On Thursday, Sept. 25, members of the Brandeis Jewish Bund gathered with students and community members in the Shapiro Campus Center for a “vigil to honor and remember those murdered by Israel in Palestine, Iran, Yemen and Lebanon,” according to a Sept. 24 Instagram post. The vigil’s organizers entered the atrium and established themselves at the steps, laying banners and distributing surgical masks to attendees to be used as face coverings. Six members carried in a wooden coffin covered in a keffiyah, imagery which is synonymous with Bund gatherings. Two of the Bund’s banners, which have been used in previous demonstrations, read “Stop Supporting Genocide” and “Bund” written in Yiddish. A new banner with white lettering on a black background presented, “New Year No Genocide.” This vigil intentionally occurred one day after the celebration of Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year. 

A Bund member elaborated that these holidays are a time to reflect on the year that passed and to make amends. “However, it’s impossible to make amends for more than 700 days of genocide,” they said, posing the question, “How can our New Year ever be sweet as a genocide continues?” They addressed a semicircle of about 20 community members around the presenters, noting the lower attendance of this vigil compared to past events. 

During the demonstration, several Bund members delivered impassioned speeches. A key message relayed was the importance of collective action. In effect, the Bund said it is “contingent” upon students to “reject genocide” and show regard for the high number of civilian fatalities caused by Israel’s military operations in Palestine. Per a Sept. 4 article by the Associated Press, “more than 64,000 Palestinians have been killed in the nearly two-year war in the Gaza Strip.” The AP cited Gaza’s Health Ministry for this estimate: “Its figures are seen as a reliable estimate of wartime deaths by [United Nations] agencies and many independent experts,” the article clarifies.  

A speech read by a Bund member stated that the loudest message on campus has been “silent resignation” towards the destruction taking place and that many students are internalizing this attitude. “That we should stay quiet, stay hidden, stay afraid, while Palestinian students are doxxed, harassed  and threatened on this campus. … We’re told to keep our heads down. But this is not the only option. We are not powerless and we are not voiceless. Sometimes the most valuable thing you can do is also the most basic: speak out.” The speaker urged attendees to reassure others that they are not alone, adding that voices can shift power. “This campus will not protect us unless we make it — but it can, and we will,” they concluded.

Anti-doxxing has become a rallying cry for the Bund amid claims of harassment against members who have unwillingly become publicly known. In the Department of Student Rights and Community Standards’ Rights and Responsibilities handbook doxxing is noted in section 10.4.a as “the public disclosure or threat to disclose another individual’s personally identifying or private information … without their consent, in a context reasonably likely to intimidate, harass, endanger, or cause harm.” In contrast to the Sept. 17 “Study in for Palestine,” The Justice did not observe any opposing or unaffiliated individuals taking photographs of the demonstrators or protesting. 

Concluding the vigil, a Bund member led chants such as “free free Palestine,” “stop the killing, stop the slaughter, Gaza has no food or water,” “Israel bombs, [United States of America] pays, how many kids did you kill today?” and “never again for anyone, never again is now.” Rounds of chanting continued for about seven minutes. By approximately 6:00 p.m., around 16 attendees remained in the atrium. Their voices had begun to grow hoarse. 

Considering the vigil was only advertised by the Bund a day before it occurred, the attendance was far from the largest the Bund has seen for a vigil. For example, The Justice reported about 75 individuals in attendance for the Bund’s Oct. 21 vigil last year. In an interview with The Justice after the event, an organizer said that this was a deliberate precaution to avoid risk of doxxing, which the organization has detailed allegations of. The Justice could not confirm them as of press time.

More specifically, the Bund member said that the group has been, as they described, “targeted by Betar [U.S.] … a right-wing Zionist youth movement.” Betar’s U.S. website reads that “when antisemitic incidents occur, Betar is among the first to respond. Whether through the press, social media or campus action, we refuse to let hate go unchecked.”

 The member recalled that Betar has used its Instagram account, “betarnews,” to draw attention to the Bund’s on-campus programming. The Justice has a copy of a now-deleted Betar post from Feb. 5. The caption tags the University’s Instagram and states, “Another sick school which [is] hosting an event tonite [sic] for jihadi terrorists.” The caption continues, “Join Betar[,] hear playing loud Zionist Israeli music. Any school which wants to honor terrorists has no business getting funding. Please take [a] video — including of those terrible people hosting for @icegov and other government entities.” The post also included a call for Betar’s followers to attend the Bund’s Feb. 5 vigil, though The Justice did not observe counterprotesters associated with Betar at this event. 

In addition to keeping the event obscure for concern of outside parties and doxxing, the Bund also chose not to contact the University in advance of the event. They did not reply to an email sent by the Dean of Students Office and the Department of Public Safety earlier that day, requesting for the Bund’s organizers to meet with University officials. The student said a University administrator presented a Bund organizer with a printed copy of the email and a copy of the “Campus Protests and Demonstrations” section of the Department of Student Rights and Community Standards’ Rights and Responsibilities handbook. The section outlines that while the campus must be open to “fearless freedom” of debate, the University may “limit the time, place and manner of demonstrations.” Accordingly, all demonstrations, protests and rallies must be registered with DOSO, followed by a mandatory meeting with DOSO and the Department of Public Safety before the event takes place. 

The email also reads, “Currently, your gathering was neither registered in advance, nor is currently registered and therefore would not be in alignment with University policies.” Furthermore, the Dean of Students Office stressed that the Bund needed to pick one of the available meeting times outlined, and clarified that it was a "mandatory meeting in order for the event to take place.” The Bund member commented that they were “fairly certain” the University “changed the language” of the campus protest section prior to this academic year. They highlighted that this “mandatory” meeting used to be “encouraged,” as noted in the 2024-25 edition of the University’s Rights and Responsibilities handbook

When asked if the Bund has any plans to communicate with the University in the wake of the vigil, the organizer answered, “No. The University has had no interest whatsoever in parlaying with us on equal footing.” The student said that the Bund has “no reason” to trust the University’s administration and expressed that the group is hesitant to share their names with administrators out of concern for legal retaliation. They claimed that each time the Bund reported instances of harassment to the previously named Office of Equal Opportunity, no further action was taken. The student drew a contrast between how the University handles cases from Bund students and “Zionist” OEO cases reported by students, stating that the former haven’t been “given the proper amount of investigation that’s warranted.” Due to time constraints, The Justice could not independently verify these claims as of press time. The Assistant Vice President for Communications and External Relations, Julie Jette, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

This vigil was the Bund’s second public event this semester, following its study-in last week. In the future, it can be expected that the Bund will organize more events. However, based on an already-fractured relationship with the University, doxxing concerns and oppositional counter-protests, the nature of these events going forward is unclear for the time being.