If killing children isn’t considered a crime of monstrous proportions, then our civilization isn’t worth saving

“No one in Gaza is innocent. Yes, even the children will have to be killed. No other choice…Because they are the children of those who want to harm us. They are all enemies like the Nazis.” -Michal Waldiger, Israeli MP.

The crime of genocide isn’t simply on how many people you kill. It is the intent. For over 19 months, Israeli politicians and media figures have openly called for the annihilation of the people of Gaza. They have publicly expressed the intent to either kill or forcibly displace millions of people. They have not hidden any of their plans. In fact, they boast about it, joke about it, write about it, sing about it, make TikTok videos about it. And they have done it.

Gaza has all but been reduced to dust. Tens of thousands of people have been blown up, maimed, burned and buried under rubble. Hospitals, shelters, tents, bakeries, water treatment facilities, mosques, churches, universities… All have been targeted. All have been bombed. Now, most of the population is facing starvation due to a blockade imposed by Israel. And all this has been made possible thanks to ammunition, tactical support and diplomatic cover from the US, UK, Germany and other Western countries. All are complicit.

Only diehard apologists without a shred of decency or conscience left or those actually committing the crimes continue to deny this is genocide. Most experts on genocide have stated that Israel is committing genocide. Doctors, surgeons, nurses and paramedics have testified to this fact. The UN, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem and several other groups have said this is a genocide. And we have our own eyes and ears to see it for what it is.

But regardless of how some want us to quibble over definitions and terms, if calling for the killing of children isn’t considered a crime of monstrous proportions, then our civilization isn’t worth saving.

Kenn Orphan, May 2025

a thorn of sadistic cruelty

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These pastries were seen in a patisserie in Israel the other day by Israeli journalist, Josie Glausiusz. She described her disgust in an opinion piece in Ha’aretz, the leading newspaper in the country, after discovering them in her village of Modi’in. The icing reads in Hebrew: “Let the IDF mow them down!”

This is a clear reference to something Israeli officials said years ago, long before the current atrocities. It implied that Gaza needed periodic bombings to keep its captive population, half of which are children, in check.

Now most of Gaza has been leveled.

A similar sentiment was shared by another senior Israeli official who said: “The idea is to put the Palestinians on a diet, but not to make them die of hunger.”

Now that diet has been completely cut off. Gaza is being slowly starved to death.

As Israelis celebrated their so-called “Independence Day” with barbecues and sweets, tens of thousands of children were starving to death just a few kilometers away thanks to a merciless blockade by the Israeli government.

For over 60 days, Israel has blockaded all aid into the concentration camp that is Gaza. No food. No medicine. No fuel. An estimated 60,000 children are showing signs of malnutrition, with more than 10,000 diagnosed with severe malnutrition.

One has to wonder how any sane person could bake sugary treats that celebrate the abject misery and suffering of millions of people? Or how anyone could eat these eclairs without any sense of disgust or shame?

But then we take a step back and we see a culture that has been engineered to dehumanize an entire people. It’s how soldiers could ride bicycles of children or wear lingerie of women they had just violently displaced or murdered. It’s how they could have gender reveal parties or wedding proposals with a backdrop of bombs burning and tearing human flesh apart. It’s how they could justify carrying out a genocide.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently laid out his plans for a final solution before the entire world. The people of Gaza have a choice, be herded into squalid militarized camps before “voluntarily” leaving their homeland or die a slow and painful death. Another Likud politician, Moshe Sa’ada, echoed this on Israeli television: we are heading for a major event of vanquishment, annihilation and emigration from Gaza.”

In fact, there are hundreds of documents that show Israeli leaders and media openly planning, justifying or encouraging genocide before the International Court of Justice. But the course has been set and it appears that the global community will do nothing to stop it.

The pastries in that shop are emblematic of how deep this pathology goes. A reminder of how ordinary people can become monsters when they are driven by murderous leaders. How a culture built on colonialism. racist supremacy, paranoia and militarism can so easily strip away the humanity of those they oppress. And how an innocent treat can be turned into a thorn of sadistic cruelty.

