The hot springs along the shore of the Dead Sea and a visit to the Wailing Wall might sound like ideal aspects of a study abroad experience to some.
But University of California students still have to look beyond the Education Abroad Program if they wish to study abroad in Israel, though students and members of the Jewish community are pushing to change that.
The university suspended the program to Israel in 2002 after the State Department issued travel warnings due to violence in the region.
The travel warnings are still in place, though some say the situation is much safer now and the program should be reinstated.
Students from UC campuses are encouraging the university system’s governing body to rescind the ban to allow students to easily take advantage of the educational opportunities Israel has to offer.
Comparable universities ““ such as Boston University and Harvard University ““ currently have study abroad programs to Israel, despite security warnings.
“Since 2002, as the level of violence decreased, the severity of the travel warning decreased,” said Eric Friedman, an Associate Students of UC Davis senator who is involved in the push to reinstate EAP’s program with Israel and recently spoke on the issue at the last UC Board of Regents meeting.
The warning on the State Department’s Web site says the department “urges U.S. citizens to remain mindful of security factors when considering travel to Israel and Jerusalem at this time.”
The State Department cites the West Bank and Gaza Strip as particularly dangerous places for Americans to be.
While EAP currently offers programs to 32 countries, students can study in almost any country in the world, including Israel, through an independent program or a program from another university, said Dario Bravo, assistant director of UCLA Career Center’s Internship and Study Abroad Services.
Bruce Hanna, the director of marketing and communication for EAP, said safety is a primary concern for EAP, which bases its decisions on the State Department’s travel advisories.
“If the university decided to not use a trusted source such as the State Department to assess the safety for American citizens in a particular country, it’s difficult to imagine exactly how they would do that assessment themselves,” he said.
David Myers, a history professor and director of the UCLA Center for Jewish Studies, said that the security warning does not adequately reflect the current situation on the ground.
“Basically for the last two or three years, there has been a very minimal degree of penetration by suicide bombers. That threat is no longer a daily fact of life for Israelis,” he said.
Myers said the threat of suicide bombings was probably the primary concern for university authorities across the country who decided to suspend study abroad programs. “I would not discourage a student to go (to Israel) only because of the situation on the ground,” he said.
UC students looking to study abroad in Israel are not the only ones who are affected by State Department security warnings. The EAP program to the Philippines was recently suspended indefinitely because of similar warnings.
Bravo said the Career Center’s Internship and Study Abroad service ““ which helps students find alternative study abroad programs ““ alerts students to travel warnings but does not necessarily dissuade them from studying in those countries.
The office is concerned with connecting students with programs and then helping them through the application process, Bravo said.
Jasmin Niku, president of Bruins for Israel, said she and other students she knows were discouraged from studying in Israel because credit earned at an Israeli university could possibly not transfer, and applying to a non-EAP program requires too much paperwork.
“It’s so much extra work … I didn’t have the time, resources or knowledge to do it on my own, so I just didn’t,” Niku said.
“It’s a shame students are being prevented from studying in a place that has meaning for them,” she said.