The First Murder

Mwafaq Katt, Cain offering the head of Abel as a sacrifice to the Lord, 2024.

The original murder. The first act of war. Cain murdered his brother Abel and so he was lost.

Cain's story taught us that the killing of a soul is the killing of mankind. We have officially entered another year of al-Assad waging war in Syria. What began as the Syrians' call for dignity and the right to their own life soon escalated into their murder. 

Cartooning is an art form small in scale, traditionally the size of a piece of paper. However, it holds monumentality. It is not just Mwafaq Katt using mixed media, giving the cartoon before us the aspect of weathered stone through centuries. It feels to be of a dimension to be placed directly in a public square to commemorate the fundamental problem of mankind.  

The cartoon is courtesy of Mwafaq Katt and must not be reproduced without his permission.