Kenn Orphan, May 2025

the most depraved crime of the 21st century

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We are all witness to the most depraved crime of the 21st century, as the Israeli blockade of Gaza enters its 65th day. No food, no medications, no fuel, no humanity.

Children and babies are the hardest hit, with mothers struggling to produce milk for their newborns. And this is punctuated with daily attacks by Israeli airstrikes and drones. Attacks which shred, burn and bury flesh, both young and old.

This crime has its parallels in history. It is straight out of the colonial settler playbook. White European settlers employed it in North America by slaughtering millions of buffalo, a staple in the diet of Indigenous peoples. They knew it would lead to starvation. That was the point.

And we saw it when the Nazis starved thousands in concentration camps and in the Warsaw Ghetto. The goal was to work as many people to death. And if that didn’t work, they would be denied food to hasten the process.

Hunger is a horrible way to die. For children, it is perhaps the worst. Many succumb to marasmus, which is an extreme immunodeficiency of vitamins and minerals that usually leads to life threatening infections. Others die of kwashiorkor, which is a severe lack of protein leading to a massive build up in fluids (edema) and an enlarged fatty liver. This is why you see starving children with distended bellies. It is a visual that implies they are well fed when, in actuality, their bodies are shutting down.

Some apologists claim that Hamas is preventing food from reaching civilians. But there is not a shred of evidence to prove this. On the contrary, there is a veritable mountain of evidence that demonstrates that Israel is implementing the blockade as collective punishment. In fact, many Israeli politicians have admitted this openly. And this is a war crime under international law.

So, where is the international community? Where is the West’s vaunted commitment to human rights? The sad answer is that the West is a hollow husk of empty platitudes. It is no longer in possession of a conscience and its own laws and statutes have been rendered meaningless. It is now driven by racism and avarice.

This is what genocide looks like. This is what annihilation looks like. And everyone of us in the West, every single one of us, is complicit in it unless we speak out against this now.

Kenn Orphan, May 2025

Even the Land Knows

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As fires rage, Israel has declared a national emergency. And it has requested assistance from other countries as it attempts to extinguish the rapidly spreading blazes. In fact, the Jerusalem District Fire Department Commander, Shmulik Friedman, said this was “perhaps the largest fire ever in the country.” Several neighbourhoods have been evacuated around Jerusalem. And the main highway was shutdown while many people abandoned their vehicles and fled on foot.

Unsurprisingly, notorious war criminal, Itamar Ben Gvir, is blaming Palestinian Israelis for setting them. Even if this is true, these wildfires would never have taken off with this speed and ferocity unless there was something else going on.

Years ago, I read how the Jewish National Fund planted trees over the ruins of Palestinian villages following the Nakba. Villages that had been violently emptied of their inhabitants by Zionist militias. It was a project that aimed to obscure the ethnic cleansing of Palestine as well as prevent any chance of return for refugees, a right under international law.

But the JNF did not plant indigenous trees. They planted trees they thought would look more European, severely impacting native biodiversity and increasing the risk of wildfires in an ever warming climate. And this underscores the ultimate failure of any colonial settler project. You cannot claim indigeneity and then attempt to expunge any trace of indigenous life from the land without grave consequences.

As fires consume parts of Israel, it continues to reign death down on Gaza. Tens of thousands of civilians, including thousands of children, have been buried under rubble, blown apart and burned to death. Millions face starvation imposed by Israel. Gaza has been turned into a graveyard. So, it may be difficult to muster up any sympathy for the perpetrator as it battles these wildfires.

One could only hope that more Israelis would make the connection. That they would see and understand the consequences of decades of ethnic cleansing, apartheid and now genocide. The colonial settler project has always been built on lies. And deadly ones.

Even the land understands this.

