen Russell; North Sun: Or, the Voyage of the Whaleship Esther by Ethan Rutherford; and Palaver by Bryan Washington.

The True Story of Raja the Gullible by Rabih Alameddine. Photo: Grove Atlantic
The True Story of Raja the Gullible by Rabih Alameddine. Photo: Grove Atlantic

A Lebanese-American novelist, Alameddine is known for works such as An Unnecessary Woman, The Angel of History, and The Hakawati, where he wove epic Arab storytelling traditions into contemporary story. His fiction often takes on heavy themes such as exile and belonging with a satirical edge.

In The True True Story of Raja the Gullible, Alameddine reflects on life in Beirut with his idiosyncratic, caustic humour.

The novel follows a 63-year-old high school philosophy teacher, who lives with his controlling mother in a small Beirut apartment. The relationship is described as “unbreakable and insane”. But Raja is invited to a writing residency in the US, and the timing seems like a good fortune as he is looking to escape the private and national calamities that shape his life.

The winners of the National Book Awards will be announced on November 19, in a ceremony at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City. Winners will receive $10,000, a bronze medal as well as a statue.

'The worst thing you can eat'

Trans fat is typically found in fried and baked goods, but you may be consuming more than you think.

Powdered coffee creamer, microwave popcorn and virtually anything processed with a crust is likely to contain it, as this guide from Mayo Clinic outlines: 

Baked goods - Most cakes, cookies, pie crusts and crackers contain shortening, which is usually made from partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. Ready-made frosting is another source of trans fat.

Snacks - Potato, corn and tortilla chips often contain trans fat. And while popcorn can be a healthy snack, many types of packaged or microwave popcorn use trans fat to help cook or flavour the popcorn.

Fried food - Foods that require deep frying — french fries, doughnuts and fried chicken — can contain trans fat from the oil used in the cooking process.

Refrigerator dough - Products such as canned biscuits and cinnamon rolls often contain trans fat, as do frozen pizza crusts.

Creamer and margarine - Nondairy coffee creamer and stick margarines also may contain partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.

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While you're here
Temple numbers

Expected completion: 2022

Height: 24 meters

Ground floor banquet hall: 370 square metres to accommodate about 750 people

Ground floor multipurpose hall: 92 square metres for up to 200 people

First floor main Prayer Hall: 465 square metres to hold 1,500 people at a time

First floor terrace areas: 2,30 square metres  

Temple will be spread over 6,900 square metres

Structure includes two basements, ground and first floor 

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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The alternatives

• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.

• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.

• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.

2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.

• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases -  but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.

RESULTS

6.30pm: Handicap (rated 95-108) US$125,000 2000m (Dirt).
Winner: Don’t Give Up, Gerald Mosse (jockey), Saeed bin Suroor (trainer).

7.05pm: Handicap (95 ) $160,000 2810m (Turf).
Winner: Los Barbados, Adrie de Vries, Fawzi Nass.

7.40pm: Handicap (80-89) $60,000 1600m (D).
Winner: Claim The Roses, Mickael Barzalona, Salem bin Ghadayer.

8.15pm: UAE 2000 Guineas Trial (Div-1) Conditions $100,000 1,400m (D)
Winner: Gold Town, William Buick, Charlie Appleby.

8.50pm: Cape Verdi Group 2 $200,000 1600m (T).
Winner: Promising Run, Patrick Cosgrave, Saeed bin Suroor.

9.25pm: UAE 2000 Guineas Conditions $100,000 1,400m (D).
Winner: El Chapo, Luke Morris, Fawzi Nass.

MATCH INFO

West Ham United 2 (Antonio 73', Ogbonna 90 5')

Tottenham Hotspur 3 (Son 36', Moura 42', Kane 49')

Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere

Director: Scott Cooper

Starring: Jeremy Allen White, Odessa Young, Jeremy Strong

Rating: 4/5

Updated: October 08, 2025, 11:59 AM