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SALT LAKE CITY — After a week of war between Israel and Gaza, the BYU Jerusalem Center is evacuating students and faculty to Greece, where studies will resume, the center announced Friday morning.
"The Jerusalem Center Fall 2023 Program is currently relocating to Greece," center officials said in a two-sentence security update. "In addition to the 93 students and faculty, faculty families and service couples will also relocate to Greece."
Students had sheltered and studied in place on the center's campus during the first week of the war, which began Saturday. Field trips were canceled and students moved to the center's shelters at least once after sirens sounded in Jerusalem.
The Jerusalem Center, which sits on Mount Scopus in East Jerusalem, will celebrate its 35th anniversary next year.
"These kinds of flareups have occurred in the past," the center's first security update noted. "The center has never been threatened by any of them. Even if missiles are fired toward Jerusalem, the militants would be targeting government buildings in West Jerusalem. East Jerusalem, where the center is located, has never been targeted."
The center is operated by Brigham Young University, which is sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Its largest function is hosting students who study scripture and history and visit sites throughout the region. The center also hosts concerts and other events.
The church's First Presidency released a statement Thursday about the violence in the Middle East.
"We are devastated by the recent eruption of violence and loss of life in the Middle East. Violence of this nature is abhorrent to us and is not in harmony with the gospel of Jesus Christ, which is a gospel of peace. At such times, our hearts ache for all victims of this atrocity," they said.
Center leaders have said the center has been calm and peaceful. The rocket strikes and troop assaults that have killed over 1,000 people in Gaza and more than 1,000 in Israel had not reached Jerusalem.
The center has occasionally altered operations or closed during conflict or unrest. For example, it was closed to students from 2000-07 during the Second Intifada.
Still, unrest can disrupt the center's program, which is designed to include travel and field trips throughout Israel and in neighboring countries.
"We are always very, very conservative," Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, one of the center's founders and member of the church's Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, once said. "We are very safe."
The center, while a mile from the Old City, is in an isolated area surrounded by important Arab sites and neighborhoods.
U.S. officials say 27 Americans have been killed in the war, Reuters reported. Another 14 are missing.
The United States is arranging charter flights to Europe today to evacuate Americans who want to leave Israel, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said.
The U.S. State Department issued a travel advisory Thursday urging Americans to reconsider travel to Israel as well as the Palestinian territory of the West Bank, CBS reported.
Correction: An earlier version of this story mistakenly said the BYU Jerusalem Center is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. BYU began conducting study abroad programs in Jerusalem in 1971, but the center will celebrate its 35th anniversary of operations next year.
