More than 25 pro-Palestine demonstrators rallied outside Tatte Bakery & Cafe at 369 Huntington Ave. to protest the company’s ties with Israel Nov. 6.
The rally was organized by Huskies for a Free Palestine, or HFP, an unofficial pro-Palestine student group at Northeastern. Other pro-Palestinian groups, including Northeastern’s School of Law Students for Justice in Palestine chapter, have advocated for a boycott of Tatte.
HFP did not respond to requests for comment from The Huntington News. Several demonstrators declined to be interviewed.
Demonstrators met at Evans Way Park and began marching to Tatte at 12:04 p.m. while chanting “Free, free Palestine.” Several passing cars honked in time with their chants, and community members shouted in support from their windows.
When the group reached Tatte, demonstrators stopped chanting and several speakers gave speeches. The first to speak was Aden, who didn’t provide their last name for privacy reasons, a member of Northeastern’s chapter of the Young Democratic Socialists of America.
In their speech to the crowd of demonstrators and onlookers, Aden spoke about Ron Shaich, the founder of Panera Bread and lead investor in Tatte, alleging he sends millions of dollars to Israel. The News could not independently verify these claims.
As speeches continued, demonstrators passed flyers to onlookers that read, “Boycott Tatte, Stop Prioritizing Convenience over Palestinian Lives.”
Throughout the event, there were at least five Northeastern University Police Department officers stationed around Tatte. They were also joined by three administrators from Northeastern Student Life who watched the rally. They declined The News’ request for comment and did not provide their names.
In the past month, there were at least two other protests at Tatte locations, including in Washington, D.C. and in Boston, and online groups have called for a boycott of the cafe. The company has 46 locations in the U.S. in five cities.
Demonstrators criticized Tatte’s founder, Tzurit Or, a pastry chef born in Israel. The News spoke to several members of HFP who said Tatte’s revenue is passed to Ron Shaich, lead investor in Tatte, who funnels millions of dollars to the Israeli military. The News could not independently verify this claim.
The group also addressed Northeastern’s ties to companies that support the Israeli military, including the RTX Corporation, formerly Raytheon, General Dynamics and Textron Systems.
“Hey, Northeastern, you can’t hide. You’re profiting from genocide,” demonstrators chanted between speeches.
Dena Snyder, Northeastern’s associate director of graduate admissions for D’Amore-McKim School of Business, watched the rally unfold.
“I would say as a Jewish staff member and the leader of one of the Jewish [Affinity] Groups, Northeastern has done a really positive job of making sure that Jewish people do feel welcome,” Snyder said. “Most Zionists are Jews, most Jews are Zionists, so anti-Zionist is just another word for anti-Jewish.”
One flyer handed out to passersby was titled, “Breaking News: Northeastern funds Genocide in Gaza thanks to partnership with Raytheon.” At an October 2024 career fair, HFP and other pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched down Huntington Avenue, stopping in front of Cabot Center to protest Northeastern’s partnerships with employers who have ties with the Israeli government.
“It’s disappointing to hear overt calls for violence, saying ‘Intifada, revolution and globalize the Intifada.’ Those are direct calls for violence, so it’s just disappointing that these people don’t have anything better to do with their time than try and incite violence,” Snyder said.
Intifada is an Arabic term that is used to refer to Palestinian resistance movements. It can also be used to reference specific Palestinian uprisings in Gaza: the First Intifada in 1987 and the Second Intifada in 2000.
The demonstrators remained on sidewalks and were monitored by two legal observers of the National Lawyers Guild.
Last October, The News reported on several changes to the Code of Student Conduct made in the aftermath of the spring 2024 pro-Palestinian encampment, which ended in 98 arrests. The changes gave the university the authority to withhold and revoke degrees and withhold refunds of tuition, housing and other charges for students in violation of the code.
As the rally unfolded, customers of Tatte walked in and out of the cafe, which is connected to the Marino Recreation Center. Ember Wenitsky-Stone, a second-year environmental and sustainable sciences and economics combined major, said she admired the protestors.
“I was really happy to see that people were willing to stand up for this cause that a lot of people see as super controversial, and I was happy to see that a lot of people seemed to be involved,” Wenitsky-Stone said. “It seemed like a super organized protest, and it gave me hope.”
