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A Day in the Life of Abed Salama

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{{Short description|American journalist}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{COI|date=October 2023}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Nathan Thrall
| image =
| caption =
| imagesize =
| birth_date = {{birth based on age as of date|44|2024|3|15}}<ref name=haaretz>{{cite web |title=What You Are Getting Wrong About Israel, According to Nathan Thrall |work=Haaretz |date=March 15, 2024 |url=https://www.haaretz.com/life/books/2024-03-14/ty-article-magazine/.premium/what-you-are-getting-wrong-about-israel-according-to-nathan-thrall/0000018e-3756-d606-a5ff-7ff7ffb10000}}</ref>
| death_date =
| death_place =
| alma_mater = {{ubl|[[University of California, Santa Barbara]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])|[[Columbia University]] ([[Master of Arts|MA]])}}
| occupation = Writer
| website = {{URL|nathanthrall.com}}
}}
'''Nathan Thrall''' is an American author, essayist, and journalist based in [[Jerusalem]]. Thrall is known for his 2023 nonfiction work ''[[A Day in the Life of Abed Salama|A Day in the Life of Abed Salama: Anatomy of a Jerusalem Tragedy]],'' and is a contributor to several literary magazines. {{as of |2023}} he is a professor at [[Bard College]] in [[New York state]].

Thrall is the former director of the Arab-Israeli Project at the [[International Crisis Group]], where from 2010 until 2020 he covered Israel, the [[West Bank]], Gaza, and Israel's relations with its neighbors.

==Early life and education==
Thrall is Jewish, and his mother is a [[History of the Jews in the Soviet Union|Jewish émigrée from the Soviet Union]].<ref name="guardian">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/15/its-lonely-being-a-jewish-critic-of-israel-nathan-thrall-on-his-book-about-a-palestinian-fathers-tragedy|title='It's lonely being a Jewish critic of Israel' – Nathan Thrall on his book about a Palestinian father's tragedy|author=Rachel Cooke|date=October 15, 2023|newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref>

Thrall received a BA from the University of California, Santa Barbara's [[College of Creative Studies]] and an [[Master of Arts|M.A.]] in politics from [[Columbia University]].<ref name=":0"/> He participated in [[Birthright Israel]] and learned Arabic and Hebrew at [[Tel Aviv University]].<ref name=haaretz/>

== Career ==
Thrall was a member of the editorial staff of ''[[The New York Review of Books]]'', before being hired at the [[International Crisis Group]] by [[Robert Malley]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last1=Seaton|first1=Matt|last2=Thrall|first2=Nathan|title=The Endless Occupation, a New Understanding|url=https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2021/03/20/the-endless-occupation-a-new-understanding/|access-date=2021-10-23|website=The New York Review of Books|date=March 20, 2021 |language=en}}</ref> At the start of his tenure at the International Crisis Group, Thrall lived in Gaza.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Thrall|first=Nathan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1oXZDAAAQBAJ&q=Nathan+Thrall|title=The Only Language They Understand: Forcing Compromise in Israel and Palestine|date=2017-05-16|publisher=Metropolitan Books/Henry Holt and Company|isbn=978-1-62779-710-8|language=en}}</ref> He was director of the Arab-Israeli Project at the group, where from 2010 to 2020 he covered Israel, the West Bank, Gaza, and Israel's relations with its neighbors.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2016-07-14|title=Nathan Thrall|url=https://www.crisisgroup.org/who-we-are/people/nathan-thrall|access-date=2021-10-23|website=Crisis Group|language=en}}</ref>

{{as of |2021}} he is a contributor to ''The New York Times Magazine'',<ref name="Thrall">{{Cite news|last=Thrall|first=Nathan|date=2019-03-28|title=How the Battle Over Israel and Anti-Semitism Is Fracturing American Politics|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/28/magazine/battle-over-bds-israel-palestinians-antisemitism.html|access-date=2021-10-23|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> the ''London Review of Books'',<ref>{{Cite web|last=Thrall|first=Nathan|title=Nathan Thrall · LRB|url=https://www.lrb.co.uk/contributors/nathan-thrall|access-date=2021-10-23|website=London Review of Books|language=en-GB}}</ref> and ''The New York Review of Books''.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Nathan Thrall|url=https://www.nybooks.com/contributors/nathan-thrall/|access-date=2021-10-23|website=The New York Review of Books|language=en}}</ref>

