On Wednesday Sept. 17 the Jewish Bund held a “Study in for Palestine” gathering in Farber Library from 2:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. At one large table several Bund members laid out maps of Palestine and Israel, posters naming those dead from the conflict, and a banner reading “Stop Supporting Genocide.” About 10-15 other Bund members and supporters flanked the central table and sat at adjacent tables leading toward Starbucks. At around 4:00 p.m., a small opposition of  at most 10 students huddled in a circle deliberating the Bund a little more than five feet away from the table. At the time, most of the opposition appeared to be male students, some wearing religious apparel and similar white button downs and black slacks. The men did not interact with the Bund beyond standing within the vicinity of the study-in and glancing at the table. 

Bund members came dressed in mostly black and dark colors with some covering their faces to prevent identification. Others who were stationed at the table filled the roles of spokesperson or educator per the informational and advocational lens of the event. These members were available to the public and press for comment while those spread around Farber’s first floor functioned as studiers to fill as many seats as possible, a promoted goal of the event. 

A member of the Bund spoke of the group's purpose in organzing the study in, “we have a moral responsibility in calling to be here and at the very least bring voice to Palestinians, to bring attention to a campaign of ethic cleansing and genocide that is currently happening in the occupied territories in Palestine.” They continued, “we have done study-ins before, we've done Shabbat events, we've had protests. We're trying to fill in these sort of consciousness gaps that have happened where Brandeis [Students for Justice in Palestine] was de-chartered and suspended.” 

The member recognized how the new academic year is influencing the Bund, “We found that we've kind of gotten more and more students involved. We also have a lot of [first-years interested] this year, which is really heartening. We had like 60 people at our first general meeting… but I'm also aware that there is a good amount of resistance.” A rise in participation and opposition for the Bund may be in part attributed to their online engagement. The Bund currently has over 1,600 followers on Instagram, of which the member estimates 70% to be Brandeis students.

In a Sept. 17 interview with the Justice, even those in the opposition agree, “A lot of these pro-Palestinian and pro-Gaza organizations have done a great job at putting their message up on TikTok and Instagram and that's I guess why they have most of the [Generation] Z support.” The first year came alone to the library without affiliation to see the study-in. They have studied in Israel during high school and feels “strong ties to the country” which encourages his advocacy for the nation. 

They also stated they believe “[the Bund] have the right to have their stand in the middle of the library. But, what hurts [him] the most isn’t that they're the opposite political spectrum … what upsets [him] is just the people who aren't aware of the situation that are coming in, watching, looking at the stand, and they may not be educated on the situation.” They feel “the fair way of going about it is having two stands with both sides,” though for now without that reality he claims “it's only right to stay here with people that are in the same belief system as me and voice my opinion [in support of Israel].”

Until about 4:40 p.m. the study-in was calm with no incidents. However, another student shared that somebody in Farber yelled a former Brandeis student's name and claimed they murder babies, "and the Zionists started yelling in response to that.” According to them, Bund members attempted to report to librarians that students were taking photos without their consent. They were advised to go to the Brandeis Office of Equal Opportunity. The Bund refuted “that they've tried that and it didn’t work because they don’t do anything to prevent doxxing.”

A former Brandeis student, who left the University in Fall 2023 to join the Israeli Defense Forces has found themself the center of a controversy. They posted a photo of a spray painting on their personal Instagram that reads “Roll Deis!” onto the side of a building in Khan Yunis, Southern Gaza and displayed their military issued assault rifle. While the Bund’s stance is clear, “this is not an isolated incident. It is a statement. It is a war crime, glorified,” oppositional students and students holding Zionist sentiments do not hold a uniform opinion. 

Issues of institutional support and doxxing have also become major points of interest regarding the Bund. In their Aug. 31 Substack post “This Is a Colonial Campus: Brandeis’ War Against Dissent” they wrote, “Constant doxxing attempts by Zionist students (in which administration officials were complicit), was intended to create a chilling effect on free speech.” Further the Bund claimed, “When activists and marginalized students report, their cases are logged and closed without any wrongdoing found. But, as it turns out, they do sometimes take action — when Zionists are the accusers.” 

Thereafter the outburst, once tensions slowed, the anonymous source shared, “some [agitators] stayed and were trying to take pictures from Farber Mezzanine or by walking around and the Bund kept talking to other people who came up to them after that.” 

Since their inception the Bund has expected not to be agreed with and “when it comes to Palestine, there's always [fighting] going on, right? And we understand that there's going to be opposition and resistance, but we would rather be respected” said the Bund member. They additionally noted, “given that engagement with the student body isn't always what we wanted it to be, I think events like this are important for getting people out and getting people to see us so they know that there is a political voice.” Correspondingly, the unaffiliated student interviewed by The Justice supports “having an open education on the actual conflict, what both sides believe in, I think that would really be beneficial.”

The Brandeis Jewish Bund’s efforts on campus are all the more visible at the start of a new academic year. With the use of social media platforms and physical gathering they have enraptured a segment of the student base. Nonetheless, uninterrupted discussion remains a consistent challenge for the group.

— Correction: An earlier version of this article inaccurately refers to this gathering as a “protest” in two instances. Both usages of “protest” have been updated to “study-in.”