Kenn Orphan, May 2025

Fascists Love Registries

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Last week, US Health and Human Services Secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., gave his first address to the public in that role. His focus was autism. In his speech, which has received enormous backlash, he said people with autism “will never pay taxes, they’ll never hold a job, they’ll never play baseball, they’ll never write a poem, they’ll never go on a date.” He also made unfounded speculations as to the cause.

From chemtrails to HIV denialism to raw milk to anti-vax quackery, RFK is no stranger to conspiracy theories. And they are far from harmless. Over 70 people died in Samoa thanks to his disinformation about the measles vaccine. He also speculated that Covid-19 was engineered and that Chinese and Ashkenazi Jews were mostly immune.

There is something about RFK that chills the soul. A deadness behind his eyes. An icy countenance that betrays any compassionate words he might utter. It is hard to put ones finger on what it is exactly, but if you could you would probably have to scrub it with bleach.

Stories from family members about his penchant for mutilating dead animals abound, from grinding up chicks and mice in a blender for his pet falcon to beheading a beached whale and tying it to the roof of his car. The stories lend credence to those uneasy, unsettling feelings one gets when you see him on a stage talking about health and wellness.

RFK’s new role appears to be in keeping with this lifelong legacy. And he is keeping pace with the general madness and misanthropy of the regime. His idea for “wellness farms” and “reparenting” for people who deal with drug addiction or who are taking psychiatric medications unsurprisingly sparked controversy for its similarity to communist “reeducation camps.” Now, RFK is planning a new registry to track people with autism.

What makes this all so chilling was the ease in which RFK diminished the value of human beings. These disabled people are “deficient.” They cannot work and pay taxes. By characterizing autistic people as unproductive members of society, he has already set them up as a problem. A drain on resources. A burden. A registry will only industrialize this otherization and make it easier for experimentation, institutionalization and disposal.

Fascists adore registries. They relish in categories and lists for people. Especially people who do not conform to their idea of normal. Whom they deem weak and that make them feel uncomfortable. Like the others in this diabolical regime, he is merely copying a dark page from history verbatim.

Kenn Orphan, April 2025

Fascism is a boot.

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This cannot be overstated. The myth of American democracy is now officially dead. The Trump regime openly and boldly defied the federal courts to return a person they disappeared to El Salvador. A person with the legal right to live in the United States. An action they agreed was an “administrative error.” Checks and balances, the safety valve to prevent authoritarian overreach, have been effectively rendered irrelevant.

This is not merely a “constitutional crisis” or even a coup. This open defiance to the rule of law is the establishment of a fascist dictatorship. And we don’t have to see it completely take over all aspects of society to understand how grave this moment is.

In addition to this, the regime has openly stated that it intends to disappear American citizens and send them to foreign gulags. It has already done so with legal residents, visa and green card holders, asylum seekers. Now, literally anyone is at the mercy of ICE thugs.

If you speak Spanish in public or have a tattoo, it can say you are a gang member or criminal. Don’t like the economic turmoil caused by Trump’s erratic tariff policy, and it can label you a “Marxist” (a term it views as derogatory). If the regime dislikes your political opinions, the protests you attend, your criticism of Israel, or for merely posting a funny meme making fun of Trump, it can deem you a “radical leftist,” antisemitic or a terrorist threat. Trump has said repeatedly that he believes the biggest threat is the “enemy from within.” With the dissolving of due process as a safeguard, he can make good on his promise to deal with that so-called enemy.

Of course, the regime is not going to arrest everyone who differs from them. The point is the fear it generates. By promoting this in conjunction with defying the courts, the regime is trying to create an atmosphere of paranoia and suspicion. It knows that a people who are afraid will be easier to manipulate. They will comply in advance.

Already universities are towing the line by ending diversity, equity and inclusion programs. Media companies are paying out huge settlements to Trump to the avoid legal costs of a trial. Lawyers are refusing some cases that may raise the ire of the regime. Comedians are rewriting their acts. And people are purging their social media accounts of anything that might draw unwanted attention. This is how it begins.