{{as of |November 2023}} Thrall is a professor at [[Bard College]], a private [[liberal arts college]] in [[Red Hook, New York|Red Hook]]. <ref>{{Cite news |last=McGreal |first=Chris |date=2023-11-08 |title=Israeli diplomat pressured US college to drop course on 'apartheid' debate |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/nov/08/israeli-diplomat-bard-college-apartheid-debate |access-date=2024-01-26 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

==Books==
=== ''The Only Language They Understand'' ===
Thrall's first published book was an essay collection, ''The Only Language They Understand: Forcing Compromise in Israel and Palestine'' (Metropolitan/Henry Holt, 2017; Picador, 2018). It received positive reviews in ''The New York Times'',<ref>{{Cite news|last=Beckerman|first=Gal|date=2017-05-22|title=50 Years On, Stories of the Six Day War and What Came After|language=en-US|work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/22/books/review/new-books-about-six-day-war.html|access-date=2021-10-23|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> ''Foreign Affairs'',<ref>{{Cite news|last=Koplow|first=Michael J.|date=2019-08-14|title=Language Lessons|journal=Foreign Affairs|language=en-US|url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/reviews/review-essay/2017-05-31/language-lessons|access-date=2021-10-23|issn=0015-7120}}</ref> ''Time'',<ref>{{Cite magazine|title=Is Force the Solution to Peace in the Middle East?|url=https://time.com/4800819/nathan-thrall-the-only-language-they-understand/|access-date=2021-10-23|magazine=Time|language=en}}</ref> and ''The New York Review of Books''.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Shulman|first=David|title=Israel's Irrational Rationality|journal=New York Review of Books|language=en|url=https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2017/06/22/israels-irrational-rationality/|access-date=2021-10-23|issn=0028-7504}}</ref> The [[Jewish Book Council]]'s Bob Goldfarb wrote that his book, ''The Only Language They Understand: Forcing Compromise in Israel and Palestine,'' "brings unparalleled clarity to the dynamics of Israeli-Palestinian relations, and is an essential guide to the history, personalities, and ideas behind the conflict."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jewishbookcouncil.org/book/the-only-language-they-understand|title=The Only Language They Understand | Jewish Book Council|year=2017}}</ref> Mosaic selected the book as one of the best of the year, writing, "A knowledgeable and bold retelling of the Israel-Palestinian conflict that forces readers to take a serious and fresh look at their assumptions. Throughout its counterintuitive retelling of this history, it offers an unusually provocative and sometimes startling contribution to the genre."<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Best Books of 2018, Chosen by Mosaic Authors » Mosaic|url=https://mosaicmagazine.com/observation/history-ideas/2018/12/the-best-books-of-2018-chosen-by-mosaic-authors/|access-date=2021-10-23|website=Mosaic}}</ref>

