I
want to share and preserve an email my brother, Taylor Hartley, wrote
to the family in late September 2000. He was a student at the BYU
Jerusalem Center in Israel, and he found himself in the middle of
violent riots that broke out at that time. His life, and that of his
friends, was in great danger. I appreciate the courage Taylor
exhibited and the care he showed to his friends during very
tumultuous circumstances. Below are Taylor's own words:
Dear Family,
Today
in our first class [at the BYU Jerusalem Center], one of our head
administrators came in and told us that because of some recent
outbreaks in and around the city, we could only leave the center from
noon and until 2 p.m. and only go to change our money for our trip to
Jordan coming up. The money changer's place wasn't in the old city
that was off-limits, but our way to it lead past it. At about 1:00, I
left with two friends and went to the money changers. It was pleasant
outside and everything was normal. I changed my money, as well as two
other friends' checks they gave me, to exchange.
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| Taylor on the left in a white shirt At the Holy Mount |
When
we left the building, we were met immediately by two Israeli men who
told us to hurry back and tell all our other friends to go home as
fast as we can. Other residents similarly told other students. We
didn't think much of it, but kept walking. Then we went and looked
across the street to Damascus gate -- masses of people were rushing
out of the old city or Temple Mount and running. Some group was
carrying a body -- dead or alive we couldn't tell. Hordes of people
were all over the streets and ambulance after ambulance came
screaming past us. Traffic was dense and going fast. Horns were
sounding like nuts. I was worried for us, so I made sure to hurry
them along and watched out for any aggressive moves on us. All around
us was panic. It was so sudden. The atmosphere had changed. We were
in a war zone, and I felt it. I was determined to help all of us
home. Crowds of people along the tight roads were in front of us as
we struggled frantically to get home.
 |
| Damascus Gate |
We
finally got to a crosswalk. Palestinian people were everywhere in the
roads. Cars were flying past us at insane speeds and driving out of
control. Sirens and flashing lights were everywhere. Some of us
witnessed traumatic scenes of medical injuries involving a lot of
blood as injured people hung out of ambulances and cars filled with
people. In other places, the traffic was so jammed up people were
attacking cars and shattering windows. Violence was all around and
people hurting people was witnessed. One of my friends began to get
extremely traumatized by all of it. I told her not to look around but
concentrate on getting home and just look straight in front of her.
Occasionally she looked about in horror and shuttered at the bloody
and violent scenes.
We continued to run down the streets dodging people and staying free of the cars and emergency vehicles speeding by us very closely. It was mass confusion and hysteria. Families and people on the street sides stood in tears and others watched as the crowds of rioting were happening.
 |
| A riot scene |
We
kept moving hastily and began ascending back towards the [BYU
Jerusalem Center]. Things [now] seemed to be a little less congested,
but the traffic was absolutely lethal. Ambulance after ambulance
screaming, car after car zooming on the wrong side of the road,
passing other cars in front of them. It all kept going on and on.
Crossing the street was putting our lives in danger.
All
of us successfully crossed the street, eventually, as I helped direct
them to run at the right moment. However, I and another waited for
our Korean friend to get across after trying to buy milk quickly that
she supposedly needed from a little shop. As we waited, the girl with
me insisted that she must run across the street and be with our other
friend, but I took hold of her, looked her in the eyes and directed
her to stay on the side of the road and not go back -- she could get
killed and others trying to help her may get killed also. She nearly
burst into tears as she realized how crazy and panicked she was in
the midst of all this mass hysteria. She thanked me for setting her
straight.
We all finally made it back to the Center safely, reported to the student keeping track of all other students and counting who made it, and began to catch our breath. The girl I was with was in tears nearly the whole trek back to the Center, fearing for herself and cringing at the terribly frightening scenes before her. She held onto me nearly the whole way home, and I tried to comfort her as we went, as well as others too. She had witnessed people wounded from gunshots, probably, and other injuries. She had seen people hurting each other and the violence. I, however, didn't see a thing -- not one bloody person or act of violence, and I didn't see the body being carried. That's fortunate, I think. I was so focused on getting the girls back safely that I was watching intently on our immediate surroundings. I did see people crying on the street sides and couldn't help but notice the seemingly thousands of ambulances that screamed past us.
