A Day in the Life of Abed Salama: Anatomy of a Jerusalem Tragedy by Nathan Thrall goes over a tragic bus accident in Jerusalem in which aboard were many kindergartner children. Having won the 2024 Pulitzer prize in the General Non-Fiction category, the book obviously has a lot to live up to. Although the main story focuses on Abed Salama trying to find his son Milad in the aftermath of the accident, the book highlights the ongoing war between the Israeli Jewish population and the Palestinians within Israel. A bunch of characters and backstories are given to these individuals that go to show how this never-ending conflict affects the people around it, regardless of profession.
“We were so scared. When we saw the flames, we thought we had died. We thought we were in hell.”
Little girl from bus accident
Having gone into this book blind, I literally expected the book and story to revolve solely around Abed’s journey in trying to locate his son in a complicated political environment, along with him being blocked and stonewalled at every step of the way. While that is somewhat true, the book highlights a bigger issue at the heart of Israel, with this bus accident serving as a backdrop. There is a lot of information to absorb here for the readers, especially those like myself who aren’t familiar with the conflict that has been going on for so long within Israel. Sure, I see protests and tidbits of news occasionally, but I’m missing the bigger picture. Things like the ID card system for the Palestinians, along with literally the construction of a wall to segregate the Jewish population from the Palestinian population, are shockingly new to me. All of this goes to prove how difficult it can be for Abed to navigate on the ground to find his son.
The damage wasn’t only to the affected families, each of them grieving lost years and lost childhoods. It was the entire society to every mother, father, and grandparent, all of whom knew or would come to learn that they were powerless to protect their children.
Author
The book is a tragic and sober one to read. I’m sure every single day, a lot of Palestinians go through hardships, as highlighted in this story. Although the tone of the book seems to be more pro-Palestinian, it’s likely due to how Abed is considered to be on the “wrong side” of the wall. A deeper read on the conflict elsewhere is much needed to get a more thorough view of how it got to the point it is today. To be clear, I do not consider the author to be biased. The bus accident simply highlights on the ground what the Palestinians are living through. The only question is: what would have happened if the same accident occurred on the other side of the wall?
The Mindless Catalog 
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