Nathan Thrall, the 2024 Pulitzer Prize Winner for General Nonfiction, sat with Rebecca Stein, discussing his book, “A Day in the Life of Abed Salama: Anatomy of a Jerusalem Tragedy.” Published October 3, 2023 by Metropolitan Books, Thrall’s book tells the story of the people whose lives became intertwined by a tragic bus accident near Jerusalem 12 years ago, serving as a spotlight that identifies the corrupt powers that Israel has over Palestine.
Beginning with a synopsis of the book, Thrall shared the history of the West Bank enclave. Annexed and neglected, 130,000 people live between 26-foot tall concrete walls with only two exits. Within the enclave are no play areas, no sidewalks, and often trash burnings in the middle of the night; on the other side of the wall are rich images of middle-upper class housing and Hebrew University (the most prestigious university in Israel).
Students at a school within the enclave, in hopes of finding an area to play, walked with their teacher along the wall (along the apartheid road) and were devastatingly hit by a quarry semi-trailer. The truck proceeded to flip over and catch fire. The road where the accident took place, though used entirely by Palestinians, is under Israeli control, and therefore Palestinian authority is prohibited. Passerbys stopped and tried to help however they could, but the flames were too big. In the end, it took 30 minutes for Israeli fire trucks to show up to the burning semi-truck. Six children and one teacher died.
The book focuses on Abed Salama, the father of a boy who was involved in the accident, who after hearing about the accident, spent the next 24 hours trying to work his way through the restrictions placed on him as a Palestinian in order to find his son and make sure he was safe and alive. Abed went into the burning bus and rescued children, was rejected at many checkpoints in between hospitals where he thought his son may be–all of which are just a few of the many incommensurably heartwrenching tragedies he went through.
After giving us the synopsis, Thrall then began to read a passage from his book, making it clear why he won a Pulitzer Prize. His writing, not only transformed a world of non-fiction into a very digestible piece of literature, but his ability to extract such emotion through his voice is truly inspiring. Looking around, I could see everyone leaning forward in their chairs–the room, was silent enough for the turning on and off of the air conditioning to turn my head.
I knew walking into this talk, that this book’s meaning in the world and civil discourse would have more of an impact given the increasingly dire situations in Palestine over the past 12 months. While beginning her questions, Rebecca Stein did not shy away from this topic either.
“It’s a very ordinary event, it’s not like the kind of events that we see splashed across, you know, our television screens or our phones on social media, where we’re looking at tragedies at a much bigger scale…” “…why did you take this intimate incident as a way to try to tell this much bigger story?” she asked.
While I first was a bit taken aback at this question, I realized Rebecca was right. What makes the news is usually what will grab the most attention and the most emotion. And so rarely do we see the “smaller tragedies” (smaller as in fewer casualties).
Thrall answered very calmly, and very methodically.
“I wrote this book out of a sense of, uh, despair,” replied Thrall. “…what I was really aiming to do with this book was to draw, uh, our attention to the situation for Palestinians in their ordinary lives.”
And as Thrall continued to explain why he chose to write about the bus accident, he continued to show us his brilliance as both an author and speaker. For he was able to tell a story that shows readers how something so (unfortunately) common as a car accident, can lead to such heavy consequences when the systems in place are corrupt.
“…the best way to make a systemic critique, I think, is to show the everyday, um, because otherwise, if you choose something exceptional, something that a journalist might be drawn to, it’s easier to dismiss and say, this was the action of one, uh, bad commander.”
I was moved by how open the room was. Everyone was captured by the moment of Thrall spilling truths–some of which we were familiar with and some of which we had never heard before. I could see the weight of the subject, heavy in people’s faces and postures, and yet everyone remained, and many asked more questions. Some asked where Abed Salama is now. Thrall told us how the book was published on October 3rd, four days before the Hamas-led attack on Israel; Abed and Thrall had plans to travel together and tour the book, but after the war began, Abed had to miss many of their destinations. Thrall said that Abed, though he was able to attend some of the destinations for the book tour, is mostly at home mourning for and supporting his community.
There was a sort of ambiguity as the night came to a conclusion. Thrall’s book is living as a teacher and voice for those who don’t get the opportunity to tell their stories in Palestine. Thrall doesn’t know what is next, only that tragedies will continue to be treated as accidents, and systems, unjust as they are, are much easier continued, than broken.