We all finally made it back to the Center safely, reported to the student keeping track of all other students and counting who made it, and began to catch our breath. The girl I was with was in tears nearly the whole trek back to the Center, fearing for herself and cringing at the terribly frightening scenes before her. She held onto me nearly the whole way home, and I tried to comfort her as we went, as well as others too. She had witnessed people wounded from gunshots, probably, and other injuries. She had seen people hurting each other and the violence. I, however, didn't see a thing -- not one bloody person or act of violence, and I didn't see the body being carried. That's fortunate, I think. I was so focused on getting the girls back safely that I was watching intently on our immediate surroundings. I did see people crying on the street sides and couldn't help but notice the seemingly thousands of ambulances that screamed past us.
 |
| A riot scene |
Back at the Center, after talking a lot with other people shook-up, and after explaining to others what had happened, I went on to a balcony with a lot of other students and watched the city. Black smoke billowed in the air from some fire. People were everywhere, traffic was nuts, and the whole city before us seemed to be in commotion. I looked, and directly in front of me, I witnessed in the distance a police car explode into leaping orange flames and black smoke. Cars continued to cruise past the burning, smoldering mass. The bang sounded about a second later.
 |
| BYU Jerusalem Center |
The experience was intense. We were all gathered into a big auditorium-like room and watched CNN live on a big screen. Apparently what happened at the time we were outside the old city walls, and within the Temple Mount where the Dome of the Rock is, Muslims were getting finished with a prayer service when some Israeli police entered the Muslim turf. They were motivated to do this because of recent political negotiations and to prevent any problems. Also because of the political situation, the police were armed and shielded. The Muslims got mad at the "trespassing" Israeli police and so they began throwing rocks at them. The police hid behind their shields, but then decided to stop the conflict by shooting them with rubber bullets. Arab/Muslim snipers outside the area began shooting the police with real bullets. Because of that, the police also began shooting real bullets. That's when all the injuries began happening. Last I heard, about four were killed and hundreds of people were injured. As this was happening, we were going past the gate where a lot of people were scrambling to leave the Temple Mount where all the violence had started in the first place. Also, the political situation which started this fight began yesterday. It's pretty complicated, but because of it, many more Palestinians (Arabs and/or Muslims) began pouring into the city.
Overhead
sonic booms crashed loudly, shaking the Center as (military?)
aircraft reached supersonic speeds, breaking the sound barrier. The
unexpected, loud noises startled me while studying The Book of Mormon
along side some friends. A boom exploded and made me involuntarily
throw the scriptures to the floor, turn around, and be ready to fight
with my fists raised and being planted in a fighting stance. I also
yelled aggressively as I've been trained to. It took a bit to calm my
heart and cease hyperventilating. It was pretty funny to friends
around me. We all had a good laugh.
So, I'm grateful to be alive right now, and I'm glad everyone else is safe too. It's a miracle we all made it home with the mass confusion and hysteria that permeated every space around us. We were consumed in panic and floods of insanely life-threatening traffic.
We've been told not to go to our balconies and watch the events, or take pictures if there are problems along the road nearest us. The reason why is that “bullets don't know who you are.” We're under orders to stay inside the building for all of today and the rest of tomorrow. Hopefully we'll be able to escape to Jordan on Sunday and when we come back, things will be back to relative harmony again.
That's what's happening back here. I haven't been shook up really. I'm feeling okay. So there's no need to be worried.
Love,
Taylor
So, I'm grateful to be alive right now, and I'm glad everyone else is safe too. It's a miracle we all made it home with the mass confusion and hysteria that permeated every space around us. We were consumed in panic and floods of insanely life-threatening traffic.
We've been told not to go to our balconies and watch the events, or take pictures if there are problems along the road nearest us. The reason why is that “bullets don't know who you are.” We're under orders to stay inside the building for all of today and the rest of tomorrow. Hopefully we'll be able to escape to Jordan on Sunday and when we come back, things will be back to relative harmony again.
That's what's happening back here. I haven't been shook up really. I'm feeling okay. So there's no need to be worried.
Love,
Taylor
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| Taylor at Qumran Cave 4 Where many of the Dead Sea Scrolls were found |
Sources
"Jerusalem
Outbreak." An email from Taylor C. Hartley dated Friday,
September 29, 2000. Edited slightly for clarity and removed some referenced names for privacy.
BYU
Jerusalem photo - https://jerusalemcenter.ce.byu.edu/