On May 1, Brandeis Hillel held Israel Fest among the Fellows Garden Blue Booths at noon to “celebrate Israeli resilience.” The outdoor festival featured an art installation and candles to light in honor of those impacted by Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack and the subsequent Israel-Hamas War. 

This year, Brandeis Hillel’s student organizers commemorated Israel’s 77th Independence Day with Israel Week, offering a series of events that celebrate various aspects of Israeli culture “in all of its forms,” according to a May 2 Instagram post. Accordingly, the festival offered samples of Israeli foods, artwork, music, games and discussion poster boards. Festival participants wrote on Post-it Notes about aspects of Israel that they love and what gives them hope for “peace-building efforts.” Some tables also promoted charity raffles and donation opportunities. 

At about 1:45 p.m., approximately 11 protesters in full facial coverings gathered unannounced in the middle of the festival, carrying a large sign that read “Murder Fest” in block letters. They chanted phrases such as “Free, free Palestine” and “Brandeis, Brandeis, you can’t hide, you’re supporting genocide.” The protesters created a cacophony of noise as their music, rangeing from Palestinian refrains to Green Day, overlapped with the festival’s Israeli tracks.

Many festival attendees immediately began taking recordings and photos on their phones, some challenging the protesters to remove their face coverings. “Take off your mask, you know what you’re doing is wrong,” one student said. 

While protestors initially settled between two of the Blue Booths, they shortly relocated to the large grass patch in Fellows Garden after a short exchange with a faculty member wearing a “Student Support” vest. They then stood a conscious distance from the festival activities and its attendees. One of the faculty members in a “Student Support” vest declined to provide The Justice with a comment. The protesters also declined to comment at the scene of the protest.

One student shared with The Justice that they were in the middle of donating to a medical organization when the protesters intervened. They did not engage with the demonstrators as “the only way forward is peace and actual civil conversation.” To this student, the demonstrators’ chanting was not productive conversation.   

Across from the protesters united behind their “Murder Fest” banner, festival attendees linked arms with one another to chant a Jewish song for peace in response to the Bund. One group of five students brandished the back of a poster used for festival tabling towards the protesters opposite of them, having used the blank side of it to write a message in Hebrew. 

In an exchange with The Justice, one of the students explained that the song their group was chanting was a commandment to love all friends as yourself. The message they wrote on their poster in Hebrew was a verse from Isaiah 2:4: “nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.”

“I wish I could talk to these people and not sing at them to get my point across,” the same student expressed. “It’s really upsetting that we have to put our entire belief system on a sign that means nothing.” They recognized one of the demonstrators as someone they have a class with — someone they regularly see in the Goldfarb and Farber Libraries. 

Another festival attendee crossed the wide gap in the grass field separating the groups to offer the protesters bottles of water. When the demonstrators refused, the student remarked that “everyone needs water” as they “are also people who are in the sunlight.” 

The demonstrators ultimately departed the festival at approximately 2:15 p.m., leaving a chorus of chanting attendees telling them to “go study” among other calls for them to leave. 

In a May 1 Instagram post, Brandeis Hillel expressed its gratitude to the University for relocating the protest. The organization said that it would be in contact with University faculty to determine further protocols that prioritize students’ safety and prevent future event disruptions. Despite these concerns, Hillel highlighted the contributions of its student leaders: “In a tense moment on campus, we’re especially proud of students who continue to lead with calm, courage and derekh eretz — a foundational Jewish value of decency and respect for others.” 

Rabbi Seth Winberg, Hillel’s executive director, echoed this sentiment to students in a May 1 statement. He wrote that a “spiritual core principle,” derekh eretz, reminds the community that “basic decency and respect for others precedes everything else.” Rabbi Winberg praised the Hillel student leaders for modeling this concept and especially for doing so in “moments of challenge.” 

“Hillel remains unwavering in our commitment to providing a vibrant, welcoming space for Jewish life on campus — including opportunities to celebrate and connect with Israel. We will not be intimidated or deterred,” Rabbi Winberg wrote. 

— The Justice Managing Editor, Julia Hardy ’26 contributed to the reporting of this article.

—Clarification: The demonstrators at the protest scene declined to provide The Justice with comment, and The Justice was unable to receive a follow-up comment from the Brandeis Jewish Bund in press time.