War, Murder, and Violence
Apeirogon narrates the tale of two fathers, Bassam Aramin, a Palestinian and an Israeli, Rami Elhanan. They share gruesome experiences of their daughter’s murders. Smadar Elhanan was among the casualties of a bombing by three Palestinian suicide bombers in Jerusalem. She was walking on the street listening to music when it happened. Ten years later, Abir Aramin was fatally shot in the back of her head by an Israeli soldier while in her school uniform. She was rushed to the hospital but got delayed in an ambulance stuck at a border checkpoint. Unable to access better medical care, she dies. The author highlights the killings of the two girls by constantly mentioning it all across the book.
While reading it, you get used to the violence in it that it’s not a shock anymore to keep coming into contact with it. Bassam recounts being zip-tied, abused and attacked by an Israeli soldier who thought Bassam was a terrorist from the stains on his palm that resemble hands that have been making explosives. The soldier later realizes that the stains are from Bassam’s dead daughter. He also recounts his teenage years when he was arrested for throwing an obsolete grenade at an Israeli vehicle. He was constantly beaten in jail. Rami also remembers his time serving in the Israeli Army. He used to be part of a tank unit, and they would kill people from far away he couldn’t see them up close. It highlights how being far from your actions doesn’t really register the extent of suffering and damage caused to people miles away from you. Throughout the book, you get to learn of all the senseless murders and violence that war brings.
Grief, Pain, and Healing
Bassam and Rami connect and bond over the grief they share. They met through a charity Family forum. Together, they travel the world sharing the struggles they face stemming from the senseless deaths and grief of their daughters, hoping to make a change. The book has 1001 chapters that reference 1001 Arabian Nights, a cultural tradition in the face of death. Death plays an important role in these people coming together. The book itself wouldn’t have been possible if not for the countless lives that have been taken because of the Israel-Palestine war that could have easily been prevented. The friendship they share reads to a future where two nations with different Ideals can one day co-exist without bloodshed.
Bassam explains his grief. He still sits in the ambulance that could have saved his daughter, hoping that it would and every day her daughter dies over and over again no matter how deeply he wills it to move. Rami found himself running into every building, household, and space looking for her daughter. He eventually finds her in a morgue after nonstop hours of looking for the one person you cherish the most in the entire world. Unlike Rami, her wife is cagey with her late daughter, choosing to remain silent in her grief. She, however, uses her platform as a peace activist and academic to effect real change by challenging Israeli government policies and pointing them out as the root cause of those bombings. Rami's wife believes that as a woman, talking about her grief will not do anything but turn her into a spectacle for the media which will undermine her groundwork as an activist. She, however, fully supports her husband's initiative to share his story and believes that it has been a healing experience for Rami and Bassam.
