The 1974 Winter Semester study abroad to Israel program was led by LaMar E. Garrard & his wife, Agnes W. Garrard. Their six children also attended: Cindy, John, Joseph, Suzanne, Daniel, Benjamin. Assistant directors were Haws Marble and Ken Crook. David Galbraith was the Jerusalem branch president at the time. The students who attended the 1974 program included:
Karen Bishop
Susan Raelene Brian
Steven A. Bushman
John Earl Call
Susan Chock
Anne Clark
Mark Thomas Davies
Lynda Dixon
Jill Eccles
Gaylynn Greer Evans
Marcia Farley
Kevin Hale
Deborah V. Hansen
Raymond Daniel Hartman
Cheryl Larrain Karres
Mary Alice Maycock
John DeHaven Ogelsby
Heather Parker
Jill E. Peterson
Victoria I. Richardson
Sharon V. Ryan
Donna Scott
Raelene Ada Shelley
Lon William Sorenson
Janet Warcup
The 1974 Winter Semester abroad program started in January of 1974 and had a smaller group of students due to the most recent Yom Kippur War that started October 6, 1973. However, the students were safe and hostilities had primarily ended by the time they arrived, although students witnessed Israeli aircraft conducting air raids into Syria over the Golan Heights at times. There was exceptional security everywhere.
We departed Salt Lake City on January 6th and landed in Bangor, Maine for refueling. We then departed Bangor and arrived in Paris at 7:00 a.m. on the 7th of January. We spent a day in Paris and then departed the next day for Athens, Greece where we spent two days touring the sites of Athens and cities nearby. We visited Corinth, Epidaurus and many other ancient cities that the Apostle Paul took on his journey.
Students were housed at the City Hotel, an Arab-run hotel in East Jerusalem. They students were separated by gender, by floor. Sabbath meetings were held on Saturday to accommodate local customs and each student was given a church calling. Steven Bushman was called as the branch missionary leader, something that is no longer done. The bar in the hotel was converted into a library for the students. The hotel was the center of learning and activities. MIA talent shows, dances, family nights, Sabbath services and meals were all at the City Hotel. Hebrew class, many students took as well as Old and New Testament courses. President David Galbraith was the branch president. He and his family lived in Bethany. Jacob, the local Hebrew instructor, commented to Brother Gerrard about how different BYU students were from others. He noted that our students were more serious and tried harder. He said we were a curious group that was unique and couldn’t quite place his finger on why, but just noted how different BYU students were, in a good way.
In the first days of arrival in Jerusalem, students were encouraged to explore the Old City, the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque, where visitors were allowed to enter. Students visited Mea Shearim, the Jewish ultraorthodox section of Jerusalem.
In January, Jerusalem was very cold and on Friday, January 18, 1974 it snowed 7 inches. Students enjoyed the unique view of Jerusalem covered in snow and engaged in multiple snowball fights with local kids in the Old City.
Students were allowed to explore many parts of Israel on their own in 1974 including the often taxi rides and public buses to Tel Aviv to the beach, shopping, local activities and home teaching assignments to members of the branch. Oftentimes, students would hitchhike back and forth from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv.
A unique opportunity for service was when BYU students were invited to participate in an important archaeology dig occurring at the base of the Temple Mount near Robinson’s Arch which was the southwestern corner of the temple mount. Students specifically worked on excavating an ancient cistern. Today’s visitors can see remnants of the arch as well as the crushed sidewalks from the temple walls that were thrown down during the destruction of the 2nd temple by the Romans in 70 A.D. Artifacts were discovered that were turned in to authorities.
Excursions outside of Jerusalem were often done in small groups of 7 or 8 in the old, blue Volkswagen bus that LaMar Gerrard had purchased. There was still much evidence of war in the countryside with blown up tanks still by the roads.
Students played basketball in Ramallah at the United Nations Women’s Training Center School against the local Arab students. It was more like a tackle football game than basketball! No rules seemed to apply.
Students would often explore the old city of Jerusalem on their own, visiting the many important religious and cultural sites in their spare time. Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Museum, was an impactful visit for many BYU students as well as the John F. Kennedy memorial building. On April 6, 1974, students celebrated the birth of Christ in a Christmas celebration at the City Hotel. BYU semester abroad students visiting from Paris, joined in and put on a play for the occasion. Afterwards, students took taxis to Bethlehem to Shepherds Fields to sing Christmas songs that evening.
Students stayed at a youth hostel in Ein Gedi which literally was tin shacks that were terribly built. Student trips on those days had rough conditions with transportation, hostels and camping.
Some of the other noteworthy excursions were to Sharm El-Sheikh near Eilat, Galilee, Masada (where students hiked to the top) and Sinai. Because Israel occupied the Sinai Peninsula at that time, we were escorted the entire time by the Israeli Army. We camped at an Israeli Army camp at the base of Mt. Sinai and then with an Israeli Army patrol, hiked to the top and back.
In April of 1974, President Cannon, the mission president of the area visited with astronaut John Lind who spoke to the students. In April, a terrible tragedy occurred in Kiryat Shmona, where terrorists crossed the border from Lebanon and occupied a school. Eighteen people were killed in the massacre. As a result, security was tightened and students often saw many Israeli air force planes heading to the Golan Heights area for combat missions. Jerusalem was shut down by Israeli Defense forces as a result and security was very tight for some time. Henry Kissinger came to town multiple times and some students were able to see him at the King David Hotel.
At the end of April, students spent two weeks in Galilee at the Karei Desche youth hostel. Students visited the Mt. of Beatitudes, walked to Capernaum, ate sardines and sandwiches for lunches, held a testimony meeting on the Mt. of Beatitudes and visited Tiberius. Students worked on the famous Degania Alef Kibbutz at the south end of the Sea of Galilee. It is the childhood home of Moshe Dayan, the Israeli Defense Minister.
A memorable experience was the visit to Hezekiah’s tunnel. Students took candles into the tunnel but soon found that 1/3 of the way into the tunnel, the water was up to the students ears and then the candles went out due to a lack of oxygen. The students retreated and kept having to re-light their candles. One student, who was short, was held up in the water by others to keep their head above the water until the level lowered. Due to the high water level in the tunnel, students were not able to get through Hezekiah’s Tunnel at that time.
Some students were able to take side trips to Cyprus via ship, and then on through Beirut, Lebanon, Damascus, Syria and Jordan. Egypt was off limits to students due to residing in Israel at the time.
At the end of our semester to Israel, students traveled together to Petra, Jordan and from Amman, Jordan to Rome, Italy. For a few days in Italy, students toured Rome and Pompeii. From Rome, students returned home and some groups went on to tour other parts of Europe.
Special thanks to Stephen Bushman for submitting images and information to the 1974 BYU Jerusalem Study Abroad.
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