"Our campaign is powered by college students who are not about to let the first genocide of the 21st century happen on their watch"
About this Quote
The phrase "not about to let" does crucial work. It implies both agency and a looming failure of older generations. The subtext is accusatory: if a genocide happens, it will be because people with power chose comfort, caution, or complicity. Students become the moral emergency brake.
Then comes the rhetorical accelerant: "the first genocide of the 21st century". That superlative claim is less about historical bookkeeping than about creating a definitive threshold moment. It compresses messy geopolitical debate into a bright-line test of character, inviting supporters to feel they are living inside a chapter title. "On their watch" borrows the language of negligence and command responsibility; it casts the audience as sentries who will be judged for what they allowed, not only what they did.
Contextually, this kind of sentence fits a campaign trying to harness campus mobilization around Israel-Palestine and reframe protest as civic duty rather than disruption. Its intent is to make neutrality feel like a luxury no decent person can afford, especially if they want to see themselves as the generation that learned from history instead of repeating it.
Quote Details
| Topic | Human Rights |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Martin, Ross. (2026, January 16). Our campaign is powered by college students who are not about to let the first genocide of the 21st century happen on their watch. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/our-campaign-is-powered-by-college-students-who-128330/
Chicago Style
Martin, Ross. "Our campaign is powered by college students who are not about to let the first genocide of the 21st century happen on their watch." FixQuotes. January 16, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/our-campaign-is-powered-by-college-students-who-128330/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Our campaign is powered by college students who are not about to let the first genocide of the 21st century happen on their watch." FixQuotes, 16 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/our-campaign-is-powered-by-college-students-who-128330/. Accessed 13 Feb. 2026.





