On Oct. 21 at 7:00 p.m., the new student organization Jewish Bund at Brandeis held a vigil in the Shapiro Campus Center atrium for the lives lost in Palestine and Lebanon over the past year. A post on their Instagram page asked attendees to “come in the spirit of respect, love, and community.” 

Jewish Bund at Brandeis is dedicated to the Bundist history and cause, with a focus on anti-fascism. The Bund, formed in Lithuania in the late 19th century, is traditionally a socialist party focused on combating antisemitism and promoting Jewish national unity. Though its mission was to protect Jewish interests in Eastern Europe, the movement was also secular and universalist, leading it to reject collaboration with religiously-motivated Jewish movements such as Zionism. 

Instead of advocating for a Jewish state, the Jewish Bund supports national and cultural autonomy of Jews within several states rather than in a single homeland. A post on Jewish Bund at Brandeis’ Instagram summarizes the movement using the Bundist slogan: “Wherever we go, that is our homeland.”

“We wanted to create a space for non-Zionist, anti-Zionist Jews on campus to get involved in organizing, charity work, education — all of that stuff,” an organizer from the Jewish Bund at Brandeis shared in an interview with The Justice following the vigil. Another organizer added that the organization intends to educate people about the history of Jewish anti-Zionism, anti-imperialism and anti-fascism. 

 Bundist history also dictates that Jewish liberation must go hand-in-hand with liberation of other groups — in this case, Palestinians. 

The vigil started shortly after 7:00 p.m. Around 75 people gathered in the Shapiro Campus Center atrium to listen to the speakers. Behind the speakers, a Palestinian flag was displayed with the words “Down with Colonialism.” 

Before the first speaker, a Jewish Bund member welcomed attendees and thanked them for being there in solidarity of those killed in Gaza and Lebanon. The member pointed out bathrooms, exits and water fountains and reminded the attendees to leave with a buddy for safety. They also asked that nobody film the event and not to engage with any forces that might be hateful toward the vigil. 

The first speaker led attendees in the Mourner’s Kaddish, a Jewish prayer used to remember those who have passed away. In the words of the speaker, “We offer this mourner’s kaddish for [the people killed in Palestine and Lebanon], and for all the innocent souls which have been forgotten.” A sheet was also passed around, on which the participants could write names of people they were thinking of during the prayer. 

Following the Kaddish, a second speaker elaborated on the purpose of mourning. They explained that in the Jewish tradition, there are three deaths: when the body ceases to function, when a person is buried and when their name is spoken for the last time. They advocated that “even one death should motivate praxis,” and called Israel’s participation in the conflict a “crime of incurable proportions.” 

The second speaker explained the common Jewish experience of being told that Israel is perfect and necessary, was a communal experience growing up. They advocated for standing up against this “system,” stating that survival hinges on one’s ability to raise their voice. 

At this point in the vigil, there was an open mic for anybody wishing to speak on the past year or 75 years of Israel’s “occupation.”

A third speaker came up to the microphone, and briefly said to the audience that they were present because their best friend lost one of their cousins in Lebanon due to bombing. 

A student who identifies as Lebanese and Palestinian addressed the audience. They started by expressing that this conflict has been going on for longer than many think, stating: “Some of you might have heard about it first on Oct. 7. It did not start on Oct. 7.”

To demonstrate their point, they spoke about their grandmother, who was born in northern Palestine. She was forced to flee to Lebanon and then Kansas. “She doesn’t want anything else but to be in her house again, to see the rest of her family,” the student said. They also encouraged the audience to learn about the beautiful parts of Palestinian and Lebanese culture, highlighting their cuisine and music. “I don’t want the name[s] of my countries to be associated with violence,” they stated. 

The next speaker focused on the effect of the conflict on Brandeis’ campus, expressing that 2023, prior to the events of Oct. 7, was already the deadliest year for children in the West Bank. Emulating the messages of the second speaker, they spoke on disconnecting with lessons about Israel which many Jewish children are taught in Hebrew schools and Jewish summer camps. For instance, the speaker highlighted a past event called “Israeli Commando Night” where students put on outfits and painted their faces and spoke about how authority figures influenced children with a desire to marry within the religion. The student questioned the motivations behind these lessons, saying “if that’s not trying to indoctrinate children into an ethnostate, I don’t really know what is.”

With these lessons in mind, the speaker narrated the difficulties of having to hold their tongue about the mass killings going on while at the University, as they do not feel comfortable expressing their opinions on campus. They feel that in order to fit in among Jewish life, they have to “sacrifice what [they] think are the most important values to [them] as a Jew” in conforming to the beliefs they feel are more widely held by their community. However, they stressed that even if Jewish vigil attendees do not feel welcome in other spaces on campus, “we have each other, and that’s going to be enough.”

This student’s experience with Jewish life on campus was also reflected in a Jewish Bund member’s sentiments to The Justice. “Anti-Zionist Jews know each other on this campus because anti-Zionist Jews are excluded from Jewish life on this campus. We all know one another, we all know what we look like … we’re a community and we hope to solidify that.” 

Afterwards, a Jewish Bund member took a moment to point attendees toward a table with Quick Response codes, small Palestinian flags and donation opportunities for people affected by the conflict. They encouraged attendees to donate, stating “visibility is really important for Palestine but so is donating” as it is “one of the most influential ways we can make change.”

A seventh speaker, a member of Boston Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions, highlighted opportunities outside of Brandeis to advocate Palestinian rights, particularly in BDS Boston. 

