Women’s day event postponed amid uproar
Organizers of an International Women’s Day event that ignited controversy when it cancelled a talk by a former professional cyclist because she served in the Israeli military have postponed the entire event.
“Due to circumstances beyond our control, Inspire: The Women’s Portrait Project’s International Women’s Day Event is postponed,” says a statement from INSPIRE to Kawarthanow, a local media outlet.
International Women’s Day is on March 8. It’s not clear when the Inspire talk will be rescheduled.
Leah Goldstein, 55, who lives in Vernon, B.C., was slated to give the keynote address at the event in Peterborough, Ont. But organizers had said “a small but growing and extremely vocal group” had taken issue with Goldstein’s military service.
“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,” organizers said last week.
Goldstein said in a post on her website that she was “heartbroken” when she was told her speech had been cancelled.
In a post on X, Goldstein said that other women’s day events unrelated to the Inspire one have been swamped with negative messages. She asked her supporters to “be sure they are connecting with the right organization” if they’re making complaints.
In 2021, Goldstein became the first woman to win the solo category of Race Across America, a 4,800-kilometre bike race across the United States, and one of the longest endurance races in the world.
She was born in Vancouver in 1969 to Israeli parents. Raised in Israel, she served in the Israel Defense Forces. Israel has compulsory military service laws. Before returning to Canada in the late 1990s, she also served as a police officer, according to the Times of Israel.
“I don’t believe you hired me because I was a soldier and a cop,” Goldstein wrote in a post directed at the INSPIRE event. “While these jobs are part of my story (and I’m very grateful to have had these experiences), they do not define me as a human being.
“As a Jewish woman, I would never be offended if a Palestinian woman were to speak about her obstacles and life journey. I thought that’s what women were supposed to do for each other — listen and support!”
The Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported that Dean Pappas, a former city councillor in Peterborough, Ont., asked the city’s diversity, equity and inclusion officer to investigate INSPIRE.