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StopAntisemitism

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StopAntisemitism
Formation2018
TypeNonprofit organization[citation needed]
Executive Director
Liora Rez
Websitestopantisemitism.org

StopAntisemitism is a privately funded American advocacy group, describing itself as "a grassroots watchdog organization",[1] focused on combating antisemitism by exposing individuals perceived by the group as antisemitic.[2][3]

History

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Liora Rez, Executive Director, StopAntisemitism, testifies[4] at the United States House Committee on Small Business in 2024

Social media influencer Liora Rez founded StopAntisemitism as StopAntisemitism.org in October 2018 to monitor and expose online antisemitism. Rez was born in Kyiv, Ukraine, then in Soviet Union, where her family experienced antisemitism.[5][6] She started her social media career in 2013, under the name "Jewish Chick".[7]

As of September 2019, the organization's social media posts were viewed more than 750,000 times per month.[8] According to Rez, the organization is 100% privately-funded.[2]

Activities

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StopAntisemitism receives real-time tips about antisemitic incidents via its website and social media accounts. The organization then vets the submission for accuracy, ensure it has not been edited, and to confirm the location of the incident. According to Rez, the organization does not post all the submissions it receives and can take several hours to vet a submission. Next, StopAntisemitism researches the individual and their employers, both internally and using crowdsourcing. The organization then takes an assertive approach, seeking to create consequences and "expose antisemites" and a name-and-shame approach.[8][2]

According to Rez, "We're not trying to stifle their first American speech. If you want to spew hatred and act in a hateful way, you have that right. However, we have that equal right to showcase it to millions of people on social media and make your employers aware and make your community aware and make your and make society aware". In the aftermath of the 2023 Israel-Hamas war, StopAntisemitism reported receiving more than 500 reports of antisemitism per day, a 1,500% increase in submissions from before the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.[2]

Each week, the organization's website highlights an "Antisemite of the Week."[8] According to Rez, the "Antisemite of the Week" notifications went to 50,000 people per week in 2022.[5]

In April 2019, StopAntisemitism's tweet decrying Yale's invitation of French author Houria Bouteldja was viewed over 100,000 times.[9]

In October 2019, StopAntisemitism sent a petition with 2,000 signatures to the US Department of Education calling on the agency to keep the Council on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR) out of college campuses. The petition said CAIR pushes "Islamist propaganda, anti-Semitism, and anti-American bias" onto college campuses.[10]

In November 2023, StopAntisemitism launched StopDontShop.org that informs consumers about businesses which support Hamas in the Israel-Hamas War or express hatred towards the Jewish people and nation.[11]

An article by The Washington Post in April 2024, revealed that over 36 people had been fired from their jobs after the group exposed allegedly antisemitic comments made by the individuals based on the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's definition of antisemitism, or simply the working definition of antisemitism, which was disputed by a substantial proportion of academics critical of Israel.[3] For example, one individual was publicized on StopAntisemitism's social media pages after allegedly threatening Jews. After the post, the individual was sacked.[3] In another instance, StopAntisemitism revealed a professor to have allegedly threatened Jews, who was later terminated.[3]

StopAntisemitism took part in launching a petition calling on firing activist Marc Lamont Hill.[12] The organization releases an annual Antisemitism on U.S. College & University Campuses Report, using a report card-style grading system to assess 25 universities across the United States on their efforts to address campus antisemitism and protect their Jewish students.[13]

Antisemite of the Year

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Since 2019, the organization has been organizing annual competitions to select a figure as the "Antisemite of the Year".[14] Thousands participated in a poll, resulting in Ilhan Omar beating out Louis Farrakhan and Richard B. Spencer as the inaugural winner of the contest.[15][16][17]

In 2020, CUNY School of Law student and Palestinian activist Nerdeen Kiswani was named the "Antisemite of the Year";[18] Kiswani allegedly glorified Islamic terrorism in public and posted a video of himself threatening to set an IDF hoodie on fire.[18][19] Kiswani said the video was three years old, and criticized the organization.[18] The organization's naming of Kiswani came in response to an effort by a group of anti-Zionist CUNY students, many of them Jewish, to pass an alternate definition of antisemitism in the student senate rather than the IHRA definition.[20] Two other contenders were Simone Zimmerman and Ice Cube.[19]

In 2021, Anuradha Mittal of Ben & Jerry’s was named the "Antisemite of the Year", with the runner-ups being British singer-songwriter Dua Lipa and Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene.[21]

In 2022, Kanye West was named the "Antisemite of the Year", with the runners-up being Palestinian-Jordanian luxury real estate developer Mohamed Hadid – the father of model Gigi Hadid – and White supremacist Jon Minadeo II.[22]

In 2023, Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib was named the "Antisemite of the Year", beating out late Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and Palestinian-American model Gigi Hadid.[23]

