A review by archytas
Hope Not Fear by Hassan Akkad
adventurous
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
3.75
"I started thinking about this when people described the pandemic as the ‘greatest equalizer’. I don’t agree with that sentiment at all. Rather, this crisis has exposed the inequalities that exist in our society. Covid will go, but these injustices won’t. The virus will be dealt with eventually, but refugees will carry on living separated from their loved ones because of the documents they have or the ones they don’t have. The world is divided into people who can move freely and those who can’t. The immigration system is what pushes people into taking dangerous routes into Europe. Sometimes this has the very worst of consequences."
There are times when this book can be cheesy, but there are also times when it is incisive, reflective and wry. Akkad has lived the heck of his life so far. Throughout this book, he describes how he has taken agency. From being a tough, if privileged, kid he revinvents himself into a succesful English lit teacher. Then he jeapordises this position to join the democracy protesters in Syria's Arab Spring, inspired by the emergence of social media organising. After two stints in Assad's notorious prisons leave his with mental and physical impairments, he flees Syria to wander the region as the situation in his home deteriorates even further. Akkad is one of the many young male refugees who decides to try for Europe, and a life that might be stable. He is unusual in prioritising his GoPro, ensuring footage of this epic journey is preserved. This part of Akkad's story is essential: I speak to too many people who assume the perils of the sea crossing to Lesbos are caused by people jumping on boats with the police at their heels. The reality is that they cross by boat to avoid European-patrolled borders which will turn them back. The great 'game' of traversing Europe without being fingerprinted until you are in a stable country is entirely artificially imposed as a way of reducing access. It's a kind of sick competition where the stakes are lethal and the rewards is the right to claim asylum in the country you want. We who are born with protective passports get to feel good about the 'hardships' endured by those who get asylum, without ever acknowledging how many of those are created by our governments.
Anyway, Akkad's book is better than my rant. He goes on to win a BAFTA when his footage is used by a film-maker, only to find that those film-makers have little interest in helping him find work or training, or crediting him more than as a contributor. When the pandemic hits - a very different prospect for those with PTSD from solitary confinement - he signs up for essential work as a cleaner. Shocked by the lack of respect and care shown to these workers, he creates online content which goes viral.
This is always Akkad's view - not a book which tries to present multiple takes on a topic or teach about broader issues - but his frank commitment to a collective society which runs through his life makes this is a pretty good read.
There are times when this book can be cheesy, but there are also times when it is incisive, reflective and wry. Akkad has lived the heck of his life so far. Throughout this book, he describes how he has taken agency. From being a tough, if privileged, kid he revinvents himself into a succesful English lit teacher. Then he jeapordises this position to join the democracy protesters in Syria's Arab Spring, inspired by the emergence of social media organising. After two stints in Assad's notorious prisons leave his with mental and physical impairments, he flees Syria to wander the region as the situation in his home deteriorates even further. Akkad is one of the many young male refugees who decides to try for Europe, and a life that might be stable. He is unusual in prioritising his GoPro, ensuring footage of this epic journey is preserved. This part of Akkad's story is essential: I speak to too many people who assume the perils of the sea crossing to Lesbos are caused by people jumping on boats with the police at their heels. The reality is that they cross by boat to avoid European-patrolled borders which will turn them back. The great 'game' of traversing Europe without being fingerprinted until you are in a stable country is entirely artificially imposed as a way of reducing access. It's a kind of sick competition where the stakes are lethal and the rewards is the right to claim asylum in the country you want. We who are born with protective passports get to feel good about the 'hardships' endured by those who get asylum, without ever acknowledging how many of those are created by our governments.
Anyway, Akkad's book is better than my rant. He goes on to win a BAFTA when his footage is used by a film-maker, only to find that those film-makers have little interest in helping him find work or training, or crediting him more than as a contributor. When the pandemic hits - a very different prospect for those with PTSD from solitary confinement - he signs up for essential work as a cleaner. Shocked by the lack of respect and care shown to these workers, he creates online content which goes viral.
This is always Akkad's view - not a book which tries to present multiple takes on a topic or teach about broader issues - but his frank commitment to a collective society which runs through his life makes this is a pretty good read.