Yesterday, hundreds of thousands of Israelis took to the streets of Tel Aviv demanding an end to the war and for a ceasefire in order to release the remaining hostages. Unsurprisingly, the Netanyahu regime accused them of participating in “Hamas support riots.” It has become a running joke that anyone who opposes Israel’s genocide in any way, big or small, is aligned with or supporters of “Hamas.” Ms. Rachel, Greta Thunberg, Piers Morgan, Marjorie Taylor Green, the entire country of Ireland. This paranoid delusional list gets longer every day.

To be sure, polls show that the majority of Israeli society is in the grip of genocidal mania. It is a social landscape drenched in the racist ideology of Zionism and its attendant infrastructure of apartheid, which has been meticulously constructed over decades. This, along with impunity for its litany of crimes, has created a society that is completely out of touch with its own character. Dehumanization of the Palestinians has been woven into the DNA of the Zionist state. And despite Holocaust scholars, prominent human rights organizations (including ones within Israel) and the ICJ correctly calling out Israel’s genocide, most Israelis continue to think of themselves as the victims.

But while it is easy to be cynical about Israelis, it is also important to recognize that human beings have agency. They can change. And this protest, while a minority in the country, is a sign that cracks are forming in the edifice of Israel’s mythological image of it being the “only democracy in the Middle-East.” These Israelis are finding out that they too are subject to the same smears. But the propaganda, or hasbara, isn’t having the same impact that it once had.

This summer, Israelis have been finding out that they are not welcome when they travel abroad. Protests and other forms of shunning have happened in Greece, Thailand, Bosnia and beyond. And this has nothing to do with antisemitism, as some apologists would have us believe, but entirely to do with Israel’s genocide in Gaza and the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem.

While there is a long road to travel for these Israelis to understand this, it is not naive to hope that most eventually will. Of course, this is small comfort to the millions of Palestinians who are now facing annihilation at the hands of the Israeli state. They cannot wait for Israelis to have a change of heart, as they are bombed, burned, shot and starved.

Gaza has been utterly destroyed by the endless cruelty of Israeli bombardment. Tens of thousands of children have been slaughtered, with thousands more on the brink of death due to Israel’s policy of starvation. But the Palestinians who remain need our solidarity and commitment. We cannot afford the privilege of giving up when they continue to fight for survival. And when our own governments are the primary engine of this entire nightmare, it is our duty.

Therefore, the lion share of pressure must happen from outside Israel. It, along with the US (its primary benefactor) must be isolated. Cut off from all relations with democratic institutions. And other Western leaders must be pressured to immediately enact sanctions and implement divestment. Every tool must be used to stop Israel’s horrendous crimes, just as was done with apartheid South Africa. Only now, the stakes are much higher.

Genocide is the endgame for humanity. There is no greater crime. If it is allowed to continue or its enablers and the genocidaires who perpetrate it are allowed to get away without consequence, everything else will be rendered meaningless. Therefore, it must be opposed in every way possible. And people of conscience should demand nothing less than its complete demise.

Kenn Orfanos, August 2025

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently said in an interview that he feels “very” attached to the idea of a “Greater Israel.” This crackpot “vision” is for Israel to conquer not only historic Palestine, but parts of Egypt and Saudi Arabia, and parts or all of Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.

This used to be a conspiracy theory. But it isn’t anymore. It is out in the open for the world to see. And he isn’t alone in sharing this “vision.” Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has also peddled the idea of a “Greater Israel”, along with many other far-right Israelis.

This past week, Netanyahu announced his plans to take over all of Gaza, something that Israel had already done in practice through a complete blockade of the enclave in 2007. But the world’s biggest concentration camp has been almost completely razed to dust by continuous Israeli bombardment over the last two years. And Israel intends to corral its remaining population into smaller and more squalid camps, for them to await deportation or worse.

In the occupied West Bank, the plan to annex the remaining Palestinian territories is already underway. In fact, pogroms, harassment, vandalism and murders of unarmed Palestinians committed by Israeli settlers is a daily occurrence, and all with the protection of the IDF.

So, it is clear that the words of Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders should be taken seriously. They have boldly announced their genocidal intent for two years. Israel has bombed Lebanon and Syria throughout that time, even as it carries out a genocide in Gaza. Now they are telling us what the potential next step will be. Whether or not they can pull it off isn’t the point. If it is implemented, it is the instability and untold suffering for millions of people in the region that should concern us.

It should not be surprising if all of this reminds us of the plans of another regime, in another country, on another continent, in another time… 1939. And we all know what happened when that “vision” was made into a reality.

Kenn Orfanos, August 2025

For nearly two years people of conscience have been warning about the trajectory of Israel’s assault on Gaza. Begging people to pay attention and speak out while being accused of antisemitism for daring to oppose an obvious genocide.

Those of us who have been writing about human rights long before this were not fazed. We understood this cynical, baseless and insidious tactic of the apartheid state. We knew the difference between Judaism and Zionism and that conflating them is the real antisemitism.

Now much of the media and several Western governments are beginning to realize what they have been funding, supporting and whitewashing. Genocide, the very worst crime against humanity. But for tens of thousands of people, it is too late. And what broke the camel’s back?

