There are some ghouls on social media and in the far right press who are saying that there is no mass starvation in Gaza because the media that published this photo of little Mohammed al-Mutawaq neglected to say that he has cerebral palsy.

“The picture that launched the global blood libel that Israel was starving Gazan children to death now stands… as a fraud perpetrated by the western media,” wrote Melanie Phillips, a fascist columnist at The Times. “The starvation lie is the latest in their decades-long attempt to delegitimize and destroy the tiny Jewish state.”

The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth stated that photos of Mutawaq, among others, “appear to be part of an effort to reinforce the ‘famine narrative’.” And Julia Hartley-Brewer, one of the most vile apologists for genocide in Britain on her idiotic “Talk TV,” described such images of Palestinian children as “propaganda.” She said in a live broadcast: “Often, there’s a picture of a mother who’s quite chubby at the back with the child. Hey lady, maybe give some of your food to your kid.”

So, let me get this straight. Because the press that published this photo didn’t mention that Mohammed al-Mutawaq had a pre-existing health condition, his malnutrition is a lie? That Israel isn’t starving millions of people even though every single foreign physician and medical worker attests to this? That every single image and video and report we have seen is some kind of “blood libel” or “antisemitic propaganda?”

As a medical social worker, I had the privilege of working with some children with cerebral palsy. None of them looked like this poor child, because all of them had proper nutrition. The fact that Mohammed has cerebral palsy does not erase the impact of Israel’s policy of starvation. In fact, it highlights it. Because children with such conditions are far more susceptible to the ravages of starvation than healthy children. They are the first. The tip of the iceberg. But they are ALL suffering now thanks to Israel’s genocidal campaign. And there are more child amputees in Gaza than anywhere on earth.

There isn’t much we can say to these odious people. Not much at all in fact. There is no low they aren’t willing to plumb. The only thing we can do is expose their hideous character and rancid racism for what it is, and then shun them forever.

Kenn Orphan, July 2025

This is why Israel will not change on its own. It is why Nazi Germany or apartheid South Africa did not change on their own. The only change that can come will be from external pressure. Boycott, sanctions and divestment. Ceasing all military aid. Stopping all diplomatic relations. Ending the normalization of its pathology.

Israeli society is gripped by a racist, genocidal mania that has been stoked by political leaders, its media and its popular culture. An apartheid state that has been meticulously curated to maintain a myth of its supposed democratic character, even as it trampled on and denied human rights to millions of people under its occupation and control. A militaristic ethno-state with nuclear weapons which has been a colonial asset of the American Empire for decades. One that has been brainwashed to weaponize antisemitism and past traumas as it is convinced of its perpetual victimhood.

The trajectory of its ethos has always been genocide. After all, Zionism is antithetical to democracy. Antithetical to human rights for all. And now, the mask has finally slipped for all to see. It was never created as a refuge for Jewish people. It was created as a colonial stronghold, one which used the crime of the Holocaust to justify its own crimes. And this is why so many Jews refuse its conflation with Judaism. Because they know how it sullies its rich and beautiful traditions with racist dogma. How it warps it into something grotesque and terrifying.

Understanding this is not defeatist. It is the passageway toward dismantling apartheid and ending this genocide. And it is the only realistic hope that is left.

Kenn Orfanos, July 2025

There are voices today that represent the very best of humanity. They are giants in morality, ethics and integrity. Francesca Albanese, the UN’s Human Rights Council’s Special Rapporteur for West Bank and Gaza, is one of those voices.

Her courage to speak out against the genocidal Israeli regime has been unmatched in these past 20+ months. And it was for this reason that she was sanctioned by the U.S. State Department on Wednesday.

Now, there are genocide apologists in Canada who are calling on the government to follow suit. One such person is Casey Babb, an advisor to Secure Canada and a senior fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute. Toronto Immigration Lawyer Sergio Karas and Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) President Noah Shack are others.

None of this should be surprising since similar smears have been repeated by officials in France and Germany. It should be noted that Germany has been one of the biggest supporters of the genocide thus far.

