Following a pro-Palestine protest organized by the Brandeis Jewish Bund April 4, Brandeis University banned the use of face coverings on campus outside of medical or religious purposes.
The ban was announced by Brandeis Interim President Arthur Levine via a schoolwide email April 7.
Levine wrote Bund, an anti-Zionist group composed of Jewish students, violated the university’s trespassing policy by bringing in non-Brandeis students to participate in the protest. As a result, Levine wrote the university would enforce the “no-trespassing policy to its fullest extent” in addition to limiting face mask usage.
“While we encourage debate over difficult topics at Brandeis, we can never permit, threatening, harassing, hateful or antisemitic speech on our campus,” Levine wrote in the mass email, referring to the Bund’s use of phrases such as “intifada” and “all Zionists are racists” during the protest.
In response to the email, Bund posted a statement on its Instagram April 8 rebuking Levine’s claims, describing it as baseless.
The group wrote in the post that Brandeis administration received an “anonymous allegation” the day before the protest saying Bund planned to bring in outside protestors, which Bund has since denied doing.
Additionally, Bund wrote it believes Levine’s claim served as an excuse to bring in external security, such as from the Waltham Police Department, which the Brandeis administration pledged not to do prior to the protest, according to Bund.
The group also wrote Levine’s claim was meant to create “justification for more surveillance and rights-infringing measures” on campus.
Iso, a Bund lead organizer who wished to be identified by a nickname due to fear of disciplinary or legal action, said he believed the administration wanted to downplay the scale of pro-Palestinian support on Brandeis’ campus.
“They want to shift the narrative so that it appears like an incidence of an antisemitic flare up in the community,” Iso said.
Bund’s Instagram statement condemned the new face mask policy as an “unenforceable” and “ableist measure.”
Iso said the policy “would result in a lot of privacy concerns,” such as Muslim Niqabi students being required to confirm they’re Muslim in order to adhere to the mask ban.
“The university should not be banning masks which could be used for religious or radical reasons or just to protect people’s security … with the threat of ICE,” Iso said. “There are students that are actively at risk of deportation and at risk of being targeted by ICE.”
Three members of the Brandeis President’s Cabinet sent an email Thursday to the Brandeis student body outlining how the administration intended to enforce the updated policies.
The administrators wrote that individuals wearing masks “for religious or medical reasons” must have a Brandeis University identification card present.
Noah Simon, a senior at Brandeis and the former religious life coordinator of Brandeis Hillel, said he believed the Bund did bring in outside protestors given the scale of the protest.
“Brandeis is not a huge place. It’s 4,000 people max,” Simon said. “It’s pretty evident when there’s people who are there who are not part of the community.”
Despite having violated university policy, Simon said he was uncertain of whether the administration’s response was correct.
“In any normal year, I think setting such a mask policy is a good idea,” Simon said. “If [students are] saying certain things that the school might consider to be racist … then they shouldn’t be able to hide their identity.”
Still, Simon said the policy may not be completely fair.
“However, currently we’re in a time where people feel a legitimate risk to protest anything [out] of the fear of being deported,” he said.
As an active member of Hillel, the reform Jewish group, and other Jewish student organizations, Simon said most of his Jewish friends were not surprised by the protest.
“The majority of Jewish students at Brandeis, I’d say, are sympathetic to Palestinians and sympathetic to Israelis,” Simon said. “But, I’d say, most people in the Brandeis Jewish community, probably, in my experience, disagree by and large with the Bund and also disagree with some of the pro-Israel organizations on campus.”
Jack, a freshman at Brandeis who wished to be identified by a nickname due to concerns of having his green-card status revoked, said he felt the protest was “really effective” in sparking dialogue among students who are hesitant to share their thoughts on the Israel-Palestine issue.
“I feel like there’s a lot of fear of actually talking about it, but there’s dialogue over there. The students don’t know the opinions of each other,” Jack said. “I am doubting, ‘Do my peers also think the same as well as me?’”
