05/14/2018
An Important Update on the Women's Philanthropy Spring Luncheon
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Each year, the Jewish Federation of Cleveland’s Women’s Philanthropy hosts a spring luncheon that focuses on a relevant and timely women’s issue. This year, Women’s Philanthropy leadership wanted to explore the #MeToo movement and invited renowned feminist author, Naomi Wolf, to speak on this topic.
Since entering into an engagement with Dr. Wolf, we have come to learn that – in her writings and speeches – she has consistently taken extreme positions that demonize, delegitimize and set a double-standard for Israel.
In our role as the convener of the diverse Jewish community in Northeast Ohio, we are staunch defenders of free speech and the need for open and honest discussions on Israel and other topics that are inclusive of varying points of view. We cannot, however, allow any of our events to provide a platform for extreme viewpoints or be overshadowed by ill-informed rhetoric.
Therefore, we have notified Dr. Wolf this afternoon that we have cancelled her appearance and have apologized to her for any inconvenience this decision has caused. We also apologize to any of our community members who were distressed or confused by Dr. Wolf’s initial involvement with the annual spring luncheon.
We are excited about our Women’s Philanthropy spring luncheon on May 30th and look forward to celebrating our community and honoring Judi Kovach as the 2018 recipient of the Irene Zehman Volunteer Award. Details with regards to a new speaker and topic will be forthcoming.
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