Letter: Jews and Christians

P HARRISON (letter, 19 February) questioned whether Rabbi Boteach was more interested in restraining religious debate rather than protecting the interests of Jewish students at Oxford University with regard to Nick Howard's proselytising activities.

This is not the case. The Oxford Inter-Collegiate Christian Union is the only religious society in the University to refuse any joint events or inter-faith evenings with other religious societies; they are not prepared to hear any alternative views to their own.

As an ex-President of the Oxford University Jewish Society I can inform you that many of our members complained to me about being harassed by OICCU members to accept their invitations or "gifts" of New Testament gospels, despite their requests to be left alone to practise their own religion in peace. I would like to thank Rabbi Boteach for his help in ending this unfortunate behaviour.

Religious debate should not take the form of targeting certain groups for special conversion attempts; instead, it should be an attempt to better understand each other's faiths so that we can live side-by-side celebrating, rather than seeking to remove, our differences.

JUSTIN JACOBS

St John's College

Oxford