BYU Jerusalem Center won’t be evacuating due to conflict with Iran

SALT LAKE CITY — Students, staff and service couples at the BYU Jerusalem Center will be sheltering in place and not evacuating due to the ongoing conflict between the U.S., Israel, and Iran.

The decision was announced to parents during a Zoom meeting on Tuesday.

 

Since the attacks began on Saturday, everyone living at the BYU Jerusalem Center has been going in and out of the center’s shelters for about 30 minutes at a time, every time the rocket sirens sound.

The center said its area of Jerusalem has not been a target. The biggest danger it faces is from shrapnel from when missiles are intercepted, some of which have fallen onto the center’s grounds.

Leaders of the center told parents they believe the safest option is to stay where they are, since they have protective shelters and safe rooms, as well as extensive security protections. The alternative would be to evacuate students by bus to Cairo, Egypt or Amman, Jordan, which they felt was riskier.

“Our first priority is student safety,” the center stated in the security update posted online. “We believe of the options available to us at the present … that by far the least risky option for students and ex pat personnel given what has happened in Israel in the last day or two (e.g., a substantial decrease in number of missiles launched from Iran toward urban areas to the west of Jerusalem) is to remain at the Center.” 

The state department has advised Americans to evacuate, but according to the BYU Jerusalem Center:

“The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem has urged its employees to shelter in place. Likewise, the government of Israel urged Israelis with US or other non-Israeli passports to shelter in place. And in a broadcast around noon Tuesday (Jerusalem time), Ambassador Mike Huckabee also urged US citizens in Israel to shelter in place.”

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