In common, I suspect, with other Jews, I was both pleased to see Keir Starmer take swift action after Rebecca Long-Bailey failed to disclaim the antisemitic conspiracy theory she had appeared to condone, and discomfited to see Jewish people thrust carelessly into the public spotlight once again (Rebecca Long-Bailey sacking reignites Labour turmoil over antisemitism, 25 June). What is disappointing about this affair, as usual in Labour’s antisemitism saga, is that all concerned – Starmer, Long-Bailey, and Maxine Peake – have failed to take the opportunity to educate their followers. All three should be making clear that, while Israel is responsible for numerous human rights abuses and for systemic racism on its own account, it is not responsible for centuries-deep systemic racism embedded in American society and around the world. To suggest otherwise is to attribute nefarious power on a global scale to Jews, and is indeed antisemitic. Matthew Franks Pinner, Middlesex • In 2001 our police consulted Israeli, Sri Lankan and Russian police on how to deal with suicide bombers. There are legitimate concerns about the way those police forces act and about what ours adopted from them as the Kratos rules. These concerns are not racist but, like Maxine Peake’s constricted reference to US-Israeli police co-operation, can be abused by xenophobes, antisemites and the like. They can be misrepresented as belief in some pan-global conspiracy, be it by Jews, Sinhalese or Russians. The lesson for Maxine is be careful what you say, and for Rebecca Long-Bailey is don’t share things you haven’t read properly. Mary Pimm and Nik Wood London • As Jonathan Freedland implies, given the US’s history of slavery, institutional racism at home and extreme violence directed at civilian populations abroad ranging from napalm to nuclear annihilation, anyone who believes it has anything to learn on police brutality is seriously mistaken (The sacking of Long-Bailey shows that, at last, Labour is serious about antisemitism, 26 June). However, he is also right to point to the deteriorating situation for Palestinians. Public figures have a particular responsibility to ensure that their statements are properly fact-checked, especially in this area, where it is all too easy to reinforce age-old antisemitic tropes. This should be a learning opportunity to explain exactly how the connection can be missed. Painting the problem in primary colours may serve simply to exacerbate factional tensions within Labour. To ensure the interests of the Palestinians are not overlooked in the process, Labour must now stand united in its policy of opposing West Bank annexation. Dr Anthony Isaacs London • I was pleased that Jonathan Freedland ended his article with his own criticism of the Israeli state’s treatment of Palestine. But I think I speak for the majority of critics of the Israeli government in saying that we don’t think “the hidden hand of the world’s only majority-Jewish country must be secretly behind [these events]” as the religion of that country is of no importance to us. We just see a bullying nationalistic government oppressing an occupied people. By the way, photos of members of Israeli security forces using knee-on-neck techniques have been widely circulated. Whether one group taught the other, or whether they both chose that technique independently doesn’t make its use right. Tessa Doe Seend, Wiltshire • This article’s headline was amended on 29 June 2020 to better reflect the contents of the published letters.