"Anti-semitism" as a career move

[yankeedoodle]

Brilliant analysis from Karl Radl http://semiticcontroversies.blogspot.com/ about a non-practicing jewish Russian woman who comes to America and discovers how to cash in on "anti-semitism."

Liora Rez and 'The Center for Combating Hate in America'
http://semiticcontroversies.blogspot.com/2018/12/liora-rez-and-center-for-combating-hate.html

Recently 'NOQ Report' announced the 'creation' of 'The Center for Combating Hate in America' which is the latest jewish 'watchdog group' to be created in the wake of Robert Bowers' shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh. (1)

Another example is Mike Elk's 'The Jewish Yinzer Fund for Immigrant and Racial Justice Labor Reporting' which I covered recently. (2) The difference between Elk's project and of 'The Center for Combating Hate in America' is the scale of ambition of the project.

The latter wants to – in the words of its only identifiable figure and director – Liora Rez:

'"Within a short time after we started our activities, it became clear that the challenge of hatred and bigotry in America extend beyond anti-Semitism," C4CHA director Liora Rez told JNS. "The rise of anti-Semitism is only a symptom of a bigger issue in the U.S. As concerned citizens, we felt it's important to be proactive in combating the dangers of hatred in America, which threatens our values and way of life. We can no longer be lame ducks waiting for the next attack."

She added, "Given the challenges that we face, we believe that there is a strong need for a new organization that addresses the threat of hate and violence in America."

[...]

Rez remarked that her organization will "complement" similar groups such as the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center, fighting hatred from both sides of the ideological spectrum and from religious radicals.

"C4CHA will work to curb the freedom of hate groups and their ideology in America by calling citizens to submit information about such groups, events and campaigns, which will allow C4CHA to research, document and create a database of individuals, organizations and networks associated with radical hate groups, and their influence on American politics, our public schools, universities, think tanks, media and government offices," she explained.

"The ultimate goal," she said, "is to expose and alert the appropriate authorities about their activities, at the same time that we engage concerned citizens and organizations who are willing to combat
them."' (3)

In essence then 'The Center for Combating Hate in America's' mission is to curb the first amendment of the United States by attempting to criminalize any criticism of jews, Judaism and/or Israel by conflating it with mass murder. It seeks to do this by publishing the details of so-called 'hate criminals' and then making them targets for illegal extra-judicial 'activism' and politically-based harassment by jews and their associates.

'The Center for Combating Hate in America' is – despite its protestations – essentially a copycat of the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, the Southern Poverty Law Center but also of the less known American Jewish Committee's 'anti-hate' operation and 'They Can't' (4) among others.

If I had to guess it is basically a speculative cash cow to fund Rez's life via donations – think the models used by Ben Shapiro and Jacob Wohl - given that 'The Center for Combating Hate in America' is actually just 'Stopantisemitism.org' that has been renamed (5) and bought a new website address, which just loops back to www.stopantisemitism.org. After all www.stopantisemitism.org's content basically consists of petitions (6) and trying to generate interest by claiming to be a 'grassroots movement' and putting out self-congratulatory news releases. (7)

But who is Liora Rez?

Well finding out wasn't difficult based on the amount of publically available information there is out there on her.

In the first instance her real name is Liora Reznichenko‎ and she was originally born to a jewish family in Kaunas in Lithuania. ( Her mother is one Riva Reznichenko who also shortens her surname to Rez (9) and is the daughter of 'Holocaust Survivors'. (10) Her father's name is Yury Reznichenko. (11)

To quote Liora Rez on her ancestry and Lithuanian 'anti-Semitism':

'How many years later and some things STILL have not changed in Lithuania! Thank G-d my parents and family fled there in the early 80's!' (12)

She added the following to the picture in a brief biography for the 'Jewish Ledger' of Connecticut:

'Born in Kaunas, Lithuania to Jewish parents, Rez and her family immigrated to America when she was four, settling in Cleveland, where there is a large Russian population.

"Like so many immigrants from the former USSR there was no religion in the home. You were told you were Jewish and that was it," she said.

She did attend Hebrew school for one year and despite her family's lack of Jewish practice, she had a bat mitzvah.

"It is just a rite of passage," she explained. "The one benchmark for most former Soviet Jews is the bar and bat mitzvah."

She attended Brandeis where she got a BS in neuroscience (she minored in statistics). She later got her MBA in finance and worked for 10 years in the structured business world. She came to Connecticut when her now ex-husband was transferred to the area.

When her daughter was born seven years ago and soon was found to have a rare metabolic condition (now under control), Rez became a stay-at-home mom.