Fascism is the end of societies. The final iteration of late capitalism. Its goal is the protection of wealth for a tiny minority of oligarchs through sheer violence and endless intimidation. It not only stamps out dissent. It can plunge entire communities into perpetual fear and dread.

Fascism strips education of its curiosity, the arts of its colour, journalism of its pen and spirituality of its wonder. And it replaces it all with mindless nationalism. It exalts bigotry by scapegoating and dehumanizing the vulnerable. It disdains the intellectual and the scientist with ethics. It cannot be reasoned with. You cannot have a dinner party with it and think it was moved by your polite banter. Fascism is a boot. And its only reason for existing is to stand on the neck of decency, empathy and kindness.

This is not to promote defeatism. But there is no benefit in participating in a Pollyanna-like fantasy where the Democrats, after sucking up to corporations for years and cheering on a genocide, will somehow become courageous avengers and “save American democracy.” The most they will do is post a terse scolding on social media, give 25 hour speeches that block nothing and amount to little more than political spectacle, or listen to focus groups for their strategy to win the midterms.

The only hope now is for ordinary people to see things for what they are. To see this regime for the fascist death cult it is. For vulnerable people to take immediate action to protect themselves and their families. To leave the country, if possible, or make contingency plans. And for everyone else to do what they can to protect those people, while throwing wrenches into the gears of its machinery at every turn.

Kenn Orphan, April 2025

*Photos are of El Salvador president Nayib Bukele with Donald Trump at the White House (top) and the concentration camp Bukele runs in his country with US dollars (bottom).

Palestine existed. Palestine exists. And the Palestinians will not be erased

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Apartheid and genocide apologists are fond of repeating the lie that “Palestine never existed” or that there is no such thing as Palestinians. But in “Palestine: a Four Thousand Year History” by historian Nur Masalha, the long history of the region is detailed. The Greek historian Herodotus wrote about a district in Syria. It was called Palaistinê and it was between Phoenicia (modern day Lebanon) and Egypt in the 5th century BCE. From the 2nd to 4th centuries AD, the Romans referred to it as a province called Roman Palestine. The Ottoman and British Empires also called the region Palestine. Even early Zionists referred to it as Palestine when discussing plans to colonize it.

The insatiable colonial impulse to purge Indigenous history isn’t anything new. We have seen this in the Americas, where white European settlers attempted to eradicate Indigenous cultural identity and history. The Spaniards razed temples to the ground to build cathedrals on top of them. The British burned villages. The Americans and the Canadians forbade Native peoples speaking their languages and practicing their religions.

The erasure of Indigenous history is key to justifying a project of violent subjugation, ethnic cleansing and annihilation. In this new narrative, the settlers are cast as the true victims. A “civilized” people trying to tame a wild land. A “villa in the jungle” surrounded by rapacious beasts. It must tell itself and the world this lie in order to rationalize its actions.

This is why Gaza has been systematically leveled. Why its historic landmarks, buildings, ancient mosaics and markets, museums, libraries and universities have been blown up or burned down. It isn’t fighting a war, it is demoralizing a people by attempting to nullify their identity. Like the people who live there, these buildings and places represent historical truth. And the colonial settler cannot tolerate the existence of those damning reminders.

No matter how much destruction it causes, the historical record is clear. Palestine existed. Palestine exists. And the Palestinians will not be erased, even though this genocidal campaign is trying its hardest to do just that.

Kenn Orphan, April 2025

A Network of Torture Camps

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Ahmed Manasrah was 13 when he was convicted by the Israeli High Court of attempted murder. He was, in fact, with his 16 year old cousin Hassan who killed an Israeli teenager and stabbed another man in the illegal settlement of Pisgat Ze’ev in occupied East Jerusalem on that tragic day in 2015. Hassan was fatally shot by a member of that illegal settlement.

Ahmed was run over by a car, beaten by settlers, and filmed while he lay bleeding in the street, taunted by onlookers. He was arrested and convicted even though he never stabbed anyone and even as the High Court admitted Ahmed had nothing to do with the incident.

