05 June 2025 WIZO Statement on the Reinstatement of Sharon Tal at the Mind Body Spirit Festival
We welcome the decision by the Mind Body Spirit Festival (MBS) to reinstate Sharon Tal, an Israeli-Australian kinesiologist, to the June 2025 program following her unjust removal.
Sharon is a respected practitioner who has contributed to the MBS community for over a decade with professionalism, compassion, and integrity. Her exclusion, in response to an activist-led campaign targeting her solely on the basis of her nationality and faith, was deeply troubling and starkly inconsistent with the values of inclusion, healing, and respect that MBS claims to uphold.
We acknowledge the festival’s decision to reverse course and support Sharon’s full participation. However, this incident must serve as a broader lesson: in moments of pressure, it is vital to stand up to bullies — not to surrender to them.
Institutions that pride themselves on inclusivity must have the moral clarity and courage to withstand ideological intimidation. Capitulating to threats only emboldens those who use harassment and hate as tools of censorship.
As the largest women’s NGO in Israel, with over 250,000 members globally, WIZO stands firmly against discrimination of any kind. Our mission is rooted in service to all communities — Jews, Muslims, Christians, Druze, and others — and in upholding dignity, compassion, and social justice.
We now call on all event organisers, institutions, and cultural spaces to reaffirm their commitment to true diversity and inclusion — including for Jewish and Israeli Australians — and to ensure that no individual is ever excluded from public life on the basis of their identity.
Let this be more than a correction.
Let it be a turning point — and a call for stronger, principled leadership.
By: Hani Hanam-Papalia & Penny Goodman
Co-Presidents WIZO Victoria
