Sovereignty Youth Gathers Momentum in a Hanukkah Seminar
Dozens of youths from all parts of the Land took part in another seminar of the Sovereignty Movement: History, Heritage, Social Networks and media.
Dozens of youths from all parts of the Land, from Haifa southward through Petah Tikva, the Jordan Valley, Jerusalem and other places took part in a seminar held by the Sovereignty Movement at the Oz veGaon preserve. Head of Gush Etzion Council, Shlomo Ne’eman and Minister of Transportation Bezalel Smotrich sent recorded messages to the attendees. The event began with words by the co-chairwomen of the movement, Yehudit Katsover and Nadia Matar, on sovereignty and its significance.
In his message, Minister Smotrich called on the members of Sovereignty Youth to continue the discourse on sovereignty, which is actually changing the consciousness of the public and the Israeli leadership, who are internalizing the necessity for sovereignty, a discourse that has brought the issue of sovereignty to the point where it is the leading issue in the political arena today.
The seminar opened with words of welcome by the co-chairwomen of the Sovereignty Movement, Yehudit Katsover and Nadia Matar, about the importance of promoting the vision of sovereignty and its significance. In a recorded video that the Head of Gush Etzion Shlomo Ne’eman sent to the assembly, he noted the importance of the current era as one in which it is possible to bring about the sovereignty revolution and of continuing to engage in activities that will bring Israeli statesmen, especially the Prime Minister, to implement the promise of sovereignty over the Jordan Valley and beyond.
Middle Eastern expert Dr. Ephraim Herrera conducted a survey of Islamic Jihad, its goals in the Land of Israel and its ideological foundations, which have been known since the days of Mohammed, the prophet of Islam. Former Member of Knesset Yehuda Glick related to sovereignty as a practical political act whose main purpose is the deep internalization of the principle that there must not be a foreign sovereignty in the heart of the historic Land of the Jewish People. Principal of the Kfar Etzion Field School, Yaron Rosental, told of creative ways in which he has conducted legal and political battles in order to stop the construction of a separation fence by mobilizing groups of people who held various political views.
Later in the seminar, the youths participated in workshops to strengthen and expand the Sovereignty Movement with organizational consultant Noa Katsover, to learn about effective ways of producing promotional videos for modern social media with Ezri Toby, director of Boomerang, and to deal with news media challenges with journalist Shimon Cohen.
Sovereignty Youth coordinators Itamar Yom Tov and Tehila Hadad held an open brainstorming session to prepare for the movement’s continued activities, led by the young men and women in their places of residence, in cities, in educational institutions and other various other settings. Among other things, the youths plan to hold activities with statesmen and politicians as well in the streets and on social media.
One surprising guest at the seminar was Rav Yosef Zvi Rimon, who blessed the youths, emphasizing the magnitude of the miracle in which this generation lives, the miracle of the rebirth of Israel and the ingathering of the exiles, which has never occurred to any other people throughout history.
The co-chairwomen of the Sovereignty Movement, Yehudit Katsover and Nadia Matar, sum up the event with great satisfaction: “The youth continues to breathe a pioneering spirit into the entire Sovereignty Movement. The young generation is well aware of its prominent and significant role in inculcating the vision of sovereignty in Israeli society, and with each conference or seminar we are excited to see how fitting it is to place the contemporary Zionist mission, the mission of sovereignty, on its shoulders. The youths initiate and lead new and innovative hasbara projects. These are the leaders of the next generation.”
The event concluded with a joint lighting of the Hanukkah lights, led by Rav Gilad Lewis, who spoke about the living connection between the struggles of the few against the many in the days of the Maccabees on the one hand and the struggles of this era on the other.
Photos Gershon Ellinson
Photos Gershon Ellinson
