In special TED lectures, veterans of the Sovereignty Youth Movement conveyed messages, experiences and lessons to the members of the movement in preparation for their continued hasbara work throughout the Land.
A special and exciting part of the Sovereignty Youth’s Hannukah seminar was dedicated to TED lectures given by veterans of the movement before dozens of youths who came from all parts of the Land to the Oz veGaon preserve, where the seminar was held, with the participation of public figures, people of action and politicians.
In one of the lectures, the methods used by media in the current era were explained to the youths. This was included as part of the understanding that in order to promote the movement’s ideas and the vision of sovereignty, it is important to act well in the sphere of communications as well.
In each of the short TED lectures, the youths learned about modern priorities, the significance of spin in internalizing public consciousness, long-term ways to act and persistence vis-à-vis media and the results that stem from it, etc. etc.
In another lecture, the question arose of how society in general relates to the Sovereignty Youth, which promotes an issue that is significant, but not necessarily one that is understood in society, the family or the environment. Might a non-sympathetic attitude toward the movement have a depressing effect on the movement’s activists? And if so, how can this be overcome? Hint: Understanding the meaning and importance of the goal has great power to prevent such an effect.
Another lecture, by someone who presided as CEO of Sovereignty Youth until quite recently, Itamar Yom Tov, dealt with how to be persuasive. Questions such as how to cause your fellow man to listen to a new idea, how to be persuasive in the correct way, how to approach people who are in clear opposition to the idea and others, arose, and along with them, guiding principles from Itamar’s personal experience: Know the facts and data well, be familiar with the various plans for sovereignty and the differences between them, know what the important topics are for our interlocutor and how to promote and explain the idea, integrate personal experiences, make your speech interesting and enthusiastic, speak briefly and concisely in the spirit of Tiktok… etc, etc.
In his lecture, Shlomo Ne’eman, who is also a former chairman of the movement, emphasized the long-term meaning of the youths’ work to change public awareness until the point when these things are also expressed in the practical activity of the politician at the end of the road.
Ne’eman emphasized that it is slow and difficult work and sometimes exhausting, but there are also deep and meaningful achievements. “The power of youth is in long-term investment. Politicians come and politicians go, but an idea remains: sometimes buds appear only after several years”, he said, and did not ignore the fact that sometimes it seems that the political situation is going backwards, and at such times we have to strengthen ourselves and internalize the meaning of long, hard work to realize the vision.
The youth seminar concluded with a gathering around the candle-lighting for the third night of Hanukah, led by Rav Yosef Zvi Rimon, the Rabbi of Gush Etzion.
The co-chairwomen of the Sovereignty Movement, Yehudit Katsover and Nadia Matar, summarize with great satisfaction, the seminar that attracted diverse and extremely interesting lecturers, but mainly the youths who showed interest and involvement throughout the entire day. “The Sovereignty Youth is impressive and we are excited anew every time. The youth is well aware of the importance of the mission of sovereignty as the Zionist mission for the current generation, and the words that were spoken at the seminar were a significant part of the puzzle of consciousness that the youth is formulating for itself before embarking on the mission of hasbara and other parts of the movement’s activity throughout the Land”.
Katsover and Matar especially emphasize the great impression that was left by the youths who delivered the TED lectures. “The remarks by the veterans prove how much the vision of sovereignty have been internalized and how important it is for them. Their very participation in the event initiated by them and led by them, proves how much they care about keeping the idea and the vision as the focus of Israeli discourse by the next generation of Sovereignty Youth activists. The leaders of the future generation in the State of Israel are being shaped here in the Sovereignty Movement, and we can see it by the content, dedication and ways of expression as well as the sparkle in their eyes”.