The actions of a growing number of students and faculty may soon make Penn Study Abroad programs in Israel a reality again.
In response to a travel warning issued by the U.S. State Department in April 2002, the University terminated such programs, telling students in Israel to return home immediately.
"I think it's awful," Hillel Student Steering Committee Executive Chair Jason Auerbach said.
"It's a decision everyone has to make for themselves," the College senior added.
While acknowledging that there are heightened safety concerns, students are irritated that the University has taken the choice to study in Israel out of students' hands.
Last semester, several students formed a group to petition the University to change its decision on study abroad in Israel.
"We're a grass-roots movement of students who have a strong desire to study abroad in Israel," Nursing junior and committee head Gabrielle Mashbaum said. "We feel the University policy should not be the way it is."
The group has grown to include between 30-40 students this fall. While committed to its goal, the committee aims to be non-disruptive and has therefore started a letter-writing campaign.
Mashbaum added that she wants the University to understand that the decision to study abroad should be a family one.
"The groups of students are largely backed by their parents," Mashbaum said, providing further justification for reopening the program.
Spending a semester studying in Israel was a deeply held dream for many Penn students, who said that Israel offered unparalleled educational opportunities for them.
"I was very disappointed" when Penn canceled the program, College sophomore and committee member Stephanie Gantman said. "The best way to learn about Israeli culture... is to go."
And for these students, willfully going to Israel is a sign of that acts of violence will not alter everyday behavior.
"It's important for people to know that life goes on," Mashbaum said. "The images we see on television are not day-to-day life."
Penn hardly stands alone among the Ivies in canceling or imposing restrictions on Israel programs. Harvard, Yale, Princeton and Brown universities all no longer approve or will not grant credit for courses taken in Israel.
"We would love to securely send students" to Israel, Brown's Director of the Office of International Programs Kirstin Moritz said. "But it's difficult to justify" in light of recent and escalating violence in the region.
Columbia University is less restrictive. Students can study in Israel if they make a successful petition. Cornell University, as well, has decided that the turmoil in the country should not prohibit students from acting on their wishes.
"We allow students to study abroad in Israel subject to university decisions," Associate Director of Cornell Abroad Beatrice Szekely said. She added that Cornell -- an institution with a large Jewish population -- judged the State Department's warning insufficient reason to suspend the program.
Yet, Cornell is not simply ignoring the real risks that students might face in Israel, encouraging them to take extra precautions.
"We give students guidelines," Szekely said. "We ask them not to congregate in public spaces, not to go to Gaza or the West Bank, to stay aware of the situation with an on-site coordinator."
