Benedict Birnberg’s roseate view of Jeremy Corbyn’s attempts to grapple with Israel-Palestine relations (Letters, 31 August) as coloured by the harmonious relationship Birnberg’s forebears enjoyed with their Arab neighbours is understandable, but naive. One of the (many) vivid accounts that remain with me after 10 years of working with a charity trying to give a voice to survivors of torture is that of a Rwandan Tutsi woman whose family members were massacred in front of her by the Interahamwe. It was her Hutu neighbours who led the militia to the front door – people with whom relations had been cordial, indeed friendly, until Hutu extremists seized power. Her father had even driven the mother of the house to hospital when she was in labour.

Many Israeli policies are abhorrent, not least the continuous building of settlements after the 1991 Middle East peace conference in Madrid which scuppered any real chance of a subsequent deal. Such activities, however, are more than eclipsed by the existential threat – frequently voiced – that Israel faces from other countries in the region it shares. The succour that Corbyn has offered to those intent on cloaking such a threat with a respectable face is evidence of a gullibility that is beginning to bite.

Andrew Hogg

Chichester, West Sussex

• I consider my Green party to be the most principled UK political party in its opposition to racism, antisemitism and Islamophobia. However, in terms of wider social influence, I acknowledge that it is the Labour party that, despite some flaws, is the most powerful political force against all forms of discrimination in Britain. As a member of the Sikh community, with its long history of suffering persecution over the centuries under various regimes, I have natural sympathy with the Jewish people who have similarly suffered. Both these communities constitute two of the world’s small religions in comparison with Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism.

With these feelings of solidarity with the Jewish community, I have observed with some sadness that some leading members of the Jewish community have been carrying on an unrelenting campaign against Jeremy Corbyn. No leader is flawless but trying to weaken him and consequently the Labour party at this juncture is a major error from the perspective of building a fairer society in Britain. It is not in the interests of the Labour party, either, to prolong the conflict with the Jewish community. If a well-intentioned dialogue can resolve the vexed question of justified criticism of Israeli state policies towards Palestinians not being considered as antisemitic, that should be done urgently to strengthen the much-needed political front against racism and bigotry.

Pritam Singh

Professor of economics, Oxford Brookes University

• The agenda of Margaret Hodge and no doubt others is clearly to get rid of Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader (Antisemitism row: Hodge and Brown pile pressure on Corbyn, 3 September), something they have tried and failed to do twice so far. However, as Matthew d’Ancona underlines (A new centre party would be a coalition of losers, 3 September), even should they be successful what exactly is their political platform for winning an election? Simply repeating the New Labour politics of 1997 certainly won’t do it.

Keith Flett

London

• There is a plurality of Jewish opinion about antisemitism in the Labour party, both here and in Israel itself. In this critical week of decision-making for the Labour party, we should pay careful attention to a freedom of information request submitted by a group of respected Israeli lawyers, human rights activists and academics regarding the involvement of the Israeli ministries of strategic and foreign affairs in stoking the antisemitism row as part of a wider campaign to undermine Palestinian solidarity activists (see tinyurl.com/y7lo4zp8). Evidence is mounting that they have a strong case. But so far no British newspaper has been courageous or disinterested enough to investigate.

Nicola Grove

Horningsham, Wiltshire

• It seems inevitable that Labour will have to adopt the full International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, as well as take action against antisemitic words and deeds within the party. Perhaps in the interests of balance, when Labour’s national executive committee meets, they could also consider adopting the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement’s objectives of promoting a boycott of Israel until it meets its obligations under international law, as these objectives are not antisemitic according to the IHRA definition.

Richard Cooper

Chichester, West Sussex

• Which part of the soul of his Labour party is Gordon Brown nostalgic for? Invading Iraq? Helping the US with extraordinary rendition to facilitate torture? Grotesquely expensive PFI deals to build schools that are now falling down? Creeping privatisation of public services? Labour ministers sucking up to dubious foreign billionaires? The soulless vacuity of the Blair-Brown years is exactly what Jeremy Corbyn was elected to put an end to and I for one hope he succeeds, despite the best efforts of rightwing Labour MPs intent on dragging the party back to the shabby compromises of the Blair years.

Tim Rossiter

Crickhowell, Powys

• When Rabbi Jonathan Sacks said on BBC Radio 4 that the majority of British Jews are Zionists and that when Jeremy Corbyn used the word Zionist it was code and meant Jewish people, is it not time for all to sign up to an agreed definition of the word Zionist?

Jackie Fearnley

Goathland, North Yorkshire

• While many vested interests are distracting us from what is happening to Palestinians by blaming Jeremy Corbyn for antisemitism, could someone tell me whether all other British political parties, including the Conservatives, have accepted the IHRA definition of antisemitism?

Sue Boulding

Baschurch, Shropshire

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