About this ebook
–Rabbi Yitz Greenberg, American scholar, author and rabbi
“In every age, hatred of Jews cloaks itself in different moral garb. Today’s fashion goes by many names, Wokeism, Social Justice, Critical Social Justice, etc., but the historical commonalities are unmistakable—as are its ineluctable prescriptions. In clear, plainspoken language, David Bernstein denudes the profoundly unsettling relationship between woke ideology and antisemitism. This is an urgent message few people want to hear, but one that everyone needs to understand.”
–Peter Boghossian, author and philosopher
In May 2021, amid another conflict with Iran-backed Hamas, Israel took a beating in both the mainstream press and social media. Notwithstanding the rocket fire aimed at its citizens, the Jewish state was portrayed as the oppressor and the Hamas government in Gaza as the oppressed. While Israel has always been subject to excessive scrutiny, this time was different. What had changed in the ideological environment? A veteran leader of Jewish advocacy organizations and a self-described liberal who has broken with the far left over the adoption of woke ideology, David L. Bernstein traces the growth of woke ideology in his life and career from a remote academic study to an international post-colonialist movement, then a faddish campus ideology, morphing into corporate diversity programs to a dominant ideology in mainstream institutions, including many Jewish organizations. Bernstein shows how core ideological tenets—such as privilege, equity, whiteness, and the oppressor/oppressed binary—can be and are weaponized against Jews.
What’s more, surveys tell us that Americans are self-censoring at record rates. Jewish institutions, long known for their robust deliberative processes and open discourse, have not been spared. Many have uncharacteristically dodged controversial issues and have simply fallen in line. He warns that, unabated, the ideology will disenfranchise the American Jewish community and sap Jewish pride. He puts forward a strategy for restoring liberal values and countering political extremism and antisemitism, focusing on rebuilding the political center strategy.
About the author
A passionate advocate for the free expression of ideas, David L. Bernstein is the founder of the Jewish Institute for Liberal Values (JILV), which supports viewpoint diversity, counters woke ideology in the Jewish community, and opposes novel forms of antisemitism emerging from woke ideology. Bernstein served as President and CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, a national umbrella for local Jewish advocacy. He served as Executive Director of The David Project (TDP), which educated and trained American college and high school students in Israel advocacy. He also held senior roles with the American Jewish Committee (AJC), where he began as director of the Washington regional office and served in management roles, overseeing regional offices as well as national and local programming and advocacy. Bernstein has been a leading advocate for Israel’s quest for peace and security on the legislative, diplomatic, media, and intergroup relations fronts.
