A Jewish cyclist was told she couldn’t speak at an event for International Women’s Day in Ontario because she served on the Israeli Defense Forces decades ago.
Leah Goldstein, 55, is a professional road racing cyclist born in Vancouver, Canada, to Israeli parents and raised in Israel.
Goldstein is known as the first woman to win the overall solo division of the Race Across America in 2011.
The champion athlete was set to be the keynote speaker at the 2024 International Women’s Day event in Peterborough – but was uninvited because of her service with the Israeli military three decades ago.
‘I was hurt. I was angry. But most of all I was heartbroken,’ Goldstein wrote on her website.
A Jewish cyclist was told she couldn’t speak at an event for International Women’s Day in Ontario because she served on the Israeli Defense Forces decades ago
Leah Goldstein, 55, is a professional road racing cyclist born in Vancouver, Canada , to Israeli parents and raised in Israel
Due to her time spent with IDF, the organizers, INSPIRE group, decided to uninvite the cyclist from the role she accepted five months ago to ensure the event was a ‘safe space’
Goldstein revealed that she doesn’t usually and was not planning to bring politics into her speech at the event
Like most young Israelis, Goldstein served her time in the IDF because of Israel’s compulsory military service laws.
She also worked as a police officer upon her return to Canada in the late 1990s, the Times of Israel reported.
Due to her time spent with IDF, the organizers, INSPIRE group, decided to uninvite the cyclist from the role she accepted five months ago to ensure the event was a ‘safe space’.
‘Our focus at INSPIRE has been and will always be to create safe spaces to honor, share, and celebrate the remarkable stories of women and non-binary individuals,’ the women’s empowerment group said in a statement.
‘In recognition of the current situation and the sensitivity of the conflict in the Middle East, the Board of INSPIRE will be changing our keynote speaker.’
Goldstein revealed that she doesn’t usually and was not planning to bring politics into her speech at the event.
She told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, ‘I am zero political when I speak.
‘Honestly, there is nothing political about my presentation. I just talk about the crap that I went through and the crap that most women go through, and they still do, and how I handled it.’
According to the event organizers, other speakers had been ‘attacked’ by pro-Palestinian activists because of Goldstein’s role as keynote speaker.
The champion athlete (right) was set to be the keynote speaker at the 2024 International Women’s Day event in Peterborough – but was uninvited because of her service with the Israeli military three decades ago
Like most young Israelis, Goldstein served her time in the IDF because of Israel’s compulsory military service laws
Goldstein is known as the first woman to win the overall solo division of the Race Across America in 2011
‘We are equally upset,’ INSPIRE’ founder Heather Doughty said.
‘We’re just this tiny little not-for-profit that is trying to do a nice thing, and we were literally attacked. We had speakers [from INSPIRE] verbally attacked. They went to do their grocery shopping, and people came up and were attacking them.’
Goldstein’s critics were allegedly ‘demanding to know what Leah’s position was’ on the Israel-Hamas war.
The Israeli cyclist said that INSPIRE requested she make a statement – which she said was ‘ridiculous’.
‘If I were to make a statement, I would say that I’m very proud of my training with the IDF, being the first woman to train the commando soldiers,’ she said.
‘So yes, if they want that kind of statement, I’d be happy to say it. But to dis Israel and say, it’s genocide, we’re killing 20,000 innocent children and women and whatnot — it’s a freaking war. That’s what happens.’
‘I didn’t want to go down that path because that’s not what I do. They didn’t hire me because I was an IDF soldier. They hired me because I inspire. I motivate.
‘They’re making this political when it shouldn’t be. My presentation isn’t about the war. It’s about life.’
Goldstein revealed that since the conflict in the Middle East began she has noticed a slight decrease in the number of speaking engagements she’s been able to book.
Now that Goldstein has been ousted, a female Canadian hockey player will take the keynote speaker position.
‘This has been so traumatic for me,’ Doughty said. ‘I just wanted to put on a really nice event for the women in this area, and it turned into something that I don’t even understand.’
***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk