With Code Pinker Ariel Gold back in the news, her fellow Code Pinker and partner-in-crime Ariel Vegosen has also reappeared on my radar – but for very different reasons.
She recently wrote this blog post: A Radically Inclusive Jewish Response To #MeToo, which reveals an initiative she is involved with within the Jewish community
As we create pathways to actualize the goals of #MeToo and #GamAni (the Israeli iteration), I consistently see a void both in the Jewish community and in the broader movement — an understanding of how misogyny and sexism deeply affect the LGBTQ community, and the importance of creating safety and inclusion for members of this community.
Specifically, when talking about ending sexual harassment, misogyny, sexual assault and rape culture, we need to be talking not just about the violence and harassment cis women face, but also the violence and harassment that LGBTQ individuals face.
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In addition to being an LGBTQ inclusion trainer, I am proud to be part of a group of Jewish educators trained in a curriculum called “Safe and Respectful Workplace,” made possible by grants from The Good People Fund and the Jewish Women’s Foundation of New York.
This is a training curriculum designed to stop sexual harassment before it starts. There are currently 12 Jewish educators trained to take this curriculum into Jewish organizations, summer camps, day schools, synagogues and other Jewish spaces across the country. We will train supervisors, employees and board members in how to create an environment that is healthy, respectful and free from abuse.
It seems from this that Vegosen is being brought in to Jewish organizations, camps, schools, synagogues and other institutions to teach about safe and respectful workplaces.
Which begs the question: do any of them know about her anti-Israel activities? Because I find it hard to believe any Jewish institution in their right mind would hire someone who feels comfortable doing this at one of the holiest sites in Judaism
to train people in how to create an environment that is healthy, respectful and free from abuse!
There is no mention of her anti-Israel activism on her business website, nor in the author bio to the above blog post, which seems to support the idea that the Jewish institutions employing her services have no idea about it.
Which is my main motivation behind this blog post. I am hoping the #Gamani movement and the Jewish institutions who have already employed her services – as well as those who may consider doing so – understand exactly who it is they are dealing with.
