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Richard Kirkwood's letter (April 9) in response to Paul Gross ("Why I believe Zionism isn't racist", March 26) would carry greater weight if Zionism were not constantly singled out for such vilification.

In the case of the Middle East, there are, if I am not mistaken, a number of nation-states, other than Israel, where the basis of citizenship is also "ethnic and/or religious".

While I would not want to argue for ethnic/religious exclusivity (I believe Israel also has citizens who are Muslim, Christian, Druze and so on), movements for national self-determination have invariably been on the basis of collective, if mythological, perceptions of common history and/or descent.

If Zionism is viewed as the sole culprit in this respect, the rejection of the charge of anti-Semitism cannot be taken too seriously.

Leslie Bash
London