An American Jewish politician has warned that the incidence of antisemitism in the country is producing a crisis for Jewish youth.

Dafna Michaelson Jenet, a Democrat member of the Colorado House of Representatives, spoke out against what many see as growing mainstream acceptance of antisemitism in the country. 

“The outcry against Israel is getting larger and larger,” she said.

“Especially after this recent election [in Israel], our young people are worried. They’re worried because they come from the left - as most young people do - and they don’t know how to talk about Israel in school.

“More and more it seems that what happens in Israel is a reflection on whoever is Jewish. We are seeing a lot of antisemitism that comes in the guise of anti-Israel sentiment.”

The Israeli-born representative said that even within her own within her own legislative chamber she has felt limited in the number of times she has been allowed to discuss Israel and the problem of antisemitism.

“Antisemitism in the public square will inevitably trickle into politics, and it’s a very dangerous time for Democrats to be quiet about Israel. There is a big problem in Democrats not supporting Israel. All it takes is two presidential candidates who don’t care about Israel or the future of Israel and then we will see how quickly things slide off the rails and into the ether.”

It was critical, she argued, to continue to invest in young communities.

“The likes of Kanye West and his ilk are not going away. And if we’re not to be silent, we must combat it,” she said.

“One of the best ways to combat this virulent antisemitism that is rippling through American popular culture is in summer camps. Jewish summer camps are more powerful than even schools.”

Jewish summer camps were “thriving” in Colorado, the state with the 16th largest Jewish population.

Parents understand that, although expensive, Jewish summer camps can “result in a good chance the kids will have strong identification as a Jew and connection with Israel.”

The USA, she said, “acts as a bellwether for Jews in the diaspora. We have seen time and time again that what happens to Jews in America is indicative of any trend likely to affect Jews elsewhere in the world. 

“And it seems like there is a reckoning taking place in America, and keeping silent is not the answer. We know what it looks like if we sit quietly.”

Her worries were echoed in another talk by former American Jewish Committee executive Avi Mayer,

“Discourse has become so much more violent and so much more polarised, certainly more so than has ever been experienced in my lifetime,” he told the JC.

Avi Mayer Limmud

Avi Mayer during his talk on “The state of antisemitism in America”, December 26, 2022

“It seems like now it is a culture of ‘anything goes’, and things that had been perhaps latent or under the surface for decades have bubbled to the top.”

The change had “helped to empower or embolden those who maybe held antisemitic views beforehand but were uncomfortable with it or thought it was a bit of a taboo. That taboo has now been broken entirely and I think that is a large part of what we are seeing today. 

“It’s a problem that is difficult to fix. I think it’s a problem that is likely to get worse before it gets better.”