February 14, 2019
Last week, as Washington D.C. was gripped by controversy surrounding Ilhan Omar’s tweets, nearly 100 high school students from around the country including Los Angeles gathered in the capital to defend Jewish values.
These young advocates, the next generation of Jewish leaders, are participants in AJC’s Leaders for Tomorrow (LFT) program. The yearlong initiative that trains high school students to advocate for Israel and combat antisemitism when they get to college and throughout their lives.
AJC LA Assistant Directors Saba Soomekh and Holly Huffnagle staffed the whirlwind advocacy trip, which included meetings with Members of Congress and their staff.
The very evening before the students were set to meet with Members of Congress, Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D-MN) used her Twitter account to spew classic antisemitic tropes, accusing American Jews of paying off elected officials. The students came ready with several requests of Congress, and the freshman member’s tweet led them to add one more. They called on each representative they met with to condemn Omar’s statements. Shortly after meeting with the group, several members issued condemnations of Omar’s remarks.