=== ''A Day in the Life of Abed Salama'' ===
''A Day in the Life of Abed Salama: Anatomy of a Jerusalem Tragedy'' (2023) is a work of non-fiction that tells the story of interwoven lives of several Palestinian inhabitants of a part of Jerusalem occupied by Israel, centred around a man called Abed Salama. It was named a best book of 2023 by over ten publications, including ''[[The New Yorker]]'',<ref name=":2">{{Cite magazine |date=2023-01-25 |title=The Best Books of 2023 |url=https://www.newyorker.com/best-books-2023 |access-date=2023-12-24 |magazine=The New Yorker |language=en-US}}</ref> ''[[The Economist]]'',<ref name=":9">{{Cite news |title=The best books of 2023, as chosen by The Economist |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/culture/2023/12/01/the-best-books-of-2023-as-chosen-by-the-economist |access-date=2023-12-24 |issn=0013-0613}}</ref> ''[[Time Magazine |Time]]'',<ref name=":10">{{Cite magazine |date=2023-12-07 |title=The 10 Best Nonfiction Books of 2023 |url=https://time.com/6342264/best-nonfiction-books-2023/ |access-date=2023-12-24 |magazine=TIME |language=en}}</ref> ''[[The Financial Times]]'',<ref name=":11">{{Cite news |title=Best books of 2023 — Literary non-fiction |url=https://www.ft.com/content/09d0c4c9-0880-4826-a136-405f9988fe2b |access-date=2023-12-24 |newspaper=Financial Times|date=November 16, 2023 |last1=Wilkinson |first1=Carl }}</ref> ''[[The New Republic]]'',<ref name=":12">{{Cite magazine |last1=Republic |first1=The New |last2=Marsh |first2=Laura |last3=Marsh |first3=Laura |last4=Alam |first4=Rumaan |last5=Alam |first5=Rumaan |last6=Nwanevu |first6=Osita |last7=Nwanevu |first7=Osita |last8=Kindley |first8=Evan |last9=Kindley |first9=Evan |date=2023-12-18 |title=The New Republic's Books of the Year |magazine=The New Republic |url=https://newrepublic.com/article/177267/new-republics-books-year-2023 |access-date=2023-12-24 |issn=0028-6583}}</ref> ''The Millions'',<ref name=":13">{{Cite web |last=Schwartz |first=Madeleine |date=2023-12-19 |title=A Year in Reading: Madeleine Schwartz |url=https://themillions.com/2023/12/a-year-in-reading-madeleine-schwartz.html |access-date=2023-12-24 |website=The Millions |language=en-US}}</ref> ''Mother Jones'',<ref name=":14">{{Cite web |last=Jones |first=Mother |title=The 29 books we couldn't stop thinking about in 2023 |url=https://www.motherjones.com/media/2023/12/books-novels-best-reads-2023-daniel-schulman-ben-goldfarb-mckenzie-funk-sarah-cypher-clint-smith-matthew-desmond-safiya-sinclair/ |access-date=2023-12-24 |website=Mother Jones |language=en-US}}</ref> ''The Forward'',<ref name=":15">{{Cite web |last=Connelly |first=Irene Katz |date=2023-12-18 |title=The best Jewish books of 2023 |url=https://forward.com/culture/573321/jewish-books-2023-novels-poetry-kids-ya/ |access-date=2023-12-24 |website=The Forward |language=en}}</ref> ''Booklist'',<ref name=":16">{{Cite book |url=http://www.booklistonline.com/Booklist-Editors-Choice-Adult-Books-2023/pid=9788249 |title=Booklist Editors' Choice: Adult Books, 2023, by {{!}} Booklist Online}}</ref> ''[[The New Statesman]]'',<ref name=":17">{{Cite web |last=Statesman |first=New |date=2023-11-24 |title=Books of the year 2023 |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/books/2023/11/best-books-year-2023 |access-date=2023-12-24 |website=New Statesman |language=en-US}}</ref> and ''[[The Irish Times]]'',<ref name=":18">{{Cite news |title=The best books of 2023: Writers and critics choose |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/2023/12/02/the-best-books-of-2023-writers-and-critics-choose/ |access-date=2023-12-24 |newspaper=The Irish Times |language=en}}</ref> and was selected as a ''New York Times Book Review'' Editors' Choice.<ref name=":19">{{Cite news |date=2023-11-30 |title=9 New Books We Recommend This Week |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/30/books/review/new-books-recommendations.html |access-date=2023-12-24 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> ''The Financial Times'' named it a best book of 2023 in two categories, Literary Nonfiction<ref name=":11"/> and Politics,<ref>{{Cite news |title=Best books of 2023 — Politics |url=https://www.ft.com/content/50d14e80-c969-48a3-b8e3-3b909f78b18c |access-date=2023-12-24 |newspaper=Financial Times|date=November 17, 2023 |last1=Rachman |first1=Gideon }}</ref> stating, "This quietly heartbreaking work of non-fiction reads like a novel. At its centre is a tragic road accident outside Jerusalem in the West Bank from which Thrall, a Jewish American journalist, carefully traces the labyrinthine lives of those involved and the tangled web of politics, history and culture that ensnare them all."<ref name=":11"/>

It won the 2024 [[Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=A Day in the Life of Abed Salama: Anatomy of a Jerusalem Tragedy, by Nathan Thrall (Metropolitan Books) |work=[[Pulitzer Prize]] |access-date=6 May 2024 |url=https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/nathan-thrall }}</ref> and was shortlisted for the 2024 [[Orwell Prize|Orwell Prize for Political Writing]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-06-11 |title=Orwell Prizes 2024 shortlists announced |url=https://www.booksandpublishing.com.au/articles/2024/06/11/253173/orwell-prizes-2024-shortlists-announced/ |access-date=2024-06-24 |work=Books and Publishing}}</ref>

