17 JULY 1982, Page 17

Silly simile

Sir: Mr Harounoff's letter (Spectator 3 Ju- ly) is rather inadequate and his final simile absurd: 'Just as the Jews were the whipping boys of the Nazi's in the 30's, so the Jewish state has become the whipping boy of some of your contributors.'

How many contributors to your excellent publication have taken part in or initiated pogroms, burnt Jewish books, smashed the windows of their local pawnbroker or baker, beaten up rabbis or employed any of the nasty and bloody tactics that the Nazi bullies practised in the 30's, in or outside Israel?

William St John Seagrave

53 Mossbury Road, SW I 1