'War Crimes' is a surprisingly revealing and provocative text. It has called into question much of my experiences and, moreover, much of what society values ​​and believes. “War Crimes” has the ability to open our eyes to a large amount of issues, most of which we are not exposed to in our daily lives, including Iraqi culture and beliefs, the media promoting issues of racism, xenophobia and misogyny and globalization conflicts such as war. I found it very thought-provoking, but also revealing and interesting. After reading it I was shocked by the attitudes some people have towards others, particularly the xenophobia explored in the text. Throughout the text the connection between global and local conflicts has been strengthened. This reflected much of the main characters' values ​​and attitudes through their responses to conflicts and, in turn, allowed readers to see and relate to certain characters. In particular I was able to relate to Jade, Jordan, Ishtar and even Rick to some extent. I felt like Jade was a symbol of peace and empathy, especially when contrasted with the war-saturated society they lived in. “Imagine seeing white men sailing around the headlands in their ships hundreds of years ago.” Jade is much more morally aware than the others, can see things from different perspectives and has respect for other cultures. In a society where many people are afraid of difference, in relation to race, this was something admirable. She also wants to appear harsh, however, throughout the text, she was perceived differently. “We can be sisters… We can share my room,” and she made emotional connections with her peers and cared for them. Betzien described her as a hard worker, as she... middle of paper... is racist. His masculinity and selfishness could be another factor that discourages us readers from relating to Lara. Additionally, there were two scenes, which I found exceptionally inspiring to read. The first scene where Jade is raped, and the subsequent scenes where thoughts and memories of the rape resurface and the scene where Samira douses herself with petrol. These scenes portray dark scenarios, which we, as a society, are not very exposed to. This increases the shock and horror we as readers feel and makes it difficult to read and understand. In conclusion, "War Crimes", although it was a challenging read, was also worth it. I was able to learn a lot from this text about issues such as racism, global and local conflicts, and relationships between teenagers in a society like Cummergunji's..