Jerusalem, Israel – A group of Hillsdale College students and professors are safe Sunday, after a man drove a truck onto a promenade in Jerusalem, killing four and injuring more than a dozen others.
During a 10-day trip in Israel, the 43 students and two professors were spending their eighth day in Masada and at the Dead Sea, about an hour-and-a-half drive from Jerusalem, when the attack occurred on the Armon Hanatziv promenade in the southern part of the city. The group’s hotel is in Jerusalem, but the travelers haven’t gone near the promenade during their day trip.
An east Jerusalem man with an Israeli license in a flatbed truck was shot and died, after running into a group of Israeli Defense Force soldiers Sunday afternoon, killing three women and a man in his 20s, according to reports. Video shows the truck reversing and crashing a second time. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the incident points to the driver being a supporter of the Islamic State group, according to The Jerusalem Post. More details have yet to be released from Israeli officials.
“I’m really sad,” sophomore Madeline Gish said. “There’s a lot of joy in Jerusalem. They also live in a city where people get in a truck and kill, but life goes on. It’s part of what makes this city amazing, the resilience that they have.”
The group from Hillsdale is traveling with an Israeli Defense Force soldier.
While students said they were grateful to be safe, the incident put their discussions of the conflict between Israel and the Middle East into reality, several said.
“This happening puts the trip into perspective,” junior Emily Rinaldi said. “We are here, and this happened here. It’s so real.”
But being in Israel also provided students with the opportunity to meet Jerusalem residents, who were brought to the forefront of students’ minds, they said.
Senior Kyra Rodi said the family with whom she and some of her peers had a Shabbat dinner on Friday came to her mind.
“It’s something personal now,” Rodi said. “These are real people with real families. It hit me harder than it had in the past.”
