Lani Dawn, a Jewish Native American woman, posted that she was attacked by anti-Israel protesters at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) on Thursday night after holding a sign reading, "Hamas supporters are not welcome on native land."
"Last night I was violently assaulted by @UCLA 'pro-Palestine' students," wrote Dawn on Instagram, posting a video showing the protesters attacking her and other pro-Israel protesters.
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"I was quickly surrounded by a mob @UCLA students and EVEN @ucla faculty as a form of intimidation. Where I continued to maintain my peaceful presence & protest. The violence on American campuses is UNACCEPTABLE. The lack of police intervention is UNACCEPTABLE. NON-indigenous people TARGETING and ATTACKING an Indigenous woman while you claim to be supporting an 'indigenous liberation movement' is UNACCEPTABLE," wrote Dawn.
UCLA sits on land that once belonged to the Tongva tribe, according to UCLA's website. The Tongva tribe was almost entirely forcibly relocated by Spanish colonists in the 18th and 19th centuries. From 1846 to 1873, an estimated 80% of Native Americans in California were killed in acts of violence or due to extreme conditions.
'Don't get it twisted...You are on indigenous land!'
Dawn added that during the protest, she spoke with another Native American man, Sal Yazhi Lozano, who was demonstrating alongside pro-Palestinian protesters.
"Shortly after I was attacked, we noticed each other and reached across the human barrier of 'Free Palestine' protesters to introduce ourselves with respect and simply honor each other's presence, wrote Dawn. "Instantly, 'Free Palestine' protestors started telling us we were not allowed to speak to each other! They even told us we need to leave the premises if we weren't going to obey the rules."
"READ THAT AGAIN. Several non-indigenous 'Free Palestine' protestors told two NATIVE AMERICAN people that we were NOT ALLOWED on the premises of their ILLEGAL encampment if we aren't going to obey THEIR rules. And they call themselves an 'indigenous liberation movement'?" added Dawn.
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Lozano spoke about the incident as well on Instagram, posting that "Two Indigenous people supporting two different cultures today set an example while everyone else dared to say we couldn't speak to each other nor shake hands because she was on the Jewish side and not on Palestinians side with us. That triggered us, and this indigenous woman spoke up and stood her ground on indigenous land. She was even beaten by Palestinian men."
Lozano stressed that he did not support the protestors' actions and would "not allow nor tolerate any of that, especially on our women or lands."
"How dare they tell us on our lands we can (sic) talk to each other. Don't get it twisted...YOU ARE ON INDIGENOUS LAND!!!" added Lozano.
In a comment on a later post by Dawn, Lozano noted that the incident caused him to "make changes and see things differently."
Dawn is an enrolled member of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation and an unaffiliated descendant of the Sicangu Lakota Nation. She is also a descendant of Jews who moved to the US from Russia in the early 20th Century.