The most dangerous thing Albanese has done is tell the truth. And it is a truth that any person of conscience can see with their own eyes. The evidence is clear. Israel is committing genocide with full support from the United States. And Canada, the UK and the EU are all complicit in this crime against humanity.

Francesca Albanese is the voice of humanity in these very dark times. And we would all suffer immensely if she were silenced by these detestable monsters.

Kenn Orphan, July 2025

There isn’t just one day where everything changes. There are countless moments. Countless choices. Countless cuts and wounds that slowly mold a society into compliance for sadism that all lead to a decisive moment in time. It is a long-term project that creates the conditions for fascism.

The Big Beautiful Bill is the pinnacle of such a project. If it passes, and it is expected to pass, it will be one of those decisive moments. The ramifications have yet to be seen, but there are enough clues to paint a bleak picture.

The struggling working class will only get more impoverished. More beleaguered by endless work days, less pay, higher insurance costs, little to no healthcare, few to no vacation days, less benefits and higher food costs. All while the wealthiest of the lot get even more corpulent on coin. And it will all be enforced by the most well-funded police state in human history.

Trump’s ICE, his own Schutzstaffel, will get over 170 billion dollars. More than any military force in the world. More than the US Marines. They already have surveillance drones, tanks and concentration camps are being erected in mere days. And with Due Process but a quaint suggestion of the past, anyone can be swept up in its net with little to no recourse.

As the so-called opposition grows ever more craven by the day and unwilling to listen to its own constituents, Trump becomes ever more emboldened. He has all but captured the Judiciary. His regime has already arrested those who oppose him. He has already deported scores of people, citizens and undocumented alike. And he is threatening to deport a candidate for the mayor of America’s most powerful city, all while that candidate’s own party is attacking him relentlessly for being “too radical.”

His supporters have already threatened, intimidated and assassinated politicians. How many have complied in advance? How many are watching their backs? It should be clear that dissent in this regime will not be tolerated for very long.

None of this occurred in a vacuum. The conditions that have brought us to this moment in history led a large swath of the populace to accept the unthinkable. To accept the funding and aid of a genocide. To even applaud it. Cheer it on. The very worst crime against humanity imaginable was normalized for public consumption. Once the burning, bombing and starving of civilians, of children, became “self-defense,” anything became possible. The truth, itself, became the enemy.

The sword of the American Empire that has long been aimed outward, is now turning in toward itself. First, for the most vulnerable. The immigrant. But it is rapidly expanding its reach. And when a nation’s leader chooses to tour a concentration camp for a photo-op, it should be clear to anyone where he intends to lead his people.

Kenn Orphan, July 2025

The IDF is preventing food, medicine and baby formula from getting into Gaza. The IDF shoots scores of Palestinians every single day as they desperately seek food. The IDF shot toddlers in the head and neck as evidenced by American, Canadian and European surgeons. The IDF has leveled nearly all of Gaza, blowing up hospitals, water treatment facilities, universities, bakeries, shelters, tent cities full of refugees. The IDF uses civilians as human shields to go into buildings ahead of them. The IDF has killed doctors, nurses and surgeons. The IDF has killed more journalists than any other military. IDF soldiers routinely loot houses, wear the lingerie of women and smash the toys of children they either murdered or forced to flee. The IDF posts videos of them randomly blowing up entire city blocks. IDF soldiers were filmed raping detainees at a prison camp. IDF soldiers admitted that they rolled over hundreds of Palestinian in tanks, with many still alive. The IDF executed paramedics and then buried the ambulances they were in. An IDF tank riddled little 5 year old Hind and her family with 335 rounds as she sat waiting for help from paramedics. The IDF blew up the paramedics who came to help her.

So, spare me the handwringing and outrage over a chant calling for the death of this hideous military death squad known as the IDF.

Kenn Orphan, July 2025

*photo is of an IDF soldier pretending to read after setting a library on fire in Gaza.