Letter from Richard Sherman to the San Diego Times Editor, January 21, 2026, regarding the cancellation of Rabbi Hanan Lieberman as a speaker at an event to honour Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr

Dear Letter to the Editor:

The disinvitation of Rabbi Hanan Leberman of Congregation Tifereth Israel Synagogue in San Carlos to the San Diego Alliance's "People's Breakfast" in honor of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. represents complete ignorance of and disrespect to the teachings of Dr. King. ( "Local Rabbi Disinvited From Speaking at King Breakfast Over Israel Connection".)  Dr. King was a proud Zionist. Yes, Dr. King was a proud Zionist.

In October 1967 in Cambridge, Massachusetts with great wisdom and prescience Dr. King said: "When people criticize Zionists, they mean Jews; you're talking antisemitism."

See: "The Socialism of Fools - The Left, the Jews and Israel", Seymour Martin Lipset, Encounter, December 1969, page 24; see also: "The Words of Martin Luther King", Harvard website 2016, Professor Martin Kramer.

Further many of the iconic leaders of the American civil rights movement including Bayard Rustin, Rosa Parks, A. Phillip Randolph, and others were also proud Zionists and supporters of Israel. See: "Zionism and the Black Church", by Pastor Dumisani Washington, 2021. Note: Chapter 4. The Pro- Israel Legacy of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. pg. 77-102.

To have a serious discussion about Dr. King's legacy and not mention his proud Zionism and the proud Zionism of many other leaders of the civil rights movement is antisemitism by omission. For the San Diego Alliance  to go further and disinvite a Zionist rabbi to an event honoring Dr. King is the ultimate disrespect to Dr. King's  legacy. Disrespect that is now carved in stone.

Richard Sherman, Florida