The Naftali Building at Tel Aviv University, NYU's partner for its Tel Aviv study site.

CALI, Colombia — On July 13, a group of 15 NYU Shanghai students were flown out of Tel Aviv to Istanbul because of safety concerns following an increase in tensions between Palestine and Israel. The relocation was made in the midst of Israel’s Operation Protective Edge in Gaza and the anticipation of rocket attacks in the Tel Aviv area. A rocket landed in a home in Yehud on July 22, marking the first attack on the Tel Aviv area since the operation was launched.

The students arrived in Israel on June 30 to participate in a summer program at Tel Aviv University International. They were taking courses on business entrepreneurship and the Arab uprisings of 2011 with tuition and accommodation costs covered by scholarships from the Israeli government for select Chinese students. Although students were initially scheduled to leave the provided accommodation by July 25, the deterioration of Israel’s security situation prompted NYU officials to organize the students’ immediate relocation to Turkey.

NYUSH Manager for Student Life Judy Li heard of the students’ safety concerns via Facebook and contacted NYUSH Dean of Students David Pe, who coordinated the students’ move alongside various NYU officials. NYU Vice President of Public Affairs John Beckham wrote to The Gazelle about the students’ relocation.

“With missiles being aimed at Israeli population centers, we decided that it would be best for the group from NYU Shanghai not to remain in Tel Aviv during this period,” Beckham explained in an email. “We knew we wanted to sustain the academic work for which the students had traveled to Israel, so we moved the students to Turkey.”

The students stayed in Istanbul for five days during which time university officials monitored the security situation in Israel in order to determine whether it was safe for the students to return to Tel Aviv. In the meantime, the students took a course on the history of Istanbul taught by NYU Tel Aviv professors Benjamin Harry and Martin J. Wein. The university also arranged for NYU Tel Aviv Program Coordinator Tahlia Berger and NYUSH Residential Life Associate Shara Yim to oversee the student’s stay in Turkey.

The Gazelle contacted some students for their opinion on the university’s response to their safety concerns during the Tel Aviv summer program. NYUSH rising sophomores Siyao Li and Johnson Huang both said that NYU had shown commitment to the safety of its students.

“I feel really touched [and] moved [and] blessed. NYU [and] NYUSH did an amazing job,” wrote Huang in an email.

Li shared a similar opinion, expressing confidence in the university’s response to students’ safety concerns.

“This is super responsible. It shows how much NYU cares about its students,” wrote Li in an email. “We are not in an NYU program, instead, a [Tel Aviv University] program. However, NYU has moved us to Istanbul to protect us from the conflict”

Beckman further elaborated on the process NYU follows to safeguard its students around the world, explaining that NYU follows a standard protocol when dealing with security situations.

“This involves caucusing by a set of senior administrators from a number of University offices, as well as outside firms who are specialists in evacuating personnel from unsafe situations,” wrote Beckham in an email. “There is not, however, a one-size-fits-all response — the circumstances differ widely from event to event, and we proceed based on those circumstances.”

On July 18, the students were flown back to China given that the security situation in Tel Aviv showed no sign of improvement.