The carpet bombing of apartments and entire city blocks wasn’t enough. The biggest population of child amputees in the world wasn’t enough. The largest mass murder of journalists in any conflict in history wasn’t enough. The rape and torture of surgeons, physicians and nurses wasn’t enough. The shooting of toddlers in the neck by Israeli snipers wasn’t enough. Leaving a young man with Down’s Syndrome to die alone in fear and agony without his family wasn’t enough. Detaining healthcare staff and leaving new born babies to die in incubators wasn’t enough. Murdering little Hind and the paramedics coming to help her wasn’t enough. Countless genocidal statements from Israeli politicians and media figures wasn’t enough. Scores of TikTok videos posted by IDF soldiers documenting their crimes wasn’t enough. The total destruction of bakeries, desalinization plants, shelters, hospitals, cafes, tents, ambulances, universities, cancer treatment facilities, farms, kindergartens, mosques, churches wasn’t enough. And for a very long time, mass imposed starvation wasn’t enough.

Now that Gaza is in stage 5 for famine, many are speaking out. And this is welcome. But the arms keep flowing. The blockade is still in effect. And there have yet to be sanctions on Israel.

When will that turning point be reached? Or have we come to a point where the world finally acknowledges the worst crime of the 21st century and shrugs its shoulders?

Kenn Orfanos, August 2025

*Photo is of nine-year-old Maryam Duvvas. She is currently receiving treatment at Patient Friends Association Hospital in Gaza City. She is in critical condition from severe malnutrition and not expected to survive due to Israel’s continued blockade of medicines and IV nutrition.

Recently, two of the leading Israeli human rights organizations (B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights Israel) concluded that Israel was, in fact, committing genocide against the Palestinians. This is a conclusion already reached by the world’s leading scholars on genocide, as well as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. How many more voices does it take for Western leaders to take the necessary action to stop this? How many more scholars, and physicians, and human rights organizations?

As Gaza enters the 5th stage of famine, one manufactured and implemented by the Israeli regime with the support and assistance of the United States, we are witnessing the complete hypocrisy, shallowness and corruption of Western institutions and norms. Even though there have been weak public relations gestures, like certain nations recognizing a Palestinian state, the money and weapons are still flowing.

In fact, while fascism grows in the US thanks to the Trump regime, the bloodlust becomes more obvious and depraved. From repugnant ghouls like Senator Randy Fine posting tweets welcoming the murder of Palestinian children to the fascist monster-in-chief, Donald Trump, demanding Palestinians express gratitude for food they either never received or are shot at while trying to obtain. The far right end of the political class is displaying its sadism in real time. It was always there, but the mask has now been obliterated. And thanks to the feckless arrogance and stupidity of Maga, its reputation will never be restored.

But there are cracks in the edifice of Israeli impunity. Polls show wide disapproval of the Israeli regime and its horrendous crimes. Even far right politicians like Marjorie Taylor Green are denouncing this genocide, outdoing even the supposedly left “squad” member, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The successes of Zohran Mamdani, who gained popularity in one of the most Jewish cities in the US, has been stunning given his open condemnation of Netanyahu and Israeli atrocities. And polling of younger Jewish Americans shows a clear break with support for the apartheid state.

In addition to this, Israelis are beginning to feel the pressure. They have been turned away from a Greek Island and at restaurants in Thailand due to growing anger and disgust at a society that seems to revel in burning, bombing and starving tens of thousands of children. One thing is apparent, most of the world has turned against Israel, even if their leaders are slow to action.

Israel has been one of the most important colonial assets of the American Empire. But as the list of its crimes grow by the day, that asset is becoming a liability. One which the US may not be able to afford for much longer. Especially, given the precarious state of American institutions and its badly damaged economy. It has already lost billions in tourism, as Trump’s disrespectful and belligerence toward other nations grow. As stories of concentration camps and violent border control agents and lawless ICE thugs mount. As it continues to support the genocidal state, its public face will only become more sullied.

But none of this helps the millions of Palestinians now. At this stage of the famine, it is too late for tens of thousands of children, elderly and sick. They will never come back from this. Now, the remaining population, when not being bombed or shot by Israeli snipers and American mercenaries, are being corralled into concentration camps, awaiting death or forced deportation. Israeli politicians dream of a riviera, replete with luxury hotels, marinas and restaurants. But it is more likely that it will eventually replace Gaza with hideous settlements, as seen across the occupied West Bank. Homes devoid of character and devoid of the Indigenous population. Fascist communities full of racist fanatics.

Gaza has sealed the fate of the West, even if the repercussions are not felt for decades. The damage has been done. There is no way to undo what has been witnessed by billions of people, both in the West and in the Global South. No way to forget the scale of this evil or the suffering. It will stay with us all. Whether an apologist, an apathetic nothing, or a person of conscience, the cruelty meted out on its people will impact every single relationship, interaction and transaction we make. It will define us as a society for centuries. But it has also been a clarifying moment.

We now know, beyond the shadow of a doubt where our leaders, institutions, media and public figures stand when it comes to the most heinous crime against humanity on the books. And for that, we should be grateful. Because we know that those who have either cheer leaded this on or stayed silent to the bitter end will never oppose brutality against any of us. We know they can never be trusted again.

Kenn Orphan, July 2025