Jerusalem Security Update

Just a quick note to clarify what has been happening the last couple days in the Holy Land!

Here is the sweet and condensed version:

The Holy Land is divided into 3 parts: Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank.

HISTORY LESSON: Israel is run by the Israeli (Jewish) Government. The WestBank/Gaza areas are supposed to be run by the Palestinians, however Israel is currently occupying (i.e. controlling militarily) the West Bank and have the Gaza strip boarders and coast completely surrounded. The Palestinians are sick of the Israeli military running the show in what is supposed to be their land. Gaza has been taken over by a hostile Palestinian group called "Hamas" and they REALLY don't like when Israeli soldiers over step their boundaries, which happens frequently. Long story short, after being discriminated against and belittled in every sense of the word, the Palestinians start to get angry and take a stand. Hamas has taken a more violent approach. I do not condone anything that Hamas has done because their methods are frequently inhumane, however I am sympathetic to the Palestinian cause because they have been wronged on many levels.

CURRENT HISTORY: Hamas frequently sends rockets into Israel, but Israel is usually able to detect these rockets and destroy them before they land. However in the last few days Hamas has sent more than 200 rockets into Israel. Because Jerusalem is the 3rd holiest site in Islam it has not been been targeted in 40 years... until yesterday.

MY STORY: Yesterday at 5pm I was going downstairs to switch my laundry (the laundry room is conveniently located inside the bomb shelter) when I heard the air raid siren go off in the city. I knew what it was and quickly made it the rest of the way to the bomb shelter/laundry room. The PA system chimed and announced that everyone was to make their way to the bomb shelter immediately. We were only in there for 25-30 minutes (I had plenty of time to switch my loads) before we got the all clear sign from security. We did NOT hear any "booms" or "explosions". We then met in the forum where our program director addressed us. This is what we know:

Hamas targeted Jerusalem with 1-2 missiles (NOT BOMBS, aka they weren't armed for mass destruction). The missile's trajectories were calculated and Jerusalem was nearest target, so the air raid sirens were set off. We had a 3-5 minute warning to get where we needed to be before the missiles would have been in deadly range. The missiles landed south of Bethlehem, so as you can see from the map they were NOT EVEN CLOSE. They landed in unoccupied areas and no one was injured. The media (Deseret News, KSL, etc) really took this to the max by saying all this stuff about us holding tight while bombs fell, which is a complete exaggeration. Heaven help the media. The Israeli government is confident that Hamas has few if any remaining missiles that would have the potential to reach Jerusalem, but regardless the national security force (IDF-Israeli Defense Force) and the Jerusalem Center security staff are both equipped to protect. I felt safe and was never in any sort of peril.

If you read the recent Deseret News article update you will know that our schedule for the night carried on as planned and at the JC we attended PROM!

On a happier note I went to Prom and did my hair and full make-up for the first time since I left! We left the forum in a hurry because we were all behind schedule and wanted to get all done up before dinner at 6:30. Because the ratio is 2.5 girls to 1 boy it was a Polyga-Prom. The boys drew names and picked up their dates at the door. We ate dinner in the Oasis (our cafeteria), took pictures, and then danced the night away. Pretty epic!

 

Thanks for all of the prayers, calls, emails, thoughts, etc. I love you all and am grateful to have so many supporters and friends. The people that need your prayers are the Palestinian civilians who are innocent and caught in the midst of the fighting. {pray for peace}

Love, Kaylen

P.S. If anything happens in the future and you want to check up on the security here at the Jerusalem Center you can check it on our website and it will update you on how things are going here at the JC--     http://ce.byu.edu/jc/security.php