Letters - 27 February 2026
From respecting belief to seeking a recording
Respecting belief
Roy Payne would, according to his clearly-expressed letter (9 January), deny Quaker membership to perhaps the majority of nontheists.
Might he not allow that we may be spiritual, and hold the same ideals as the most robustly religious fellow Quakers? While also respecting their different beliefs, I would add.
Rosamond Reavell
Antisemitism
The recent Britain Yearly Meeting guide on challenging antisemitism is welcome for addressing this tragic problem. Antisemitism as hostility or violence towards Jews involves cruelties that every Quaker abhors.
Many Jews say it is vital to contrast antisemitism with anti-Zionism, when military and colonial forms of Zionism can increase antisemitism by bringing all Jews into disrepute however unfairly. These Jews stand for rights and justice for Jewish people everywhere, and against wrongs and injustice to Palestinians and oppressed peoples anywhere.
The new report appears to support Zionism by defining it solely in positive terms: ‘the national liberation movement of the Jewish people’, ‘a religious/spiritual concept about reviving a profound Biblical ideal of a homeland grounded in justice and peace’.
This seems to contradict Yearly Meeting Minute 30. Can further discussion be had? We hope Friends will read the response to the report on the Quaker Socialist Society website (https://quakersocialists.org.uk).
Priscilla Alderson
