I recognise and empathise with the anguish expressed by Zara Mohammed (British Muslims deserve safety and belonging. War in Gaza has made us fear we’ll lose both, 7 October). Her sense that she and other Muslims are being policed metaphorically and literally for identifying with family and friends abroad feels utterly real to me. Growing up as a Jew in London, my response to my own sense of never quite belonging enough, in the eyes of some of my peers, was to emigrate to Israel in the late 1990s.
I am proud to be an Israeli to the exact extent that I oppose the current government, support our army of conscripts and reservists, and pray for a speedy and peaceful resolution for all. Zionism, the belief in the rights of Jews to self-determination, only makes sense to me if I am equally supportive of the rights of Palestinians to self-determination. Zionism is incompatible with Benjamin Netanyahu’s intransigence on recognition of a Palestinian state. Anti-Zionism is incompatible with anti-racism.
I want to express solidarity with all British Muslims facing Islamophobia. There are genocidal terrorist organisations operating in Israel and Palestine, and in Lebanon and beyond, that put everyone’s lives in danger, but they are not the responsibility of British Muslims any more than the messianic fascists in Netanyahu’s coalition are the responsibility of British Jews.
Daniel Sevitt
Ra’anana, Israel
In Dave Rich’s opinion piece (A year marked by trauma and grief – and questions about what it means to be Jewish in Britain, 7 October) he writes: “Most Jews care deeply about Israel. This shouldn’t be a surprise … It’s an identity thing, like it or not.” I found this deeply offensive. I am an American Jew living in London, with no ties and little empathy for Israel, and Dave Rich does not speak for me. There are many Jews who are furious that Israel, on a global stage, claims to represent a core piece of the Jewish identity, and want nothing more than the freedom to be Jewish in all its wise and lovely traditions and rituals in a way that has nothing to do with Israel the political governing body. This nuance is denied us by antisemites who equate all Jews around the world with Israelis, and at the very least should not be denied to us by a Jewish writer in the Guardian.
Dr Susannah Cramer-Greenbaum
London
Arwa Mahdawi is right to say that Middle East history “did not start on 7 October 2023” (Opinion, 6 October). But when did it begin? Jews have had a continuous presence in and a deep cultural and spiritual connection to the land between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River for thousands of years. When Israel declared its independence, based on the UN partition resolution, Arab countries declared war on it. Egyptian bombs fell on Tel Aviv. Between 1949 and 1967, Israel’s policy was to achieve peace and normalisation with the Arab world based on the 1949 borders. But then came the Arab League’s Khartoum “triple no” – no peace with Israel, no negotiations with Israel, no recognition of Israel.
The Israeli humiliation of Palestinians, to this day, is unfathomable, but so is the unshakable determination of Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah and others to destroy Israel. In short, the whole miserable history caused the current stalemate. A way forward requires both sides to accept the rights of the other, which seems a long way off. Narratives that highlight the suffering of only one side are a recipe for continued endless violence.
Dr Franz Baumann
Vienna, Austria
