Reaction to Rwanda Project Exhibit's Website

At the request of Abou, who was the first to react, I sent an E-mail to the Holocaust Museum of Houston about the announcement on their website of the current exhibition "Through the Eyes of Children: the Rwanda Project". The exhibit itself looks really interesting, but the phrasiology used on the website seems rather ill-suited... Please read my message to the museum below. Dan "Dear Sir or Madam, This is a little note concerning some phrases used on the webpage (and maybe other communication collaterals?) announcing the exhibit of pictures from child orphans of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsis in Rwanda. As a professional in the field of Holocaust education, and a member of a delegation that visited Rwanda in the context of the official 12th commemoration of the Tutsi genocide, I am very sensitive to the importance of the exactitude of language, when speaking about such dramatic events. In our field of work, misformulations can be and are sometimes used as justifications of genocide denial propaganda. And to survivors of both genocides alike, words are not inconsequential. Therefore, I would like to react to the following paragraph: "As a result of ethnic clashes between the Hutu and Tutsi populations, the 1994 genocide left nearly 1 million people dead in approximately 100 days and caused the flight of 2 million internally displaced persons and 2 million refugees." The 1994 genocide in Rwanda was perpetrated by Hutus against Tutsis, and cannot be bluntly considered to be the result of clashes between two ethnic groups. In contrast, it is the result of ideological brainwashing and progressive, systematic governmental measures meant to destroy the entire Tutsi population of Rwanda with the help of the army, the Hutu militias, and the population's entire Hutu majority. It is true that there were clashes between rebel factions of Tutsi refugees from bordering countries and the National Rwandan Army. But these clashes only served as a partial pretext, and not as a cause, to commit the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi inhabitants (men, women, babies, and elderly people alike) of Rwanda. The phrasing used on the website blurs this distinction between victims and perpetrators; between civilian targets and rebel fighters. It might even seem to support a popular genocide denial theory, according to which the 1994 genocide against the Tutsis happened simultaneously with a genocide by Tutsis against the Hutus - the two elegantly balancing each other off. Therefore, I encourage you to reformulate the phrase used on the webpage of the exhibit, and maybe in other material used to promote it. I stay at your disposal for any reaction."