--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It's not surprising, I don't think, that…" description: "\"“It's not surprising, I don't think, that in the midst of this indiscriminate killing, many of the Westerners doing the most active work in opposing ge..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/077/omar-el-akkad-14660_activism_it-s-not-surprising-i-don-t-think-that-i_539534.jpg" --- # It's not surprising, I don't think, that in the midst of… ![“It's not surprising, I don't think, that in the midst of this indiscriminate killing, many of the Westerners doing the most active work in opposing genocide are Jews. Here is love born of pain, if the past century's most horrific crime, love of one's own spread outward into love of another…” quote by Omar El Akkad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/077/omar-el-akkad-14660_activism_it-s-not-surprising-i-don-t-think-that-i_539534.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/077/omar-el-akkad-14660_activism_it-s-not-surprising-i-don-t-think-that-i_539534.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/077/omar-el-akkad-14660_activism_it-s-not-surprising-i-don-t-think-that-i_539534.jpg) > ““It's not surprising, I don't think, that in the midst of this indiscriminate killing, many of the Westerners doing the most active work in opposing genocide are Jews. Here is love born of pain, if the past century's most horrific crime, love of one's own spread outward into love of another. Whatever the empire is, it has no idea what to do with this kind of love, which adheres neither to the empire’s own central principle of self-interest nor to the adjoining principle that solidarity is only with one’s own, that love for one’s people may never become love for another.”” [Omar El Akkad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/omar-el-akkad/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage argues that love born from suffering can transcend narrow loyalties, challenging imperial self‑interest. **In simple terms:** Love from pain can expand beyond one's own group. Key Takeaway Cultivate love that reaches beyond personal or national boundaries. Themes love empathy solidarity imperialism Mood hopeful critical Type ethical political When to use this quote - conflict zones - humanitarian aid - intercultural dialogue - peacebuilding Key Concepts human rights psychology ethics Questions to Reflect On - How can societies nurture universal love? - What barriers prevent love from crossing group lines? A Different Perspective Such love may be suppressed by powerful interests. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Activism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/activism/) [Brotherhood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brotherhood/) [Genocide](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/genocide/) [Jews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jews/) [Judaism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/judaism/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Opposition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/opposition/) [Pain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pain/) [Protest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/protest/) [Solidarity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/solidarity/) ## Related quotes > [And by anarchist spirit I mean that deeply human sentiment, which aims at the good of all, freedom and justice for all, solidarity and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/errico-malatesta/and-by-anarchist-spirit-i-mean-that-deeply-human-sentiment-which-aims/) [Errico Malatesta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/errico-malatesta/) > [What do Japanese Jews love to eat? Hebrew National Tsunami.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-gottfried/what-do-japanese-jews-love-to-eat-hebrew-national-tsunami/) [Gilbert Gottfried](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-gottfried/) > [We have discovered how to hit the Jews where they are the most vulnerable. The Jews love life, so that is what we shall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hassan-nasrallah/we-have-discovered-how-to-hit-the-jews-where-they-are-the-most/) [Hassan Nasrallah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hassan-nasrallah/) > [“What people still do not like to admit is that there were two crimes in the form of one. Just as the destruction of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/what-people-still-do-not-like-to-admit-is-that-there-were-two-crimes/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [American coffee can be a pale solution served at a temperature of 100 degrees centigrade in plastic thermos cups, usually obligatory in railroad stations…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/american-coffee-can-be-a-pale-solution-served-at-a-temperature-of-100/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) > [There are something like 300 anti-genocide chapters on college campuses around the country. It's bigger than the anti-apartheid movement. There are something like 500…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samantha-power/there-are-something-like-300-anti-genocide-chapters-on-college/) [Samantha Power](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samantha-power/) > [The situation in Europe is much more advanced, in terms of pro-genocide trends, than in the United States, yet. But we're going very rapidly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndon-larouche/the-situation-in-europe-is-much-more-advanced-in-terms-of-pro/) [Lyndon LaRouche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-larouche/) > [“People talk about history and things like slavery, genocide, and religious persecution as horrors that happened in the past because we were ignorant. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-matthew-nespoli/people-talk-about-history-and-things-like-slavery-genocide-and/) [J. Matthew Nespoli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-matthew-nespoli/) > [Except for the scale of the operation, there was nothing unusual about Hitler's massacre of the Jews. Genocide's an old tradition, as human as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/except-for-the-scale-of-the-operation-there-was-nothing-unusual-about/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [If people in Indonesia look 'different', they are afraid. Racist insults fly if someone does not look like part of the majority. Indonesia is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-vltchek/if-people-in-indonesia-look-different-they-are-afraid-racist-insults/) [Andre Vltchek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-vltchek/) > [“We are preaching hope, standing on the bones of the past.