The practice of marking ownership of a book by writing one’s name on the inside cover or first page dates back centuries. In some Orthodox circles today, it is common for owners to cite the opening of Psalm 24, “The earth is the Lord’s and the fulness thereof,” and continue with “but this book is in the possession of so-and-so.” Using examples from rare books and manuscripts in the British Library, Zsofi Buda notes some of the more colorful inscriptions used by Jews a few hundred years ago:

Just like Jewish scribes, Jewish owners also developed set phrases to make their marks, [such as], “A person should always write his name in his book lest someone come from the market and say ‘This book is mine,’ thus I have written my name.”

This is one of most popular phrases. Why people from the market? A marketplace was seen as a gathering place for strangers, idlers, and perhaps even rascals. Owners were concerned that such suspicious characters would claim their precious books. The owner of an 18th-century Passover Haggadah expresses his opinion about such false claims very explicitly: “A person should always write his name in his book lest Rabbi Robber and Rabbi Thief come from the market and say, ‘It is mine.’”

The owner of a halakhic miscellany composed an entire poem to declare his rights to the book. [To] make sure that his message got through to whoever might try to take his book, he added the first part of his little poem in Italian on the facing page.

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.