First-year students at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) Medical School were required to participate in a “racial equity” lecture last month that included a ritual that invoked “Mama Earth” to “Free Palestine.”
The lecture featuring the so-called “non-secular prayer” was held on March 27, according to the Washington Free Beacon, which was provided with audio evidence and testimony from students who were in the class. Its “structural racism” course is mandatory for medical students in their first year at the institution.
Sources shared that the class has so far included a guest speaker, Lisa Gray-Garcia, who called the massacre conducted in Israeli towns on Oct. 7, 2023, “justice.” A recording shared by the outlet features the speaker reciting the so-called “prayer.”
Lasting just under two and a half minutes, the litany thanked “the ancestors,” lamented abuses of “Mama Earth” and commended the medical students for their career path. Slight applause can be heard at the end of the clip.
The Free Beacon further reported that students were required to “get on their knees and touch the floor…with their fists” during the ritual. Gray-Garcia reportedly considers herself a “poverty scholar” and, during the unsettling lecture, started a “free, free Palestine” chant without interjection from other faculty and staff.
Students who were uncomfortable with the ritual and did not participate were allegedly reprimanded.
In a mandatory lecture for 1st-yr UCLA med students, guest lecturer, Lisa "Tiny" Gray-Garcia, led the chant "Free, Free Palestine!" & demanded students kneel down in prayer to "Mama Earth" multiple times. One student that refused was noted by a UCLA staff member.
Gray-Garcia,… pic.twitter.com/J1gtgXDIu2
— Canary Mission (@canarymission) April 3, 2024
The odd lecture with anti-Israel undertones comes amid ongoing disagreement and tension about the war between the Jewish state and the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.
Passionate arguments have occurred among Americans ever since the tragic attacks in the fall of 2023 which left more than a thousand dead in Israel and hundreds more kidnapped.
Now, as the Israeli military pushes forward in its counter attacks in the Gaza Strip—a move leaders have insisted is the only way to destroy Hamas and resolve the issue—thousands more Palestinians have been killed and displaced, leading to greater concern for civilians caught in the crossfire of the war. The United States has remained in alliance with Israel while also actively seeking a ceasefire negotiation that will prevent more innocent lives from being lost.
Previously, UCLA has been privy to radical demonstrations launched before the Israeli military started its offensive attacks. The school was one of many American universities that were the base of protests demanding justice for Palestine.