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-rucyahana/we-are-preaching-hope-standing-on-the-bones-of-the-past/) [John Rucyahana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-rucyahana/) > [I find in working always the disturbing intrusion of elements not a part of my most interested vision, and the inevitable obliteration and replacement…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hopper/i-find-in-working-always-the-disturbing-intrusion-of-elements-not-a/) [Edward Hopper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hopper/) > [Our nation was born in genocide when it embraced the doctrine that the original American, the Indian, was an inferior race. ... We are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/our-nation-was-born-in-genocide-when-it-embraced-the-doctrine-that/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [“There is no time for patience - there is no time for diplomacy - there is no time for policies, legislations and meaningless paperwork.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/there-is-no-time-for-patience-there-is-no-time-for-diplomacy-there-is/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [Here's the reality. The image of a white Jesus has been used to justify enslavement, conquest, colonialism, the genocide of indigenous peoples. There are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-wise/here-s-the-reality-the-image-of-a-white-jesus-has-been-used-to/) [Tim Wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-wise/) ## More by Omar El Akkad > [“Beyond relief and recognition, there is a more complicated thing--an understanding that the machinery of the West has never had much of a capacity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/omar-el-akkad/beyond-relief-and-recognition-there-is-a-more-complicated-thing-an/) [Omar El Akkad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/omar-el-akkad/) > [“Interviewing one of Uber’s earliest executives, who demonstrated the company’s route-finding algorithms with the unbridled enthusiasm of a small child at Christmas, I couldn’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/omar-el-akkad/interviewing-one-of-uber-s-earliest-executives-who-demonstrated-the/) [Omar El Akkad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/omar-el-akkad/) > [“In a 2016 essay, the writer and former soldier Roy Scranton describes watching Star Wars while stationed in Baghdad. 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Look, just try not to give anybody reason to make fun of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/omar-el-akkad/you-have-to-grow-up-sarat-you-re-not-a-little-girl-anymore-look-just/) [Omar El Akkad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/omar-el-akkad/) > [“You fight the war with guns, you fight the peace with stories.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/omar-el-akkad/you-fight-the-war-with-guns-you-fight-the-peace-with-stories/) [Omar El Akkad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/omar-el-akkad/) > [“Your side fought the war, but the war never happened to you. In the Red country the war happened.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/omar-el-akkad/your-side-fought-the-war-but-the-war-never-happened-to-you-in-the-red/) [Omar El Akkad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/omar-el-akkad/) > [“She wondered if all boys were like this, their meanness a self defense.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/omar-el-akkad/she-wondered-if-all-boys-were-like-this-their-meanness-a-self-defense/) [Omar El Akkad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/omar-el-akkad/) > [“You got the sense from being around them that no war in the history of South Carolina had ever ended, that they were still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/omar-el-akkad/you-got-the-sense-from-being-around-them-that-no-war-in-the-history/) [Omar El Akkad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/omar-el-akkad/) > [“Rage wrapped itself around her like a tourniquet, keeping her alive even as it condemned a part of her to atrophy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/omar-el-akkad/rage-wrapped-itself-around-her-like-a-tourniquet-keeping-her-alive/) [Omar El Akkad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/omar-el-akkad/) > [“But Palestinians do respond overwhelmingly with love. Just as the Indigenous populations of an entire hemisphere, subjected to the largest genocide in human history,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/omar-el-akkad/but-palestinians-do-respond-overwhelmingly-with-love-just-as-the/) [Omar El Akkad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/omar-el-akkad/) > [“I am back home by a riverbank and I am happy and I still lover her. My secret is that I still love her.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/omar-el-akkad/i-am-back-home-by-a-riverbank-and-i-am-happy-and-i-still-lover-her-my/) [Omar El Akkad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/omar-el-akkad/) > [“One day this will end. In liberation, in peace, or in eradication at a scale so overwhelming it resets history. It’ll end when sanctions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/omar-el-akkad/one-day-this-will-end-in-liberation-in-peace-or-in-eradication-at-a/) [Omar El Akkad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/omar-el-akkad/) > [“forehead understood—was that the misery of war represented the world’s only truly universal language. Its native speakers occupied different ends of the world, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/omar-el-akkad/forehead-understood-was-that-the-misery-of-war-represented-the-world/) [Omar El Akkad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/omar-el-akkad/) [Explore all 45 Omar El Akkad quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/omar-el-akkad/) ## More Activism quotes > [“God has a way of picking a “nobody” and turning their world upside down, in order to create a “somebody” that will remove the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-l-alder/god-has-a-way-of-picking-a-nobody-and-turning-their-world-upside-down/) [Shannon L. 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