A few weeks ago, the interim committee decided to cancel the Palestine interim trip due to violence in the region. On the interim, titled “Living Like Jesus Under Occupation,” students would travel to the West Bank and East Jerusalem to learn about Palestinian life under Israeli occupation and the complex historical relationships between Judaism, Christianity and Islam in the land of Palestine.

Professor David Crump confirmed the cancellation.

“The committee decided that there were too many potential dangers to send Calvin students there,” he said, citing as examples a series of bombings in the Gaza strip and a military crackdown on the West Bank where the interim group would have been staying.

Though he acknowledged the presence of these circumstances, Crump did not think the trip extremely dangerous. “Western media seriously misrepresents the conflict over there,” said Crump. “Typically, they portray the Palestinian people as a group of would-be terrorists who have nothing but violence on their mind most of the time. That’s a gross misrepresentation of the circumstances.”

“I appreciate that Calvin cares about the safety of its students,” said sophomore Alex Childs, who was disappointed at the cancellation of the trip “but I don’t know if this trip would have been any more dangerous than some of the trips going to places in Africa or even Central America.”

Crump added that even before the report of violence, he was required to have a safety plan if ever something should happen to a student or a dangerous conflict arose.

The opinions of the parents of the students were of particular concern.

“We have to think about the parents of the students and what they’re going to be fearful of and what kind of feedback the college would get from parents whose children are being taken into a place that the parents thought would be unsafe,” said Crump.

“I was fairly confident [in our safety] because of my experiences in the area,” Crump continued. “We would not have been in immediate danger. However, I can understand why insurance companies, the college and others would not want to take any chances.”