San Diego Rabbi Hanan Leberman in Israel in 2018. (Image from American Jewish Committee video)
What took place before San Diego’s recent Jan. 19 “All Peoples Celebration” to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is a startling example of what can happen when a single word that reflects a simple objective can become hijacked.
San Diego Jewish World wrote on Jan. 18 that “American-Israeli Rabbi Hanan Leberman of San Diego’s Tifereth Israel Synagogue was disinvited from delivering a closing message at the All People’s Breakfast in Balboa Park … causing shock, outrage and protest from San Diego’s Jewish community.”
Leberman said the invitation was rescinded due to “his connection to Israel.”
In his letter to the organizers of the event, Alliance San Diego, he wrote that the message he preaches “is deeply aligned with the Reverend Dr. King’s teachings” and excluding him from speaking “runs counter to Dr. King’s message.”
Leberman said the decision to disinvite him is “a disservice to the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. I believe the organization would benefit from deeper education about what Zionism truly is and about what the Jewish community is facing today.”
King was by all accounts a staunch defender of Zionism and Israel’s right to exist and was said to be particularly concerned over the mischaracterization of Zionism as racism.
If Zionists are to be excluded from an event labeled “all peoples,” would King himself be unable to attend?
A letter to Alliance San Diego and sponsors of the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration signed by 47 members of the Finest Community Coalition states that the decision to disinvite Leberman because of “his belief in the right of the Jewish people to live safely in their historic homeland of Israel … contradicts the values associated with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. whose legacy this event seeks to honor.”
The document from the coalition (whose mission is: “combating antisemitism together for a better San Diego”) cites King’s public support of the Jewish people and of Israel’s right to exist in peace and security.
King believed that justice requires the courage “to do what’s right even when it’s uncomfortable,” the letter states, adding that backing away from inclusion “reflects a lack of courage.”
This year’s motto for the celebration was, ironically, “Choose Courage.” Courage is the last thing the organizers chose.
As reported in San Diego Jewish World, Tifereth Israel Synagogue’s president Lisa Berman Hernandez said Leberman was disinvited because another scheduled participant, “who is openly anti-Zionist, was unwilling to share space with Rabbi Leberman.”
According to Hernandez, the organizers “suggested they were concerned about ‘potential disruption’ due to his [Leberman’s] views.”
By refusing to share space with a rabbi whose only “sin” was that he believes Israel has a right to self-determination, the individual whose intolerance betrayed the legacy of King is the one who should have been disinvited.
“We believe deeply that progress is made not by silencing voices, but by engaging them,” said Hernandez. “We stand with our rabbi, we stand for inclusion, and we stand for dialogue rooted in mutual respect.”
Zionism is defined as a movement that supports the right of the Jewish people to a homeland in their historic ancestral territory. It’s a belief in the right of Israel to exist, a value intrinsic to Jewish identity.
What it does not mean is unilateral support for actions, policies and stated objectives executed by former or current Israeli leadership.
The basic definition of Zionism has become lost and twisted over the years to now suggest support of oppression, genocide and immoral conduct against civilian populations.
Anti-Israel forces have turned the word Zionism into a loathsome label.
This warped definition of what it means to be a Zionist has insidiously infected the general psyche and made anti-Jewish ideology acceptable, as the lines between antisemitism and anti-Zionism have blurred.
For many, “Denying the Jewish people their basic human rights, including the right to self-determination, is antisemitism,” to quote a statement submitted to the United Nations Secretary General in 2005.
The basic meaning of Zionism must be reclaimed for what it stands for — not for support of past or current administrations but in support of the continued existence of Israel as a sovereign nation. Nothing more, nothing less.
Marsha Sutton is education writer and investigative columnist, and can be reached at suttonmarsha@gmail.com.
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