Inspired by a deep desire to follow the mitzvah of tikkun olam - doing good in or repairing the world - and further fueled by a sense of social responsibility toward minorities, underdogs, and the least of these transcending centuries but even more deeply entrenched in the fabric of Jewish culture following the Holocaust, it has not been an uncommon trend historically for the American Jewish constsituency to gravitate their loyalties toward the platform of the Democratic Party.
Ever since the birth of Israel in 1948, the Democratic Party has consistently won the hearts, minds, and votes of America’s Jewish people, most notably among the non-Orthodox types, the Daily Wire elaborates. While Jewish voters usually overwhelmingly vote democratically, on the lower end of the scale, Jimmy Carter won 45 percent of the Jewish vote in 1980 simply for his party affiliation despite other views on Israel that may not be so favorable. More recently and more typically for this demographic, 71 percent of America’s Jews voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016.
Yet, a novel millennial-led grassroots group identifying themselves as “Jexodus,” primarily focused in the American Jewish epicenters of New York and Florida at this time with plans to eventually expand their mission nationwide, is formulating a vision to go against this historical trend at the ballot box and bring more awareness to issues surrounding not only the Jewish people, but the State of Israel, ultimately encouraging people to vote their values rather than the pure media narrative.
The group issued a recent press release in Washington, D.C. which stated: “We are proud Jewish Millennials tired of living in bondage to leftist politics. We reject the hypocrisy, anti-Americanism, and anti-Semitism of the rising far-left. Progressives, Democrats, and far too many old-school Jewish organizations take our support for granted. After all, we’re Jewish, and Jews vote for Democrats.”
“Until today. We are determined and we are unafraid to speak for ourselves. As combatants and veterans of the campus wars, we know the threat progressivism poses to Jews. We’ve had front row seats witnessing anti-Semites hide behind the thin veil of anti-Zionism. We know the BDS movement harbors deep hatred not only for Israel, but for Jews. We’re done standing with supposed Jewish leaders and allegedly supportive Democrats who rationalize, mainstream, and promote our enemies. We’d rather spend forty years wandering in the desert than belong to a party that welcomes Jew-haters...”
“Jexodus is a totally genuine grassroots movement started by young millennials who are just trying to galvanize young Jews across the country and get them involved in what’s happening in politics,”a Elizabeth Pipko, group spokesperson, told Breitbart. “[They are] seeing what’s going on in both parties, and also getting them involved in voting in 2020.”
“What’s being to told to young people - specifically millennials on college campuses - is that to be proudly Jewish is for some reason be against Israel,” Pipko elaborated. “I think there’s huge pressure to conform to that, especially, like I said on college campuses. People are separating supporting Israel and being Jewish. People are trying to get people against what’s going on in the Middle East, so we explain to them what’s actually happening. They’re trying to make young people believe that you can be proudly Jewish while standing against Israel. That’s what I’m seeing on college campuses. That’s what I’m seeing young people dealing with every single day. ”
“And most importantly, [Jexodus] is creating an environment where young Jews can feel unafraid, stand up for themselves and their beliefs, and feel free to come to their own conclusions about what’s going on and decide who they want to vote for and how they want to be involved, and not let the media and the narrative decide that for them.”