Ahmed was sent to prison for 9 and half years. Human rights organizations documented torture and depravation of the boy while he was in custody. He was harshly interrogated without the presence of his lawyer or his parents. And while in prison, he was put in solitary confinement for a majority of the time. This led to him developing schizophrenia. He attempted suicide several times.

In a related case, a teenager from the occupied West Bank recently died in an Israeli prison after being held for six months without charge. In fact, scores of other Palestinians detained without charge have come out shaking, gaunt, injured, with signs of torture and needing prompt medical attention. One had a star of David carved into his back.

And there have been many documented incidents of rape and sexual torture. One resulted in the death of the highly respected surgeon and head of orthopaedics at Gaza’s al-Shifa Hospital, Dr. Adnan Al-Bursh. According to the Israeli human rights organization HaMoked, prison guards dragged Al-Bursh and dumped him in the prison yard, naked from the waist down, bleeding and unable to stand. He died in agony a short time after.

This past August, the Israeli media outlet Channel 12 released a video showing soldiers at a notorious prison in the Negev desert gang-raping a Palestinian detainee. There have been instances of soldiers using dogs as well. “They don’t care if you’re from Gaza or Jerusalem, whether you’re a doctor or a labourer – if you’re a Palestinian, you’re the enemy, ” Shai Parness of the Israeli human rights organisation B’Tselem said. “It’s brutal and it’s systematic.” B’Tselem’s August report, Welcome To Hell, called these prisons “a network of torture camps.”

There were protests in Israel, but not to object to these rapes. They were in defense of the perpetrators. All of this has gone on with little to no denunciation, let alone acknowledgement, from Western politicians and most media.

For Ahmed, his horrendous treatment underscores the widespread devaluing of Palestinian children by the Israeli occupation. As tens of thousands of children have been slaughtered, sniped and starved in Gaza over the past year and a half, this case provides a window into an apartheid system that has been meticulously designed and constructed to crush an entire people over many years. A dehumanization where even children aren’t spared the full boot of the state. And the result of all of this has laid out a bloody path to genocide.

According to the Jerusalem Prisoners’ Families Committee: “The Israeli occupation deliberately released Ahmad away from the prison, while his family waited at the prison gates to welcome him upon his release. A Bedouin man from the Negev (Naqab) received Ahmad and called his family to inform them that their son had been freed.“

Kenn Orphan, April 2025

The Charade of Death

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This is the man given dozens of standing ovations in the US Congress. The man welcomed in the White House with open arms. And not just by Trump. Biden was enraptured by that bromance too. This isn’t because this man controls the American Empire. It is because Israel is the empire’s last true colony. It is its last major investment.

Beheading children with airstrikes. Starving infants and sniping toddlers. Raping doctors to death and shooting nurses. Burning journalists alive and burying medics in their ambulances. Leveling everything in sight, from shelters to bakeries to universities to water treatment facilities. All of this is simply the business of American Empire. It is the collateral damage that allows the dollars to keep flowing upward.

Now, as the annihilation of an entire people has entered its final chapter, it has become impossible to deny what the United States is: a sham. The myth of its fabled democracy hobbled along with empty promises and hollow platitudes as crutches for a long time. Even as its institutions became sepulchers that housed barely conscious old, rich, white men. Fortresses that protected their capital investments. But the shroud that covered their moldering corpses has been ripped off for all to see. The myth of American democracy has finally died in the streets of Gaza.

We need to look at it. We need to see it for what it is. Otherwise, we will continue to delude ourselves that there is something worth saving. When the reality is that everything must be rebuilt from the ground up for us to be worthy of saving. Everything. Because to save any of what is left is to ensure that there will just be more of the people-killing, planet-killing, soul-killing same. And I, for one, want no part in that charade of death.

Kenn Orphan, April 2025

Bodies flying through the air

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Bodies flying through the air

As if they were made of straw

Black soot from airstrikes rising

Buzz of death drones overhead