Fall Forum Dialogue
Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim.
Elie Wiesel
Do we speak up for another human being or don’t we?
Nesse Godin
Students at Kean University in New Jersey, studying the 1994 Rwandan Genocide with Dr. Dennis Klein, were asked to consider the question, “Why the Silence?” Part of their assignment was to discuss the topic with fellow classmates, as well as with Rwandan students, on the Journal’s Forum page.
Below is a distillation of the responses by both American and Rwandan students. When reading these, one is struck by the complexity of the topic and the deceivingly simple question of why such atrocities occur without effective intervention.
Judith Seaman
Editor
A Reflection by a Rwandan
It is difficult to feel the horror a survivor feels. His or her memory recalls a more direct situation. His memories are his whole reality. The horrific images are always stirring. He has no words to express his reality. Unlike an outsider who was not a victim of atrocities, a survivor constantly observes from the inside and always remains a victim.
While students and teachers make great efforts to understand the reasons behind a genocide and the reasons behind the lack of outside intervention, it is a reality that is difficult to explain, to find words or reasons. What happened is beyond our understanding yet I believe your participation is a hopeful one. Thank you.
Rurangwa Pierre Claver
The Bystander Effect
In 1964, Catherine ‘Kitty’ Genovese was murdered outside her apartment complex in Queens, New York, while thirty-eight of her neighbors listened and did nothing. Their response, or lack thereof, has come to be called the ‘bystander effect,’ and this behavior is part of what we studied in Dr. Klein’s class on genocide.
-Daniel Reyes