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Hostile values on the right

Sun., Aug. 29, 2010

Jack Abel is wrong to impute anti-Semitism to advocates of Palestinian rights (Letters, Aug. 24). It is not only needlessly defamatory, it is also just plain wrong.

The closest parallel to classic anti-Semitism today is Islamophobia. Both these ideological movements occupy the far-right wing of the political spectrum and share the characteristic traits of this extremist fringe: nationalism, racism, ethnic chauvinism, xenophobia and furious hostility to the values of the political left, such as liberalism, democracy, social and racial equality and the progressive ideals of international peace and justice. The mainstreaming of such values, not least through the “tea party,” is the greatest threat to American democracy today.

Rod Stackelberg

Spokane

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