Vanessa Paloma Elbaz has dedicated years to collecting and performing Moroccan Jewish music. She recently presented some of her findings at the Museum of Moroccan Judaism in Casablanca:

“Many young people [in Morocco today] have never heard of Judeo-Arab music,” Paloma says. . . . In the 1950s, the kingdom [of Morocco] had nearly 300,000 citizens of the Jewish faith. But successive Arab-Israeli conflicts, calls to emigrate to Israel, and many departures to France and Canada in particular have brought this presence to less than 5,000. Moroccan Jews, however, remain the largest Jewish community in North Africa. . . .

The sound library [assembled by Paloma] includes two types of records: songs and popular Moroccan Jewish music in a commercial format and recorded stories told by Moroccan Jewish families.

The Museum of Moroccan Judaism, founded in Casablanca by the Moroccan writer and politician Simon Levy, has a large display of clothing, jewelry, and handicrafts . . . [and] is the first of its kind in the Arab world.

For some time, opponents of U.S support for Israel have been urging the White House to end the war in Gaza, or simply calling for a ceasefire. Douglas Feith and Lewis Libby consider what such a result would actually entail:

Ending the war immediately would allow Hamas to survive and retain military and governing power. Leaving it in the area containing the Sinai-Gaza smuggling routes would ensure that Hamas can rearm. This is why Hamas leaders now plead for a ceasefire. A ceasefire will provide some relief for Gazans today, but a prolonged ceasefire will preserve Hamas’s bloody oppression of Gaza and make future wars with Israel inevitable.

For most Gazans, even when there is no hot war, Hamas’s dictatorship is a nightmarish tyranny. Hamas rule features the torture and murder of regime opponents, official corruption, extremist indoctrination of children, and misery for the population in general. Hamas diverts foreign aid and other resources from proper uses; instead of improving life for the mass of the people, it uses the funds to fight against Palestinians and Israelis.

Moreover, a Hamas-affiliated website warned Gazans last month against cooperating with Israel in securing and delivering the truckloads of aid flowing into the Strip. It promised to deal with those who do with “an iron fist.” In other words, if Hamas remains in power, it will begin torturing, imprisoning, or murdering those it deems collaborators the moment the war ends. Thereafter, Hamas will begin planning its next attack on Israel:

Hamas’s goals are to overshadow the Palestinian Authority, win control of the West Bank, and establish Hamas leadership over the Palestinian revolution. Hamas’s ultimate aim is to spark a regional war to obliterate Israel and, as Hamas leaders steadfastly maintain, fulfill a Quranic vision of killing all Jews.

Hamas planned for corpses of Palestinian babies and mothers to serve as the mainspring of its October 7 war plan. Hamas calculated it could survive a war against a superior Israeli force and energize enemies of Israel around the world. The key to both aims was arranging for grievous Palestinian civilian losses. . . . That element of Hamas’s war plan is working impressively.