Letter to the Editor: To call a thing a thing
December 5, 2025
This
piece represents the opinion of the author
.
A recent November 14 Letter to the Editor begins with the sentence: “Bowdoin’s Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine (FSJP) state that a majority of the Bowdoin community are of the opinion that Israel is guilty of genocide. Opinion, however, is not fact, and the prevalence of such opinions on campus is, sadly, unsurprising if students are only fed distorted views by a seemingly biased and ideologically myopic faculty.”
The above sentiment unfairly demeans Bowdoin students’ intelligence by implying that they lack the capacity for discernment and critical-thinking skills and that they are easily manipulated. I instead offer a more rational explanation: that young people are in fact more independent of thought, more curious and more worldly than ever.
The evidence for a determination of genocide is overwhelming and easy to access (if you are not wearing blinders). More than 45 esteemed human rights and humanitarian organizations have called Israel’s actions in Gaza a genocide, including Oxfam, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Doctors Without Borders, Council on American-Islamic Relations, B’Tselem, Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention and Genocide Watch.
A stunning body of work from Palestinian journalists is also readily accessible to anyone who reads beyond the pages of The New York Times. These professionals have been reporting, documenting and livestreaming daily from Gaza. Horrifically, over 248 journalists have been targeted and killed in the past two years.
Furthermore, multiple genocide scholars have called Israel’s actions in Gaza a genocide, including Omer Bartov, Uğur Ümit Üngör, Amos Goldberg, Raz Segal, Shmuel Lederman, William Schabas, Dirk Moses, Daniel Blatman, Lee Mordechai, Melanie O’Brien, John Quigley, Don Vaxman, Avi Shlaim and Martin Griffith.
Perhaps the ability to call a thing a thing is actually quite simple: With a massive amount of expert and primary source evidence easily available, it should not be shocking (or controversial) that a growing majority of students now agree with the determination that Israel is committing a genocide. What is myopic is ignoring the evidence.
Rachel Brown is a member of the Class of 2003.
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It is ironic that, in claiming students aren’t only receiving one side of the argument, you only cite one side of the argument. In claiming this is a genocide, you do not cite a single organization with expertise in high-intensity urban warfare, counterinsurgency, or fighting against an enemy that hides among civilians and does not wear a uniform. Such conflict makes civilian casualties all but guaranteed. That is horrible. It is not genocide.
Bowdoin students are, apparently, not receiving education on the realities of war. That is how you can say journalists were “targeted” despite there being little evidence to that effect. That died in proximity to conflict. That is a horrible tragedy; I work closely with journalists, so I feel it personally. That does not, however, make it intentional.
People with experience in combat or who have prosecuted wars understand the above. The standard line is the biggest doves in Washington wear uniforms. Unfortunately, Bowdoin students aren’t learning core facts that could complicate their worldview. That is a shame.