On Friday, March 6 at 2:00 p.m., Fight Authoritarianism Brandeis — a new group on campus —  held a protest at the base of the Rabb steps to speak out against the government’s recent actions in Iran. The protest was led by Prof. Sabine von Mering (WGS, CGES) and approximately seven FAB members. The new group is unaffiliated with Brandeis in an official capacity, but comprises of students, staff and faculty with the mission of standing together “against ICE and authoritarian threats.” A statement on their Instagram page — @fab_brandeis — reads, “We stand in solidarity with our undocumented neighbors, actively resisting the reach of ICE and organizing to ensure our community remains a sanctuary of safety and dignity for all.” 

FAB publicized the protest in a March 3 post on their Instagram page that declared “Congress shall have the power to declare war” and “Article I, Section 8 of the US Constitution is not a suggestion. Stop the authorized war in Iran!” A student who is part of FAB’s leadership spoke to The Justice at the protest: “I think Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution states it pretty clear[ly], that it’s an unconstitutional war without prior authorization from Congress, and therefore this is unjust and unconstitutional … the American people did not vote for this.” The student first heard about FAB “through the grapevine around the one-year anniversary of Trump’s inauguration.” Protestors carried a variety of signs to reflect their message, including “Fight ignorance not immigrants” and “We need Epstein fury not Operation Epic Fury.” Operation Epic Fury is the name of the United States’ and Israel’s ongoing military offensive stance against Iran. 

On Feb. 27, FAB hosted an event called “FAB: Art as Resistance and Info Session.” The event was also advertised on their Instagram page three days prior, and the caption read, “this Friday a group of us are getting together to make art and talk about how we can actually show up for our community right now. no experience needed, just come.”

The organization acknowledged that they had not publicized the protest as widely as they had wanted and ended up cutting the event shorter than publicized, dispersing close to 3:00 p.m. due to a lower turnout and cold weather.