Leah Goldstein, an Israeli-Canadian athlete with impressive achievements, was destined to be the keynote speaker at the International Women’s Day event in Ontario, Canada. But in the last hour, she received a surprising message: her participation was canceled due to her military service in the IDF about three decades ago.
Goldstein, a former Israeli cycling champion, is known for her extraordinary achievements, including winning the Trans-American Endurance Race while breaking the previous record. After her retirement from competitive sports, she lectures throughout North America on the topics of motivation and personal training.
Her invitation to the International Women’s Day event was canceled following complaints received about her military service. The organizers claimed that they canceled her participation out of a desire to “create safe spaces” and “to respect the sensitivity of the conflict in the Middle East.”
Goldstein expressed deep disappointment with the decision, emphasizing the fact that the speech she had planned had nothing to do with politics. “My presentation is about life, overcoming difficulties and mental fortitude,” she said. “I didn’t want to follow a political path, because that’s not what I do.”
She added that the demand from her to publish a statement regarding her position on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is invalid. “I am very proud of my service in the IDF and my training,” she said. “But I will not allow anyone to impose political views on me.”
Goldstein’s story highlights the status of Israelis around the world and the distorted messages held by countries and organizations regarding the right and duty of the State of Israel to defend itself.
Since October 7, many Israeli teams and athletes have had to deal with the consequences of the propaganda campaign against Israel in the world, on and off the sports field.
Just last week, a match of the Irish team against Israel in women’s basketball made headlines, when five Irish players decided to boycott the game as part of the European Championship qualifiers, and the rest of the team members did not go on the floor to introduce the players and refused to shake the hands of the Israeli players. It probably didn’t pay off very well, because they ended the game in a stinging loss with a 30 point difference in favor of Israel.
