Students caught in Mideast

The past several weeks of violence in the Middle East has hit home for the eight Penn students studying abroad in Israel this semester. Last Friday, the University recommended to all eight undergraduates and their families that they return home, given the extreme political chaos. "We are recommending very seriously that they do come home," Office of International Programs Director Joyce Randolph said. One student already returned to the United States last weekend, according to Randolph. Of the original eight students, four intended to study at Hebrew University, about 20 minutes outside Jerusalem, while four planned on spending the semester at the University of Haifa in northern Israel. Violence erupted in Israel's West Bank in late September when Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon visited an East Jerusalem shrine that has been the point of Israeli-Palestinian dispute. Since the visit, fighting between Palestinians and the Israeli security forces has claimed around 100 lives, mostly Palestinians. Yesterday, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak agreed to a "statement of intent" to end the violence after two days of negotiations, though neither leader has signed the document. The Penn students have been in Israel since August in an intensive Hebrew language program, which recently ended. They are now on a break before classes start for the fall semester in late October, with six traveling in Europe while one remained in Haifa. None of the students supposed to study in Israel for the fall semester could be reached last night, and the Office of International Programs would not release their names. Randolph said that to her knowledge, no Penn students had witnessed any of the violence firsthand and that they didn't feel they were in any immediate danger. "When we first contacted them in early October, they weren't even aware of the violence," she said. "They certainly have not felt threatened." "My feedback is that most of the students want to go back to Israel," she explained. The University recommended that the students return home to the United States without stopping in Jerusalem, telling students that Penn's resident director in Jerusalem would collect their belongings from their housing in Israel. "We think it's wiser that they do not go back to Israel," she said. If they chose to return to the United States, the students will receive University credit for the language course they already took, and will not have to pay tuition for the fall semester. Randolph said that her office has been in touch with the families of the students supposed to study in Israel to help them decide whether to bring their student home. "We are in continuous touch with the families as they do have to struggle to make this decision," she said, adding that the difficulty of the decision is augmented by the precarious nature of the situation in the Middle East. "The situation changes almost on an hourly basis," she noted. The U.S. State Department has issued a "worldwide caution" because of terrorist activity, advising all American travelers to be cautious due to the possibility of violent action against U.S. citizens.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.