== Journalism ==

=== "The Separate Regimes Delusion" ===
In January 2021, the ''London Review of Books'' published Thrall's article, "The Separate Regimes Delusion," which argued, "The premise that Israel is a democracy, maintained by [[Peace Now]], [[Meretz]], the editorial board of ''[[Haaretz]]'' and other critics of occupation, rests on the belief that one can separate the pre-1967 state from the rest of the territory under its control. A conceptual wall must be maintained between two regimes: (good) democratic Israel and its (bad) provisional occupation."<ref name=":3">{{Cite news|last=Thrall|first=Nathan|date=2021-01-21|title=The Separate Regimes Delusion|language=en|volume=43|work=London Review of Books|issue=2|url=https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v43/n02/nathan-thrall/the-separate-regimes-delusion|access-date=2021-10-23|issn=0260-9592}}</ref> Thrall's article was praised in ''Haaretz'' by [[Gideon Levy]], who wrote, "the American writer Nathan Thrall, who lives in Jerusalem, published an eye-opening and mind-expanding piece in ''The London Review of Books'' .... Thrall doesn't hesitate to criticize the supposedly liberal-Zionist and leftist organizations, from Meretz and Peace Now to [[Yesh Din]] and ''Haaretz''. All of them believe that Israel is a democracy and oppose annexation because it could undermine their false belief that the occupation is happening somewhere else, outside of Israel, and is only temporary."<ref>{{Cite news|last=Levy|first=Gideon|date=2021-01-17|title=Not 'Apartheid in the West Bank.' Apartheid|work=Haaretz|url=https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-not-apartheid-in-the-west-bank-apartheid-1.9457619|access-date=2021-10-23}}</ref>

=== "A Day in the Life of Abed Salama" ===
In March 2021, ''The New York Review of Books'' published Thrall's piece, "A Day in the Life of Abed Salama: One man's quest to find his son lays bare the reality of Palestinian life under Israeli rule,"<ref name=":4">{{Cite web|last=Thrall|first=Nathan|title=A Day in the Life of Abed Salama|url=https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2021/03/19/a-day-in-the-life-of-abed-salama/|access-date=2021-10-23|website=The New York Review of Books|date=March 19, 2021 |language=en}}</ref> together with an animated trailer.<ref>{{Cite web|last=The New York Review of Books|date=2021-03-18|title=A Day in the Life of Abed Salama [video]|url=https://vimeo.com/525853663|website=Vimeo}}</ref> The article was covered in ''The Washington Post'',<ref>{{Cite news|title=Analysis {{!}} As Israel votes again, Palestinians still wait their turn|language=en-US|newspaper=Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/03/23/israel-elections-netanyahu-palestinians-analysis/|access-date=2021-10-23|issn=0190-8286}}</ref> ''Foreign Policy'',<ref>{{Cite web|last=Walt|first=Stephen M.|title=It's Time to End the 'Special Relationship' With Israel|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/05/27/its-time-to-end-the-special-relationship-with-israel/|access-date=2021-10-23|website=Foreign Policy|date=27 May 2021 |language=en-US}}</ref> ''The American Prospect'',<ref>{{Cite web|last=Alterman|first=Eric|date=2021-04-02|title=Altercation: An Anti-Semite Who's Anything But|url=https://prospect.org/api/content/706fb648-932d-11eb-bf79-1244d5f7c7c6/|access-date=2021-10-23|website=The American Prospect|language=en-us}}</ref> ''Jewish Currents'',<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-03-19|title=Shabbat Reading List|url=https://mailchi.mp/cc020203e539/shabbat-reading-list-6211835?e=499de8aee0|access-date=2021-10-23|website=Jewish Currents}}</ref> European publications,<ref>{{Cite news|title='Apartheidsstaat Israël stevent af op compleet succes voor de kolonisten'|url=https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2021/04/27/apartheidsstaat-israel-stevent-af-op-compleet-succes-voor-de-kolonisten-a4041509|access-date=2021-10-23|website=NRC|date=27 April 2021 |language=nl |last1=Schipper |first1=Jannie }}</ref><ref name="legrandcontinent.eu">{{Cite web|date=2021-05-29|title=" Pourquoi maintenant ? " : sur les origines de la guerre des onze jours|url=https://legrandcontinent.eu/fr/2021/05/29/les-origines-de-la-guerre-des-onze-jours/|access-date=2021-10-23|website=Le Grand Continent|language=fr-FR}}</ref> the Israeli newspaper ''Haaretz'',<ref name=":5">{{Cite news|title=J Street Conference Marks 'A New Day in Washington' for U.S.-Israel Relations|language=en|work=Haaretz|url=https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/.premium.HIGHLIGHT-j-street-conference-marks-a-new-day-in-washington-for-u-s-israel-relations-1.9730515|access-date=2021-10-23}}</ref> a podcast episode hosted by ''New York Times'' columnist [[Peter Beinart]],<ref name=":6">{{Cite web|title="Occupied Thoughts": Nathan Thrall, Peter Beinart, and "A Day in the Life of Abed Salama"|url=https://fmep.org/resource/occupied-thoughts-podcast-nathan-thrall-peter-beinart-and-a-day-in-the-life-of-abed-salama/|access-date=2021-10-23|website=Foundation for Middle East Peace|date=31 March 2021 |language=en}}</ref> and a two-part, forty-minute segment on Democracy Now!<ref name=":7">{{Cite web|title=Nathan Thrall on the Historic Palestinian Uprising Against Israeli Control from the River to the Sea|url=https://www.democracynow.org/2021/5/13/nathan_thrall_israel_palestine_jerusalem|access-date=2021-10-23|website=Democracy Now!|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":8">{{Cite web|title=Nathan Thrall on "A Day in the Life of Abed Salama" & Reality of Palestinian Life Under Israeli Rule|url=https://www.democracynow.org/2021/5/13/nathan_thrall_on_a_day_in|access-date=2021-10-23|website=Democracy Now!|language=en}}</ref> Longreads called it "an astonishing feat of reporting" and named it a Best Feature of 2021.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-05-24|title=What Happened to Milad? A Palestinian Father Searches for His Son.|url=https://longreads.com/2021/05/24/what-happened-to-milad-a-palestinian-father-searches-for-his-son/|access-date=2021-10-23|website=Longreads|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-05-21|title=The Top 5 Longreads of the Week|url=https://longreads.com/2021/05/21/the-top-5-longreads-of-the-week-371/|access-date=2021-10-23|website=Longreads|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-12-16|title=Best of 2021: Features|url=https://longreads.com/2021/12/16/best-of-2021-features/|access-date=2021-12-18|website=Longreads|language=en}}</ref>

