Security Update

SECURITY UPDATE

March 6, 2008:

Earlier today, there was a shooting in West Jerusalem (the Center is in East Jerusalem) at a Jewish religious school. (These schools are commonly referred to as ¿yeshivas¿.) Initial reports indicate that eight people were killed and nine were injured, three seriously. The gunman was killed. This is a major escalation of violence within Jerusalem, although it should be noted that neither tourists in general, nor Americans specifically, were attacked even though the Old City was filled with tourists and there are plenty of hotels filled with tourists, including Americans. Hence, it appears that, as has been true for a number of years, the violence is directed at Israelis and not at foreigners.

The students have been in Jordan and away from the Center for the past four days. They returned to the Center late today (Jerusalem time). The Old City and Jerusalem are now off-limits to students (as they were for last weekend prior to the departure for Jordan). They will remain off limits until at least Sunday as the Center¿s security personnel assess the situation, particularly following Friday prayers at the mosques in the city. The student program is operating under a ¿structured free time¿ regime described at the Final Orientation for parents and students in Provo earlier this year. Specifically, students will be permitted out of the Center only with prior approval of the Center¿s administrative personnel and only to planned and agreed upon destinations; students who do not wish to go to these agreed upon locations will be asked to remain at the Center. Under this ¿structured free time¿ regime, the students have organized a trip for tomorrow that will take them away from Jerusalem to Eilat in the south. This trip has been approved. Travel to and from Eilat is along safe and secure roads well within the boundaries of Israel proper. There are no plans within the ¿structured free time¿ regime for student travel on Saturday or Sunday, and, consequently, students will be asked to remain at the Center for those two days. A decision about whether to lift or extend the ¿structured free time¿ regime beyond Sunday will be made on Sunday and will be reviewed on a daily basis for the next while.

February 28, 2008:

Substantial violence has erupted in Gaza and along the Israel-Gaza border today, including substantial increase in the number of crude rockets fired from within Gaza into an Israeli community across the border and airstrikes by the Israeli military against militants within Gaza. Civilian casualties on both sides are higher than in the recent past. The violence has not affected Jerusalem, where normal activities and routines continue to be followed by both Palestinians and Israelis.

In addition, the violence has not spread beyond Gaza to, for example, the Palestinian West Bank which remains quiet. Conditions in and around the Center have not been affected by the problems in Gaza; student activities have not been interrupted. Center security personnel are, however, working closely with contacts in the area with regard to potential risks and are closely monitoring the situation. At this point, we do not anticipate that there will be changes to planned students activities over the next several days. Access to the Old City and Palestinian areas is somewhat restricted on Fridays and weekends as part of our normal security procedures. These restrictions will remain in place, but not be enhanced at this time. We have reminded students, however, of the importance of traveling in small groups and being very much aware of what is happening around them.