By Simona Bitton, Hasbara Fellowships High School Intern
Last year, I posted a video on Tik Tok about wanting to go back to Israel. I faced a lot of antisemitic comments on the video. Many people started commenting “Free Palestine” on my post. I was extremely confused by these comments, so I did some research, but after a lot of research, I still was unsure of how to reply to the comments. All of the articles seemed biased and I wanted to learn about both perspectives without the bias of the media. Coincidentally, I stumbled upon the Hasbara Fellowships Israel Advocacy Internship a few days after receiving those Tik Tok comments. Once I saw what it had to offer, I knew immediately that I would be interested. As I am writing this, I have finished the Hasbara program and I can honestly say that I now know how to effectively, logically and maturely respond to those types of antisemetic comments.
Joining Hasbara Fellowships’ Israel Advocacy high school program has truly changed my views on this conflict. Once a month, all of the students attend a webinar, featuring expert speakers. We discussed many subjects, such as: media bias, social media’s impact on Israel, United Nations, Antisemitism and many more. During these webinars, we get to experience different people’s points of view, and we are able to ask questions of these field experts in order to gain a better understanding of the situation. Through the program, we are required to complete 5 tasks that help us use our skills in different forms of advocacy: attending an Israel-related event, creating a social media post, responding to a anti-Israel comment, hosting an event for our peers, and writing a blog post.
It is an honor to partake in the Hasbara Fellowships High School Internship, and I can truly say that I am now prepared to advocate for Israel when the opportunity arises. Not only is this a way to advocate for Israel, but it provides the opportunity to have discussions with friends and family to educate them. If you are a student who is strongly passionate about Israel, or if you want to learn more about it, I would definitely recommend being a part of this advocacy program.
