A Day in the Life of Abed Salama

 A Day in the Life of Abed Salama: Anatomy of a Jerusalem Tragedy by Nathan Thrall, 272 pages.

In 2012 a school bus carrying Palestinian kindergarteners was in an accident on a crowded highway, after which it caught fire. A car accident tends to be the kind of tragedy with only personal levels of blame, but journalist Nathan Thrall explores how the entire history of decades of Palestinian oppression was responsible for this tragedy, and the resulting deaths. Thrall follows the stories of many people to paint a very complete picture, but is most focused on Abed Salama. Abed's entire life was deeply impacted by Israeli occupation, from the denial of his visa to attend college, to becoming one of the 40% of men and boys from the West Bank to spend time in an Israeli jail (the result of a very telling 99.7% conviction rate and a court that wouldn't allow him to even speak in his own defense). All of which is lead-up to his desperate search for his soon after the crash, hindered by military checkpoints and the restricted freedom of movement of all Palestinians. 

This book does an excellent job making the political personal. The people's whose lives who are described are rendered in such vivid detail that it is sometimes hard to remember that this book is not fiction, and that these are real events. Thrall is a talented journalist, and does a good job connecting a large history into a fairly short book. It is also a hard book to read, heartbreaking and infuriating. I had only general knowledge of the history of Palestine, and was completely ignorant of many of things in the mountain of injustices that a people living under occupation were subject to. It also seems important to note that this book was published in October 3rd, 2023, a few days before the region was brought to the forefront of global consciousness, and so does not include any of the devastation of the last few years. I am definitely interested in reading more by this author, and more on Palestine.