Move Along. . .

Two days ago, along with some of the El HaLev staff, I participated in the March for Women in Israel. Our goal was to raise our voices and make it clear that we have zero tolerance for violence. Zero tolerance for murders. And that we will accept nothing less than 100% justice for victims.

This well-meaning older police officer saw my sign, which said, “The time has come to invest in prevention!” and started a conversation.

He introduced himself and then proceeded to try and sell me the lecture that he gives when teaching women how to recognize potentially violent men.

I politely told him that I was glad that he was doing that, as it is important. And then told him who I was and about what we do at El HaLev.

His response was, "I have been doing this for 15 years! You need to hear about what I am teaching."

My response to that was, "I have been teaching for 20+ years, and belong to a global movement dedicated to teaching women and girls how to defend themselves."

I have been teaching for 20+ years, and belong to a global movement dedicated to teaching women and girls how to defend themselves.

You all know the speech.

See that wagging finger there? That is mansplaining plain and simple. There was not a chance that this person, this man, was open to hearing anything other than what he knows "as the expert" and how wrong and misguided I am thinking that I could possibly know better.

[Sigh]

When Anat Errel, a senior ESD instructor, joined in the conversation, his response to her was, “You are mistaken. You need to listen to me. When I teach 100 women, I am thrilled if just one of them ends up using what I teach to save themselves."

To which Anat replied, "When I teach 100 women, I know that all 100 of them will be able to use what I have taught them to be as safe as they can be."

"When I teach 100 women, I know that all 100 of them will be able to use what I have taught them to be as safe as they can be."

Boom.

Pretty sure that is when the finger got way too close to my face....

After that, Mor, another instructor, joined in with a response that put an end to all the nonsense.

"We are not interested in what you have to say. Move along."

"We are not interested in what you have to say. Move along."

And that was the end of that.

Team work!