The eighth speaker was a Lebanese-American student who had studied in Lebanon over the summer. They aimed to shine a light on the everyday struggles of those living in Lebanon during the conflict, explaining how while in the U.S. they have unlimited access to drinking water, reliable electricity and Global Positioning System, some in Lebanon do not have access to these resources or these resources are limited. 

The same student also discussed their feelings about Americans being advised to leave Lebanon. For them, it was frustrating, because “while American citizens are being forced to leave, Lebanese citizens are being taunted with the fact that they are being left for dead.” They elaborated on the privileged lives of Americans. In their eyes, “The West has forgotten that children, women and men deserve a full life … My people deserve to live … Fully and without fear.” They finished their speech by reciting the poem On Your Lebanon and Mine by Gibran Kahlil Gibran. 

The next speaker briefly touched on the connections between America’s history and the cruelty toward Palestinans, claiming that “all these systems of oppression are closely linked.” More specifically, they said that the officers who were responsible for killing George Floyd were “personally trained by the [Israeli Defense Forces].” 

In this claim, the student touched on U.S.-Israel police partnerships. Deadly Exchange is a political movement that promotes police in the United States’ brutality towards Black Americans is comparable to the Israel Defense Force’s treatment of Palestinians, suggesting that these programs allow law enforcement to share their “worst practices” to “promote and exchange discriminatory and repressive policing in both countries.”

“If you support Black Lives Matter, you support Palestine,” the speaker concluded.

The next speaker described the experience of being a cisgender, white and straight individual in a blue state, being Jewish with no close linkages to Israel and being told that they are a “bad Jew” for supporting Palestine. The speaker believes that it is a Jewish concept to support human rights: humanitarian aid and access to food and water, for example. They encouraged the audience to consider that Brandeis is “voted as one of one of the safest campuses for Jews, but not one of the safest campuses for Palestinians or Lebanese [students] or any other groups who face prejudice.”

Continuing on points from previous speakers, the eleventh speaker pointed out that the war in the Middle East is dangerous for everyone involved. “We forget that the longer war continues in the Middle East, the longer Jews in the Middle East continue to be at risk of losing their lives,” they stated. “We should be opposed to this war.” They also continued on the idea that Israel has been presented as the only possible solution for Jewish safety, an idea which they called “dangerous and not true.” 

The twelfth speaker was born and raised Palestinian, and grew up in Jerusalem. They came to the U.S. three years ago. The speaker, having been diagnosed with Complex post-traumatic stress disorder, detailed their experience growing up in the Middle East. They said they were only three years old when they experienced their first missile. By second grade, they knew to run to shelters when they heard missiles. By fourth grade, they were trained to lift people from rubble. “Imagine fourth grade me trying to lift people from the rubble: impossible,” they narrated. By seventh grade, they were trained for rubble, missile alarms and emergency electricity work. By twelfth grade, they were a fully equipped Emergency Medical Technician on school training alone “just in case of war.” The speaker said they had learned how to distinguish types of missiles based on their sounds, knowing how dangerous they are, what they’re made of and how much destruction they could cause. 

The same student expressed concern for their family, who currently remain in Palestine. They have two brothers: one has not received his tenth grade grades and the other, a student in medical school “has not gone to school the whole year.” They explained that housing and food are currently not affordable in Palestine. “Believe it or not, housing is more affordable here,” the speaker stated. They finished by narrating the effect the war has had on their emotions. “I genuinely cannot process what is happening anymore … Part of me feels like I’ve gotten so cold,” the speaker explained. 

A thirteenth speaker introduced themself as from Kurdistan. They explained that even a privileged lifestyle in Kurdistan is plagued by the war, mentioning that missiles in the sky are common in the center of the Middle East. Further, they remembered visiting Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant refugee camps at nine years old. Having been enrolled in a private school, they were surprised how much they resembled some of the refugees. “They look exactly like you. They have two arms, two legs — well some of them don’t — they have the same color hair, the same color skin, they’re human beings,” the speaker said. They also spoke about friends in Lebanon and in the West Bank who had to stop their studies. “These are privileged people who do not know when their next class is,” the students explained. 

The next speaker gave a brief message for Jewish students who are indifferent to or supportive of a Palestinian genocide: “if you are white and Jewish, the administration on this campus values your voice over others. … Use it to support your fellow students and your neighbors, and those in Palestine and Lebanon ….” 

“We come to this institution and get this propaganda of social justice,” a student from Brazil said, “what I’ve realized in the past year is that’s all bullshit, honestly.” They claimed that social justice does not happen at any institution — or any government, either. Since governments are unreliable for social justice pursuits, they said that it can feel hopeless to make any real change.

They talked about the struggles and revolutions for independence throughout Latin America, highlighting that the most change comes from the average person. Addressing the vigil, the speaker concluded, “I’m not even asking for hope, that might be too much, but this community is the best [possibility] we have to change anything, to bring some good to this world, having something to rely on.”

The vigil organizers’ closing remarks consisted of thanking the attendees and explaining the significance of the imagery they set up, specifically talking about Handala, a political cartoon character by Naji-al-Ali, a political cartoonist in the 1960s. They established that Handala is a widespread image in Palestine, a symbol of resistance and resilience, having appeared throughout newspapers and magazines all over the world. 

An organizer explained, “Hanalda is depicted as a barefoot, ragged, refugee child with his back turned to the viewer, symbolizes the Palestine struggle for independence. His face is never shown, representing the anonymity and solidarity of the Palestinian struggle.” According to the organizers, the vigil will not be the last of the Jewish Bund at Brandeis. “We’re planning on doing a bunch of education events in the future, and I think that’s going to be our big focus at least right now.” They mentioned potentially holding Shabbat dinners and Jewish holidays, their main objective being following the needs of the Jewish population on campus.