While devoted to her daughter, the former corporate executive was also feeling a bit isolated and lonely.' (13)

For the sake of completeness I should add that her ex-husband – who she divorced between 2013 and 2015 in a messy and evidently hostile series of proceedings in the Hartford County courts – (14) Sandi Elhibir – seemingly a mechanical engineer by profession – (15) and against whose new girlfriend - one Emina Behremovic – she took legal action in 2017 concerning fresh divorce-related legal proceedings. (16)

By her own admission Rez started a jewish fashion Instagram account in 2013 out of boredom and loneliness caused by her status as a stay-at-home mom (17) and then a personal blog named 'Jewish Chick' (18) in mid-2017. (19) On 'Jewish Chick' Rez combines brief commentaries on fashion and lifestyle with rants about 'anti-Semitism' averaging about a post a month. (20)

The change from jewish fashion blogger to hard-core pro-Israel fanatic seems to have occurred when in November 2016: 'the Connecticut resident was one of 30 Jewish women – all media magnets in their own right – to take a trip to Israel as part of the Jewish Women's Renaissance Project (JWRP).

Through its flagship MOMentum program, JWRP, an international non-profit headquartered in Rockville, Md., takes Jewish women – many unaffiliated – to Israel to study together and hopefully continue their Jewish involvement after returning home, with their families and in their communities. A group of Hartford area women took the MOMentum trip to Israel in November of 2016 ("The Power of Women," Jewish Ledger, Jan. 11, 2017). The trip has been called "Birthright for Jewish Moms."' (21)

She has continued to be a jewish fashion blogger – appearing on local Connecticut News in December 2017 talking about suitable Hanukkah gifts – (22) but immediately began to diversify in promoting pro-Israel talking points via the medium of women's issues (think Phyllis Chesler) in two pieces published in the 'Jewish Daily Forward'. (23)

Rez created 'Stopantisemitism.org' around this time and has since sought to push her credentials as someone 'knowledgeable' about anti-Semitism. When as far as I can work out the best she has likely done in terms of research into the subject is to read a popular history of anti-Semitism – I would guess something like Robert Wistrich's 'Anti-Semitism: The Longest Hatred' – and a raft of mid-brow pro-Israel material like Alan Dershowitz's 'The Case for Israel'.

Therefore I would propose that 'The Center for Combating Hate in America' is merely an activism-based extension of this and – as before stated – an attempt by Rez to create a livelihood out of her 'pro-Israel activism' as well as re-craft her identity following the failure of her marriage to Sandi Elhibir and having to take care of a daughter with significant health issues.


References

(1) https://noqreport.com/2018/12/27/new-watchdog-aims-battle-bias-hatred-jews/; alternatively see https://www.jns.org/new-watchdog-aims-to-battle-bias-and-hatred-against-jews/
(2) https://semiticcontroversies.blogspot.com/2018/12/mike-elk-and-jewish-yinzer-fund-for.html
(3) https://noqreport.com/2018/12/27/new-watchdog-aims-battle-bias-hatred-jews/; alternatively see https://www.jns.org/new-watchdog-aims-to-battle-bias-and-hatred-against-jews/
(4) See my article: https://semiticcontroversies.blogspot.com/2014/07/eliyahou-roth-jew-behind-they-cant.html
(5) https://noqreport.com/2018/12/27/new-watchdog-aims-battle-bias-hatred-jews/; alternatively see https://www.jns.org/new-watchdog-aims-to-battle-bias-and-hatred-against-jews/
(6) See: https://www.stopantisemitism.org/
(7) https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/grassroots-movement-delivers-36-000-signatures-that-called-for-cancellation-of-anti-semitic-sjp-conference-at-ucla-300755635.html
( https://www.facebook.com/rezliora?__tn__=%2CdC-R-R&eid=ARDUHBXETEovzKMBSZEniSO9wO-mNhDKJJupN8yvDOAgpuAsdKpBBCFvFrBbqf4dmsh0G8_0CP3rhG14&hc_ref=ARRprn3Xq4vzUPxlSWgkAJPutTKqXtwMs2EtzYrm7BoXdjm4Bw0fchvAXvtVOKsBke8&fref=nf
(9) https://www.facebook.com/riva.reznichenko
(10)   https://www.facebook.com/3GsWorldwide/posts/how-many-years-later-and-some-things-still-have-not-changed-in-lithuania-thank-g/10153426544805920/
(11)   https://neighbor.report/address/8930-Gettysburg-Dr-Twinsburg-OH-44087-USA/12326694_id/
(12)   https://www.facebook.com/3GsWorldwide/posts/how-many-years-later-and-some-things-still-have-not-changed-in-lithuania-thank-g/10153426544805920/
(13)   http://www.jewishledger.com/2018/01/road-israel-2/
(14)   https://www.juralindex.com/civil/reznichenko-liora-v-elhibir-sandi-case-details-db59b943a68bdb3a2b859f8b0644838f.html
(15)   https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/etdarchive/631/
(16)   https://www.pacermonitor.com/public/case/21674798/Reznichenko_v_Behremovic_et_al; https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/6286106/reznichenko-v-behremovic/
(17)   http://www.jewishledger.com/2018/01/road-israel-2/
(18)   http://jewishchick.net/
(19)   http://www.jewishledger.com/2018/01/road-israel-2/
(20)   See http://jewishchick.net/
(21)   http://www.jewishledger.com/2018/01/road-israel-2/
(22)   https://www.wtnh.com/on-air/good-morning-ct-at-nine/local-blogger-talks-about-israel-visit-and-hanukkah-gift-ideas/1097528211
(23)   https://muckrack.com/liora-rez