Thrall went on to write a non-fiction book based on the article, completing the work with the help of New York [[Bard College]], which awarded Thrall a writing fellowship. The college invited him to teach a course and Thrall proposed one on [[Israeli apartheid]] which he gave for Spring 2023.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/nov/08/israeli-diplomat-bard-college-apartheid-debate|title=Israeli diplomat pressured US college to drop course on 'apartheid' debate|first=Chris|last=McGreal|date=November 8, 2023|newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.coursicle.com/bard/courses/HR/395/|title=Coursicle – Chat with classmates|website=www.coursicle.com}}</ref>
''A Day in the Life of Abed Salama-Anatomy of a Jerusalem Tragedy'' was published on October 3, 2023 by Metropolitan Books.

==Bibliography==
=== Books ===
*Thrall, Nathan (2023). ''[[A Day in the Life of Abed Salama|A Day in the Life of Abed Salama: Anatomy of a Jerusalem Tragedy]].''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Thrall |first=Nathan |title=A Day in the Life of Abed Salama: Anatomy of a Jerusalem Tragedy |publisher=Metropolitan/Henry Holt |year=2023 |isbn=9781250854971 |location=New York, NY}}</ref> New York, NY: Metropolitan Books, Henry Holt & Company. Hardcover ISBN 9781250854971. ebook ISBN 9781250854988.
*{{cite book |title= The Only Language They Understand: Forcing Compromise in Israel and Palestine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1oXZDAAAQBAJ |location= New York, NY |publisher= Metropolitan Books, Henry Holt & Company |year=2017|isbn = 978-1627797092|last=Thrall|first=Nathan}}

=== Book chapters ===
* "Can Hamas be part of the solution?," in Jamie Stern-Weiner ed., ''Moment of Truth: Tackling Israel–Palestine's Toughest Questions.'' New York, New York: OR Books, 2018.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Moment of Truth: Tackling Israel–Palestine's Toughest Questions − Edited by Jamie Stern-Weiner|url=https://www.orbooks.com/catalog/moment-of-truth/|access-date=2021-10-23|website=[[OR Books]]|date=20 February 2018 |language=en-US}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.nathanthrall.com Nathan Thrall | Official Website]
*[https://us.macmillan.com/author/nathanthrall Nathan Thrall | Authors | Macmillan Publishers]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20130120162338/http://www.crisisgroup.org/en/about/staff/field/mena/nathan-thrall.aspx International Crisis Group]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Thrall, Nathan}}
[[Category:Jewish American journalists]]
[[Category:American male journalists]]
[[Category:American newspaper reporters and correspondents]]
[[Category:American investigative journalists]]
[[Category:American foreign policy writers]]
[[Category:American male non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]
[[Category:Bard College faculty]]
[[Category:21st-century American Jews]]
[[Category:The New York Review of Books people]]
[[Category:University of California, Santa Barbara alumni]]
[[Category:Columbia University alumni]]
[[Category:21st-century American journalists]]
[[Category:21st-century American non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:21st-century American male writers]]

Nathan Thrall - Revision history

imported>GreenC: /* A Day in the Life of Abed Salama */