There are errors in Gary Michael Tartakov’srecent op-ed concerning antisemitism [“The two most important things to know about antisemitism,” Gazette, June 25]. He is right to place antisemitism in a context of European history and the first generations of Christian theology. But he is wrong when he says that antisemitism is “unknown in most of the world.”

Try a quick Google search using the terms “Japan, antisemitism,” “Korea, antisemitism,” and “Indonesia, antisemitism.” You will find that antisemitism unfortunately thrives even in non-Christian countries with tiny Jewish populations. The writer gives India as an example of a country with “almost no antisemitism” but even there the situation is complicated. Hitler is said to be a popular figure among young Indians, Holocaust denial is widespread, and many businesses in India use Hitler’s name.

To say that there was “no antisemitism in Australia or Africa, before the arrival of the Christians, who brought it with them” is self-evident. No one can deny that people who have never heard of Jews do not hate Jews.

Speaking of a “Zionist invasion of Palestine” beginning in 1900 shows ignorance of the deep connection of the Jewish people to the land as recognized even by Edward Said, the prominent scholar and advocate for a Palestinian state.

Recognizing historical facts does not mean agreeing with Israel Prime Mininster Benjamin Netanyahu’s hateful policies.

Henry W. Rosenberg

Northampton