Rabbi Michael Lerner’s speech brought down the house at Mohammad Ali’s funeral & is making an international splash, even among progressives. That’s swell. So can he explain to us his comment that liberal & progressive Jews “have called upon the United States to stand up to the part of the Israeli government that is oppressing Palestinians”?

Which “part” of the Israeli government is oppressing Palestinians, as he sees it? The military which occupies the West Bank, has East Jerusalem under martial law, & bombs Gaza so badly it’s becoming uninhabitable? The judiciary that creates draconian laws governing Palestinians under occupation but refuses to prosecute Israeli settlers for violence against Palestinians? The Knesset filled to capacity with rightwing parties & politicians calling for even more unspeakable violence & repression of Palestinians?