George Monbiot is right to challenge hypocrisy in the media’s treatment of antisemitism (No one should get a free pass on antisemitism – so why does the right?, 14 May). If antisemitic imagery or rhetoric appears in rightwing newspapers or political movements, it should be confronted with the same urgency applied elsewhere.
But there is also a danger in allowing legitimate criticism of selective media narratives to slide into minimising antisemitism itself. Antisemitism is real, ugly and historically persistent. Recent attacks on synagogues, Jewish institutions and individuals across Europe cannot simply be dismissed as inventions of the press or the political class.
At the same time, many people are becoming uneasy with the way that accusations of antisemitism are sometimes deployed within political discourse, particularly around criticism of Israel and Gaza.
When media organisations appear highly selective about where outrage is directed, public trust erodes. People begin to suspect that antisemitism is being instrumentalised politically rather than addressed consistently as a form of racism.
That perception is dangerous for everyone, including Jewish communities, because it risks devaluing the seriousness of genuine antisemitism. If every criticism of establishment narratives is treated as suspect while equivalent rhetoric on the right is softened or ignored, accusations lose moral clarity.
The answer is not to downplay antisemitism, nor to weaponise it. It is to apply the same standards everywhere, regardless of political tribe, newspaper allegiance or ideological convenience.
Robert Ormiston
Worthing, West Sussex
• Your analysis of the Jewish left’s current predicament was timely, but it overlooked a painful reality brewing within progressive domestic circles (As the right moves in on antisemitism, where does that leave the Jewish left?, 14 May).
In my own family, several members identify as being on the extreme left, framing their worldview through the lens of social justice. They refuse to vote Labour because of its alleged support of Israel. After a glass of wine or two, the mask invariably slips. Radical political critique quickly dissolves into blatant antisemitism, and ventured once into actual Holocaust denial.
As a very amateur historian with a particular interest in 1930s Germany, I find these interactions chillingly familiar. Studying that era teaches you that antisemitism isn’t fixed to one thing or one group; it doesn’t always arrive in a brown shirt.
In the Weimar years, the dehumanisation of Jews was often intellectualised and woven into revolutionary and anti-establishment rhetoric from various sides of the spectrum. To hear those same tropes – denying historical atrocity or questioning Jewish power – repeated by people who claim to stand for equality is a terrifying echo of the past.
When I challenge this, I am told that I am a Zionist and am misunderstanding the geopolitical landscape. This suggests that prejudice is exempt from scrutiny as long as it wears a radical badge. If the left is to remain a moral force, it must acknowledge that the socialism of fools is not just a historical footnote from the 1930s, but a present and growing rot in its own ranks.
Name and address supplied
• Antisemitism and Islamophobia are two different faces of the same coin. Both are part of the same malicious maelstrom that manifests itself in hateful rhetoric, racism, incitement, aggression and intentional coercion and misrepresentation of people of different faiths and creeds. Such hatred rips societies apart and wrecks the social and religious mosaic that enriches our societies and makes us stronger and more resilient. We must unite together and not allow bigoted people to prevail.
Dr Munjed Farid Al Qutob
Willesden Green, London
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