Robert L. Bernstein
Robert L. Bernstein | |
---|---|
Born | Manhattan, New York, U.S. | January 5, 1923
Occupation | Book publisher and human rights activist |
Nationality | American |
Alma mater | Harvard University |
Robert Louis Bernstein (January 5, 1923 – May 27, 2019)[1] was an American publisher and human rights activist.
Career in publishing
Bernstein started as an office boy at
.After being invited to the
Involvement in human rights movement
After his experience in Moscow in 1973, Bernstein returned to the U.S. and established the Fund for Free Expression, the parent organization of Helsinki Watch which was established to monitor the former Soviet Union's compliance with the Helsinki Accords.
In 1988, the series of "Watch Committees" created throughout the 1980s—Americas Watch, Asia Watch, Middle East Watch—merged to become Human Rights Watch, one of the largest human rights organizations in the world. Bernstein served as the Chair of Human Rights Watch from 1978 to 1998, when he became Founding Chair Emeritus. However, he later became a critic of the group, publicly chastising them in a 2009 essay that appeared on the Op-ed page of The New York Times. His concern was deviation from the group's charter, which was to focus on abuses in closed societies lacking the free speech that creates internal pressure to improve human rights. Bernstein felt that the organization's credibility was diminished by an undue focus of reporting on Israel's military that lacked credible sources in Gaza, and ignored Israel's open society.[2] The criticism opened a rift between Bernstein and Human Rights Watch, which was not healed until shortly before his death, when he was lauded at the organization's annual dinner.[3]
Bernstein was also a board member and Chair Emeritus of Human Rights in China.
International recognition
Bernstein won numerous awards and honorary degrees, including the Florina Lasker Award from the
In 2014, Bernstein was honored with a Social Justice Award from The New Press, the non-profit, public interest publishing house set-up by his long-time Random House colleague André Schiffrin.
At
He was the recipient of honorary doctorates from Swarthmore College, The New School, Bard College, Hofstra University, Bates College, Tougaloo College, and Yale University.
Military service
Bernstein served in the
Education
He graduated from Harvard University in 1944, with a bachelor's of science degree.
Books
Robert L. Bernstein was the author of Speaking Freely: My Life in Publishing and Human Rights, published by The New Press in May 2016.[6]
References
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 29, 2019.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 27, 2021.
- ^ OsnosApril 27, Peter; Images, 2021Courtesy of Getty (April 27, 2021). "HRW report on Israel likely to cause more problems than it solves". The Forward. Retrieved April 27, 2021.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Yale Law School, Bernstein Fellowship
- ^ "Robert L. Bernstein Institute for Human Rights | NYU School of Law". www.law.nyu.edu. Retrieved May 29, 2019.
- ^ "Speaking Freely". The New Press. Retrieved May 29, 2019.