Jews have lived in Afghanistan since the first millennium; at the beginning of the 20th century, the country was home to a Jewish population of about 40,000 souls. Now only one Jew is left, but anti-Semitic graffiti, theories, and sentiments remain widespread. Many of these come to the fore the celebration of Quds Day—an anti-Israel holiday created by the Islamic Republic in 1979. In Kabul, the annual Quds Day rally is sponsored by a Shiite cleric named Sayed Hussain Mazari, as Ezzatullah Mehrdad writes:

Few religious centers in Afghanistan are self-financed or locally funded. As in other Middle Eastern countries such as Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen, Bahrain, and Pakistan, many of the Shiite scholars in Afghanistan are bankrolled by Iran. Asif Yousufi, a social activist who [this year] attended a student-led demonstration against the celebration of Quds Day, claims that Mazari is among them, though he believes the latter will not publicly acknowledge this.

The Islamic Republic of Iran . . . also maintains an intelligence presence in Afghanistan and supports groups here that serve its national interests. Some experts believe Iran might be behind the spread of anti-Semitism within its neighbor to the east as part of an effort to build a united front against the Jewish state.

But there are undoubtedly other sources as well:

[The anti-Semitism researcher Guenther] Jikeli says Jew-hatred in Afghanistan may also be a residual effect of propaganda efforts by Nazi Germany during World War II, which included radio programs the regime broadcast to Arabic-speaking countries demonizing Jews, [some of which reached non-Arab Afghanistan]. Nearly 80 years after the Holocaust, Adolf Hitler still enjoys widespread popularity in the country, and his image is sometimes used in advertisements—including for a public-speaking course that touts him as a model orator. A common Afghan expression says that Hitler left some Jews alive to remind the world just how noxious they are.

In private conversation, Afghan religious hardliners compare terrorists with Jews, [but conclude] that “even” Jewish people are better than terrorists. In political spheres, non-Pashtun ethnic groups hypothesize that the Pashtun, Afghanistan’s largest ethnicity, were originally Jews.

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.