Finest Community Coalition Letter to Alliance San Diego Leadership and All Peoples Celebration Sponsors: A Call to Uphold Dr. King’s Legacy of Inclusion

January 18, 2026

Dear Leadership of Alliance San Diego and Sponsors of the All Peoples Celebration,

We write on behalf of the 46 undersigned members of the Finest Community Coalition. Our coalition includes community-based organizations, social service providers, and synagogues across denominations. While our member organizations serve different missions and communities, we are united in our commitment to confronting antisemitism. Our members are deeply rooted in San Diego, and many of us have been proud to stand firmly alongside other communities and groups over decades of working toward a stronger, more inclusive San Diego.

We are writing because of your decision to disinvite Rabbi Hanan Leberman of Tifereth Israel Synagogue from speaking at the All Peoples Celebration because of his beliefs and values—specifically, his belief in the right of the Jewish people to live safely in their historic homeland of Israel. At a time when Jews are experiencing an alarming rise in hatred and violence, this belief is not theoretical or political; it is central to Jewish identity and safety.

Nothing about Rabbi Leberman’s beliefs changed between the time he was invited to speak and the time that invitation was rescinded. He was open and transparent about his views from the outset, and they were well known to those who invited him. The decision to disinvite him was not based on new information, but on the growing unwillingness to include Jews who openly affirm this part of their identity. This is especially painful at a time that Jews are the religious group most targeted by hate and violence in our county and coming in the same week that a synagogue was firebombed in Mississippi.

That decision contradicts the values associated with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., whose legacy this event seeks to honor. Dr. King spoke publicly in support of the Jewish people and of Israel’s right to exist in peace and security. He also believed that justice requires courage—the willingness to do what is right even when it is uncomfortable. Backing away from inclusion when there may be consequences reflects a lack of that courage.

Rabbi Leberman agreed to participate knowing he would share the stage with people whose views differ from his own. That willingness to show up, listen, and speak honestly across disagreement is what builds real coalitions. Excluding him avoids that work rather than engaging in it. Alliance San Diego has egregiously mischaracterized their disinvitation and has tried to claim that they also disinvited another speaker, when in reality, that speaker refused to share the stage with Rabbi Leberman.

Calling this gathering the All Peoples Celebration is difficult to reconcile with the exclusion of a Jewish leader for holding beliefs that are held by a strong majority of the Jewish community globally and here in San Diego. Many now see this decision as turning the event into an “All Peoples (except for Jews) Celebration.” That outcome should give everyone involved pause.

Alliance San Diego must do better in living up to their mission and to the values of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and work to rebuild their trust with our Jewish community. Our coalition remains committed to dialogue and to building a San Diego in which all communities are treated with dignity and fairness.

Sincerely,

American Israeli Council - San Diego

American Jewish Committee - San Diego

American Jewish Medical Association - San Diego Chapter

Anti-Defamation League - San Diego

Beth Jacob Congregation

Camp Mountain Chai

Chabad Hebrew Academy

Chabad of Downtown

Chabad SDSU

Chai Vekayam

Chavurah Shir HaYam

Christian and Jewish Alliance

Coastal Tribe SD

Congregation Adat Yeshurun

Congregation Beth Am

Congregation Beth El

Congregation Beth Israel

Congregation B'nai Tikvah

Congregation Dor Hadash

Hebrew Free Loan of San Diego

House of Israel

Hillel of San Diego

Israeli American Council

Jewish Collaborative of San Diego

Jewish Community Foundation San Diego

Jewish Family Service of San Diego

Jewish Federation of San Diego

Jewish National Fund-USA

KEN Jewish Community

Leichtag Foundation

Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center

Ner Tamid Synagogue

Ohr Shalom Synagogue

PeerK12

Playing Together Project

Remember Us The Holocaust

San Diego Association of Rabbis and Cantors

San Diego Hebrew Day

San Diego Jewish Academy

StandWithUs

Temple Adat Shalom

Temple Emanu-El

Temple Solel

Tifereth Israel Synagogue

The Hive

The San Diego Community Kollel

Young Israel of San Diego