Historians are fortunate to have a wealth of material composed by medieval Jews that has been preserved through the centuries. But since most of these writings are rabbinic commentaries, legal analyses, and philosophy, they provide little information of the kind historians are often most eager to find out. The exception is the extraordinary 12th-century travelogue of Benjamin of Tudela, whom Tamar Marvin describes as “one of the most famed . . . of all premodern travelers,” Jewish or otherwise:

His account of his travels, known as Sefer Masa’aot (“The Book of Journeys”) or, more commonly, Masa’aot Binyamin (“Benjamin’s Journeys”), has been translated into Jewish and many European languages, and serves as a source for many other premodern historiographers and chroniclers, Jewish and non-Jewish alike. His dispassionate and factually oriented recollections are of primary importance to understanding medieval Jewish communities in Europe, especially in Provence, as well as in the East, especially Constantinople, Eretz Yisrael, and Baghdad.

Departing from his home in Navarra (Navarre), a kingdom in northern Spain, Benjamin traveled overland through the south of France (Provence, in medieval Jewish parlance), then south through Italy to Naples and other southern Italian cities. He departed by sea from Otranto, the site of an old Jewish community, setting sail for Greece and then Asia Minor (present-day Turkey). He entered the Land of Israel from the north, first visiting the ancient cities of Antioch, Sidon, and Tyre before arriving in Akko (Acre).

After visiting sites around the Land of Israel, he traveled to Damascus, Aleppo, and Baghdad. Benjamin traveled extensively through the region of Iraq and seems to have also spent time in Persia. His accounts of Persia, and even more so of India, Ceylon (today’s Sri Lanka), and China, contain legendary material; he presumably did not himself reach Southeast and/or East Asia. From Persia, Benjamin evidently traveled through Arabia, probably sailing around the peninsula, and gives an account of Egypt and his journey home by sea via Palermo, Sicily.

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.