Muslims and Jews face a common enemy on the far right, and have other shared elements to draw on (Muslims and Jews must stand together against the common threat: white supremacists, 4 April). Inspiration can be taken from the coexistence that flourished between those faiths in the middle ages in Spain. There are also substantial theological similarities between them. The Jewish figure Maimonides, who lived in Spain and Egypt and died in 1204, was a particular admirer of Islam. Today, observant Jews and Muslims find common ground in prayer, dietary restrictions and charitable obligations.
At the same time, we must be careful not to overstate the similarities. Any relationship, including those between our faiths, needs to be founded on honesty: accentuating commonalities but also acknowledging differences. Notwithstanding friendships between many Muslims and Jews, there is antagonism, suspicion and tension between our communities. At this delicate time, we should remind ourselves of the words of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel in his essay No Religion Is an Island: “We must choose between interfaith and inter-nihilism.”
Zaki Cooper
Trustee, Council of Christians and Jews
• Elif Shafak calls The Turner Diaries, published in 1978, “the bible of the far right” (To understand the far right, look to their bookshelves, 1 April). Maybe it’s the New Testament, but surely the Old Testament is Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead (1943) and Atlas Shrugged (1957), in which she developed her view of a world in which individualism occupies the moral high ground and any social collective is despised as creating weakness. Despite her books selling millions, she died in poverty – on Medicare and social security.
Charles Harris
London
