Shomeric Beacon of Light: Yonatan Shargian

I work at Standing Together, a Jewish-Palestinian grassroots movement in Israel that fights for peace, equality and social justice. In past I was active in various volunteer roles in the organization including creating social media content on our media team, mobilizing supporters during protests, and community organizing in the Tel Aviv branch of the movement. Today I am working on fundraising and running campaigns for international audiences. During a time that is heartbreakingly bleak, where Israeli society is reeling, the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza is unbearable, and where all that politicians promise us is more and more war, Standing Together has offered me community, hope, and an outlet for taking action in a reality where it is easy to feel helplessness and despair. 

My experience growing up at Hashomer gave me so much of the skills that I use now everyday. Living in the idealist bubble of camp Shomria showed me the power of building an alternative and imagining a reality that is different than the one we are made to accept. Writing peulot and erevim taught me how to deliver educational topics and complex messages to audiences in an engaging way. Figuring out how to entertain and excite chanichim and chanichot taught me how to energize a crowd. Finally, making decisions about education in our movement helped me learn how to navigate morals and take principled and strategic stances within a complicated world. 

In many ways I feel like my work now at Standing Together is a continuation of my time at mosh. I feel that it is a place to dream and to learn, but also to act and refuse to accept the current political order. There is a slogan that we have at Standing Together: “Where there is struggle there is hope”. When things feel helpless - whether it be in Israel or the United States - I remember that the majority of people are not bad people, and that we all have a common interest in economic security, freedom and peace. It is not easy to get there, but with the right strategy, solidarity and vision it is possible.