Jewish Cyclist Cancelled from Women’s Day Event

Leah Goldstein is a 54-year-old Canadian-Israeli athlete who broke barriers as the first woman to win the Race Across America in 2021. This was after Leah suffered what for most would have been a career-ending crash while cycling in 2005. Yet she persevered and in spite of doctors telling her that she would never walk again unaided, she worked hard to get herself back into shape winning multiple competitions until her championship victory in 2021, where she completed the 3,000-mile race in 11 days, three hours and three minutes — beating her closest opponent by 17 hours!

Leah often speaks about how mental strength helped her overcome her injury, as well as the gender discrimination and bullying she experienced in sports and in Israel. In Israel, she was the first female elite commando instructor in the IDF the first woman to serve as an undercover police officer.

Now there is another reason to view Leah as a hero.

In August, she was invited by INSPIRE to be the keynote speaker at their event in Ontario, Canada on March 8th, marking International Women’s Day. But after Hamas attacked Israel and a wave of antisemitism swept across the globe, Leah was disinvited from the program due to a small but vocal group of pro-Palestinian activists who protested her involvement on account of serving in the IDF over 30 years ago.

I’ve faced a lot of adversity as a woman in a world dominated by men, as many other women have,” Leah said. “That’s what I was going to talk about in my speech on March 8th. There was nothing political about my speech, nor was there anything political about me being asked to speak.”

Leah has never been one to hide from her identity; on the contrary, she is proud of who she is and what she has overcome. “I’m not shy about who I am. It’s on my book and it’s in my bio. When I won the world championship I wore a Canadian flag and an Israeli flag on my legs. I’ve been a motivational speaker for over ten years and not once have I ever had any negative experience because I am Jewish or Israeli,” Leah said. “At least not until now. It completely threw me off, and it’s totally new territory for me.”

Leah’s story is being shared across major media outlets across North America, and in each interview she expresses not anger or hatred at what was done to her, but calls for dialogue. “I didn’t expect the story to gain this kind of traction so I wasn’t prepared to make a statement, but it has gained momentum, so I realized I do have to talk about it. I didn’t want to turn this into a political issue or platform. But after the story broke and began to be covered widely, I made an official statement on my website:”

“My agency fought on my behalf saying that INSPIRE was cowering to a small group of people who probably don’t even know what they are protesting for,” she added.

An official statement from the organizers said: "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 nonbinary individuals. 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."

Leah Goldstein (right) as a soldier in the IDF, c. late 1980s, early 1990s

In response Leah told Aish.com, “They say that it was because of my service in the IDF, but it wasn’t that, I am certain that it was because I’m Jewish. If I was Palestinian there is no way they would have removed me.”

Leah could have chosen many paths to fight the decision according to her agency, even choosing to take the organizers to court over breaking the contract. But Leah has chosen to use her voice instead to inspire others and call for a better future. “Canceling my speech and choosing a side in the conflict doesn’t make the situation better in Israel or in Gaza,” Leah explains. “The more of a divide we create, the more difficult the situation will be. At some point, people will have to come together to figure out a solution. Angry noise, protests, and canceling one another just divide us even further. INSPIRE claims they are all about inclusivity, but this is making much more divisiveness than there was before.”

Hatred is such a deadly and evil emotion and it causes us to do nasty things. I’ve received a lot of hate emails, but I don’t let them trigger me. I feel sorry for the people who feel that way. If you have that much hate inside of you, go ride a bike really hard, and then you’d be so tired that you wouldn’t have that energy to hate, but at least you’d be doing something productive.

People need to invest their energy into something and it is unfortunate that people have chosen hate. Right now, I am sad. I’m mad. And I am so disappointed. For now, I can only live in hope. I hope for peace. I hope that humans can learn to treat each other with respect and love. And I hope the future includes brave women who understand the fragile thread holding all of us together.”

When asked who inspires her, Leah responded emphatically, “My mother hands down. She doesn't have one negative bone in her body, the most positive person on the planet and the kindest woman you will ever meet.”

The ancient Jewish text of Proverbs provides a definition of a hero: “He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty” (Proverbs 16:32). Leah is a shining example of this and even though people tried to cancel her voice, in the end they simply gave her a much bigger podium from which to share her message of positivity, perseverance, and hope for a better tomorrow.