TEMPE, Ariz. — "I saw the protest," Layla said. "I was going to avoid it because I just didn't want to get involved."
Layla is not her real name but since the video of the confrontation between her and former Arizona State University research scholar Jonathan Yudelman went viral, she said she is scared for her safety.
Layla, who was sitting in a black hijab at her lawyer's conference table, was ready to tell her side of the story.
"When I saw this woman standing by herself, I also noticed two men," she said.
The men, Layla said, were part of the pro-Israel march that was going down University Drive on May 5. The woman was wearing a keffiyeh, a traditional Arab headdress commonly associated with Palestinian activists.
Layla said she was riding her bike to the nearby Whole Foods when she saw the woman and two men on the sidewalk. She said she stopped to intervene.
"Out of concern for her and her safety, I stopped just to be beside her," Layla said. "And to make sure that, like, to assess the situation, make sure that they weren't harassing her any further."
That's when she said the now-viral video of the confrontation started. Layla can be seen standing on the sidewalk in wide dark sunglasses while Yudelman gets very close to her while cursing.
"I'm literally in your face!" Yudelman said in the video, waving his arms.
"You're disrespecting my religious boundaries!" Layla replied.
"One of the rules of Islam is that men and women who are not married are not allowed to touch," Layla said. "So him being that close to me was very uncomfortable as a Muslim woman."
The confrontation continued as Layla tried to walk away.
Yudelman followed her, at one point saying "You disrespect my sense of humanity, b****."
"He just kept pressing," Layla said. "Saying the things he was, calling me names. I felt extremely uncomfortable and very scared for my own safety," she said.
Layla said she is not a student at ASU but she said she was at the protest there three days earlier. She said she left before the crowd was told to disperse and more than 70 people were arrested for trespassing.
Yudelman has not commented publicly about the incident, and attempts to reach him have been unsuccessful.
An ASU spokesperson said Yudelman had already announced his resignation before the incident happened. But the spokesman also issued a statement from ASU president Michael Crow which said Yudelman was not allowed on campus and would never teach there again.
Yudelman taught two classes in the last school year, both on political debates and ideologies.
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