Reception

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Journalist Jonathan Tobin lauded StopAntisemitism for carrying forward the education effort of established civil rights groups, such as the Anti-Defamation League. As a result of her work with StopAntisemitism, Rez was chosen by the Algemeiner newspaper for its "J100" list of "The Top 100 People Positively Influencing Jewish Life":[6] in 2019,[7] 2021,[24] and 2022.[25]

The group was criticized for its methods, which appeared to be doxxing.[26] Its adoption of the IHRA's working definition of antisemitism, which controversially classifies anti-Zionism as antisemitic.[citation needed]

A defamation and invasion of privacy lawsuit by a former university professor – once named as the "Antisemite of the Week" for alleging "Zio (an antisemitic pejorative[27][28]) control of U.S. government officials" – against the organization was dismissed by a Pennsylvania court due to the presiding judge's opinion that the organization's claims are "matters of opinion...subject to disagreement and do not imply the presence of undisclosed facts...", which are protected by the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment.[29][30]

References

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  1. ^ https://stopantisemitism.org/
  2. ^ a b c d Pohoryles, Yaniv (2023-11-12). "'Their actions have consequences': US group outs antisemites". Ynetnews. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  3. ^ a b c d Verma, Pranshua (April 17, 2024). "They criticized Israel. This Twitter account upended their lives". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
  4. ^ The testimony of Liora Rez before the U.S. Congress
  5. ^ a b Kaufman, Jane (2022-01-24). "Former Clevelander's goal – StopAntisemitism". Cleveland Jewish News. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  6. ^ a b About Liora Rez, a US Congress document
  7. ^ a b https://www.algemeiner.com/list/the-top-100-people-positively-influencing-jewish-life-2019/liora-rez/
  8. ^ a b c Dresner, Stacey (September 24, 2019). "Connecticut woman launches a watchdog group that takes aim at antisemitism". Jewish Ledger. Retrieved 2020-11-29.
  9. ^ Chomnalex, Ines (2023-04-10). "Alleged antisemitic activist speaks on campus, raising questions about free speech". Yale Daily News. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
  10. ^ Ghermezian, Shiryn (October 28, 2019). "Watchdog group launches petition to keep CAIR off American college campuses". JNS.
  11. ^ Hennessey, Zachy (2023-11-23). "Business watchdog site StopDontShop illuminates stores' views on Israel-Hamas war". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  12. ^ Richman, Jackson (December 26, 2018). "New watchdog aims to battle bias and hatred against Jews". Jewish News Syndicate. Retrieved November 29, 2020.
  13. ^ "StopAntisemitism report reveals dire state of campus antisemitism". Jewish News Syndicate. 2023-12-06. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
  14. ^ Antisemite of the Year, stopantisemitism.org
  15. ^ Reich, Aaron (January 7, 2020). "Ilhan Omar voted 2019's antisemite of the year". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 2020-11-29.
  16. ^ "American public votes Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar 'Antisemite of the Year'". Jewish News Syndicate. January 6, 2020. Retrieved 2021-06-03.
  17. ^ "A NGO names Rep. Ilhan Omar anti-Semite of the year 2019". i24 News. January 6, 2020. Retrieved 2020-11-29.
  18. ^ a b c Leland, John (2021-01-22). "What Zoom Does to Campus Conflicts Over Israel and Free Speech". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-06-03.
  19. ^ a b Ben-Nun, Sarah (December 23, 2020). "Antisemite of the year: A law student from New York". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 2021-07-13.
  20. ^ Rosenfeld, Arno (April 15, 2021). "'It was a disaster': Inside a fierce battle over antisemitism at CUNY". The Forward. Retrieved 2021-06-03.
  21. ^ Ben & Jerry’s Anuradha Mittal voted ‘Antisemite of the Year’, The Jerusalem Post, December 29, 2021
  22. ^ "Kanye West named antisemite of the year". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. Retrieved 2022-12-13.
  23. ^ "Rashida Tlaib crowned 'Antisemite of the Year' 2023 by StopAntisemitism". The Washington Post. April 17, 2024. Retrieved 2024-04-17.
  24. ^ https://www.algemeiner.com/list/the-top-100-people-positively-influencing-jewish-life-2021/liora-rez/
  25. ^ https://www.algemeiner.com/list/the-top-100-people-positively-influencing-jewish-life-2022/liora-rez--/
  26. ^ Auslender, Viki (23 November 2023). "Doxing: A legitimate tool in the fight against anti-Semitism?". CTECH. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
  27. ^ "Zionist / "Zio"". American Jewish Committee. April 2021. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
  28. ^ Samuels, Ben (18 July 2017). "'Violent History' of 'Zio': How Chicago's Dyke March Adopted an anti-Semitic Slur Dear to White Supremacists". Haaretz. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
  29. ^ Volokh, Eugene (21 November 2023). "Characterizing Professor's Tweets as Anti-Semitic Isn't Actionable Libel or Invasion of Privacy". Reason. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
  30. ^ Greiner, Jack (12 December 2023). "Professor sues over being labeled 'Antisemite of the Week.'". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
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