In 2012, Raif Badawi, a dissident Saudi blogger, was arrested on charges of apostasy and insulting Islam. Two years later, a Saudi court sentenced him to ten years in prison and 1,000 lashes, of which he has so far received only the first set of 50. His wife, Ensaf Haidar, has since taken refuge in Canada, and devoted herself to obtaining his freedom and to human-rights causes more generally. She writes of the anti-Semitism endemic to the Arab world:

Central to [my husband’s] case is his vision of a different future for his country and region; a future based on our shared humanity; one based on acceptance, respect, and mutual understanding; one that aspires to peace in the region.

Central to this vision is an end to the discourse of hatred that we have learned in our childhood, mainstreamed by extremist religious teachings and governments’ cynical exploitation of the Israel-Palestinian conflict. Central to this vision is an acceptance that we are all equal in dignity and rights regardless of our religion, thoughts, sex, color, or social status.

Central to this vision is the recognition that Jews are not our enemies. . . .

We were taught in the Arab world that the Holocaust was just a big lie. . . . Since childhood, we grew up on hatred of Jews and were taught to curse them. We must insist on repudiating these messages and work actively to eliminate them.

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.