The novels of Joseph Roth (1894–1939) capture with equal mastery the Galician shtetl, the aristocratic Austrian family, and war-torn Siberia. In addition to his many works of fiction, Roth produced a mass of journalistic writings, many of which have been newly translated into English by Michael Hoffman in a collection titled The Hotel Years. In his review, Frederic Raphael comments on Roth’s uncanny ability to see what was in store for Europe:

Roth was the first novelist to mention Adolf Hitler’s name in print, as far back as 1923. The view from the street, if not yet the gutter, allowed him to see it all coming. . . . [He possessed] a two-eyed vision of the collapse of what he called, in “Germany in Winter” (1923), “the regulating consciousness.” His realization that common decency was no longer a reliable social adhesive was first prompted by the sight, in the west end of Berlin, of

two high-school kids . . . arm in arm, like a pair of drunks, and singing:
“Down, down, down with the Jewish republic. Filthy Yids! Filthy Yids!”

And passersby got out of their way. No one stopped to slap their faces. Not out of political indignation. But because in any other country the irritation of a kid bothering the street with his half-baked politics would have provoked someone to a pedagogic measure. In Germany the convictions of high-school boys are respected. That’s how law-abiding people are in Berlin.

The piece, like many of those collected in The Hotel Years, appeared in the Frankfurter-Zeitung. Ten years later, its editorial board sang from the same hymn sheet as the wanton students. In the interim, Roth’s reportage, even on mundane occasions, carried the menace of the writing on the wall.

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.