The oldest hatred

David Renton (“Divided we fall,” December) is surely right to call for an anti-racist politics that “treats all forms of racism to the same unforgiving hostility,” whether the victims are Jewish, black, or of Asian origin. All racism is bad.

But here we differ. Renton seems to think that under Keir Starmer, the Labour leadership’s factional opponents have been subjected to reams of vile abuse. He gives only one detailed example of a Jewish supporter of Jeremy Corbyn who has come under attack and quotes two troubling emails attacking black pro-Corbyn MPs.

Meanwhile, as he himself acknowledges, antisemitism on the left hasn’t gone away, in the trade unions or in the Labour Party itself. Jewish students still feel under threat at many universities; at the 2021 Labour conference many of those who cheered the Jewish former MP Louise Ellman were the same delegates who cheered Corbyn just two years ago; and Israel is still vilified by people who ignore the expulsion of Jews from large parts of the postcolonial world.

David Herman, southwest London