A reader writes:

Your observations about the antisemitic madness now sweeping the country are all too accurate. Two of my relatives report that they recently walked out of social events in reaction to blatant antisemitic diatribes. In the second case, the offender explicitly stated that ‘the Jews rule America.’ In neither instance did anyone else object to the outburst; and in neither instance did the culprit understand that he/she had said anything objectionable.

Last night my mother was at a dinner party with a long-time friend, an academic she's known for 30 years. All of a sudden, this individual began expressing his respect for the ‘historian’ David Irving, questioned whether millions of Jews had really been murdered by the Nazis and added that the Holocaust is only discussed because Jewish groups such as the Board of Deputies see fit to exploit it for their own nefarious purposes.

What is interesting is that in none of these incidents was there any pretence of ‘criticism of Israeli government policy’; the targets, quite explicitly, were Jews as such. My mother believes that antisemitism has now become publicly acceptable in this country.