The Spectator

Israel fuels anti-Semitism Sir: I am a member of Jews for Justice for Palestinians and have participated in every one of the national demonstrations against Israel’s brutal onslaught against Gaza. I have never heard the slogans ‘Hamas, Hamas, Hamas, Jews to the Gas’ and ‘Death to the Jews’ that Douglas Davis (‘The terrible warning of a Holocaust survivor’, 24 January) claims are being chanted on these marches. I know that the stewards have strict orders to clamp down on any expression of anti-Semitism. Like the majority of the demonstrators, I am not a supporter of Hamas.

Here are some of the posts made over the past week on Spectator.co.uk: Fraser Nelson reveals how Brown's fiscal stimulus will destroy jobs, and writes on the neglected war. James Forsyth reports on Brown's cry for help, and analyses the latest opinion polls. Peter Hoskin picks up on an air of uncertainty at the IFS Green Budget launch, and surveys the prospects for Lib-Lab-love. Alex Massie wonders about reforming the Lords. Melanie Phillips highlights the Middle East appeasement process. Clive Davis looks back on ye olde Fleet Street. Trading Floor says the government is subsidising the wrong industry. And Americano asks whether Barack Obama's Middle Eastern public diplomacy.

Welcome to the latest CoffeeHousers' Wall. For those who haven't come across the Wall before, it's a post we put up each Monday, on which – provided your writing isn’t libellous, crammed with swearing, or offensive to common decency – you’ll be able to say whatever you like in the comments section. There is no topic, so there’s no need to stay ‘on topic’ – which means you’ll be able to debate with each other more freely and extensively. There’s also no constraint on the length of what you write – so, in effect, you can become Coffee House bloggers. Anything’s fair game – from political stories in your local paper, to chat about the latest football results.

Islam and the Nazis Sir: Charles Moore touches on an important point when he ascribes a Nazi–Hamas continuum of interests (The Spectator’s Notes, 17 January). While helping Europe Minister Denis MacShane write his recently published book, Globalising Hatred — The New Anti-Semitism, I was numbed by the depths of the relationship between radical Islam and the Nazis, an association that, inexplicably, has been hugely under-reported. Arguably the most important source material I came across was a slim volume entitled Icon of Evil which, complete with official documents and photos, charts the mutual regard, indeed affection, between the two creeds, never so clearly underscored as in the correspondence between Hitler and the Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini.

Welcome to the latest CoffeeHousers' Wall. For those who haven't come across the Wall before, it's a post we put up each Monday, on which – provided your writing isn’t libellous, crammed with swearing, or offensive to common decency – you’ll be able to say whatever you like in the comments section. There is no topic, so there’s no need to stay ‘on topic’ – which means you’ll be able to debate with each other more freely and extensively. There’s also no constraint on the length of what you write – so, in effect, you can become Coffee House bloggers. Anything’s fair game – from political stories in your local paper, to chat about the latest football results.

Selective facts Sir: Matt Ridley’s article on Darwin’s vision (‘Natural selection explains everything’, 10 January) omits one simple but very important fact, namely that Darwin did not originate natural selection. How do we know? Simple — both he and Alfred Russel Wallace gave the credit to Patrick Matthew and Charles Wells. Darwin even described Matthew’s version of natural selection as ‘precisely’ the same as his own, which appeared some 20 years later. These facts will doubtless be conveniently lost in this year’s Darwinfest of hype.

Here are some of the posts made over the past week on Spectator.co.uk: Matthew d'Ancona recommends Frost/Nixon and offers CoffeeHousers a chance to see it for free. Fraser Nelson says that Heathrow should be improved before it's expanded, and applauds the Tories for making debt a human issue. James Forsyth finds no wealth of talent in the Cabinet, and outlines the Ken Clarke conundrum. Peter Hoskin asks whether Mandy's latest scheme will kickstart the car industry, and laments the Government's equality overdrive. Melanie Phillips observes the astounding shallowness of Britain's Foreign Secretary. Clive Davis asks: was Bush right after all? Trading Floor writes on what not to do about climate change. And Americano outlines the cost of the US deficit.

We've just uploaded some culture picks from The Spectator's arts editor, Liz Anderson.  You can read them by clicking here, or by following the link on the left-hand side of the page.

A coherent story Sir: Douglas Murray says (‘Studying Islam made me an atheist’, 3 January) that what killed the Bible was not Darwin but ‘German biblical criticism... the scholarship on lost texts, discoveries of added-to texts and edited texts’. It’s a pity he didn’t pursue his investigation further and discover that those dated theories proposed by the ‘higher critics’ now have no scholarly standing. Over the second half of the 20th century they were steadily demolished. Historical and textual research has changed the picture completely.