been able to live together, they are condemned to die together, with rage in their hearts. The relevance of this insight to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is manifest. There is hope, Camus argues, if the two parties can acknowledge and act on what they innately know to be true: that each party has a right to security and dignity in the land of their birth. Despite the nagging sense of inefficacy Camus undoubtedly felt in writing and compiling Algerian Chronicles, he would not have published the collection if he did not feel it offered some hope and some possibility of shifting those not already entrenched toward moderation. In some sense the entrenched opinions are more appealing. Sartre famously opposed Camus on the Algerian question, unequivocally advocating Algerian independence and supporting the FLN separatist group. By contrast, Camus’s positions can seem limp, sometimes bluntly moralistic. The exigencies of war and conflict tend to suspend moralistic and temperate arguments in favor of realism; hard-nosed pundits and shrill polemicists dominate the discussion. In such climates, where any appeal
to decency or compassion is subject to derision, it is easy to despair. There exists a definite appeal in fatalism – a temptation to stay out of the conversation and let the inevitable unravel. In Camus’s words: I know that many people are fascinated by the awfulness of history’s great tragedies. Because of this, they remain transfixed, unable to decide what to do, simply waiting. They wait, and then one day the Gorgon devours them. I want to share with you my conviction that this spell can be broken, that this impotence is an illusion, and that sometimes, a strong heart, intelligence, and courage are enough to overcome fate. All it takes is will: will that is not blind but firm and deliberate. Camus urges strongly against disengagement. Algerian Chronicles, which he describes as a history of failure, is at the same time a testament to the practicability of compassion, written at great personal expense. Although history did not follow the course he would have hoped, Camus’s collection stands as a forceful counterfactual in a world confronted by many of the same issues he sought to address.
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