Martyn in Europe

I find it particularly disagreeable that people have the gall to criticize European Jews for not agreeing with the policies of the USA and Israel, and are quick to label people who do so as "self-hating Jews", or to describe dissenting communities as the "fallout of the feeble". This racist rhetoric targets people for no other reason than that they hold different views, and it is cowardly, mendacious and intellectually insolvent.

Racism is a way of diverting people's attention from the real sources of their problems, and it relieves some people's unhealthy anxieties to find a "scapegoat" in some other group. The racists on the right know this. It is the extreme elements of the right, frequently planted in moderate conservative settings – whether it is in the UK, USA, Israel or Spain - that exploits racism in this way. 

Racism is everywhere, but racism is more likely to be the product of people's reactionary embrace of skewed notions of capitalism, ultra-nationalism and an intimate association with imperialism, rather than being the manifestation of democratic left wing aspirations. The left is not perfect when it comes to racism, but the left and the liberal left, have a long history of actively combating racism – on the other hand, as each year passes the right have more and more catching up to do.

The rejection of racism by the overwhelming majority on the left is clear and unmistakable. Socialism depends on people overcoming the divisions within society. One of the most vituperative of these divisions is racism, in all its forms, including anti-Semitism.

Now, we should ask what the purpose is behind some people's demonization of the entire left? The contemptuous dismissal of movements for social transformation and democracy, the disdain for everything that is not rightwing dogma, the contempt for people who reject capitalism, imperialism and nationalism, a permissive rejection of all thought, from leftwing liberalism to socialism, communism and anarchism.

The demonization of the left has its roots, not only in the virulent support of capitalism, imperialism and nationalism, but in the racism, classism and ignorance, fundamentally and inextricably linked to these terms.

When it comes to extremist rightwing criticism of the left, no one is free. There is a very small minority of racists on the periphery of leftwing politics, sometimes for obvious reasons, but those on the right who constantly criticize everything and everyone on the left, regardless of any other aspect than their association with the left, are frequently racists, not to mention morally insolvent and mischievous.

Mr Tony Bayfield, many people who read The Guardian, distinct from many of those who simply contribute to CiF, will probably agree with the sentiments expressed in your article. But I would also draw your attention to another phenomenon that has surfaced with respect to Israel, Palestine and anti-Semitism. Have you noticed the rise of a belligerent and intemperate support for the extremes of Israeli politics, have you noticed encouragement by certain extremist rightwing Christians for Israel to embrace and extend a far more aggressive stance with anything and anyone who has even the remotest link to Islam? I would describe this phenomenon as quite possible the worst type of anti-Semitism we have seen in recent years, because it is the anti-Semitic, racist and xenophobix right that is leveraging the situation in the Middle East to further their aims and "racist neurosis". Anti-Semitism is a big problem, as is racism as a whole, and it is a community infection that is "gaining traction". Nevertheless, when the neo-Nazis start pretending that they are the biggest opponents of anti-Semitism I would pay particular attention to that – this is a serious problem of our times, the neo-Nazis are lying their way to semi-respectability, and are gaining support, which is quite worrying.

In response to: Amid the gloom, hope: It's easy to be depressed by the situation in the Middle East – but dialogue and tolerance offer a way forward. Tony Bayfield. guardian.co.uk, Sunday 22 February 2009. Here...