wfn.org | Most PC(USA) mission personnel in Jerusalem will be evacuated in the

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Note #6215 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

morning
13-October-2000
00354

Most PC(USA) mission personnel in Jerusalem will be evacuated in the morning

by Alexa Smith

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Three of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)'s four mission
personnel in Jerusalem are evacuating to Cyprus in the morning, according to
the Worldwide Ministries Division.

	Young Adult Volunteers Wendy Matthewson of Oswego, Ill., and Gloria Yi of
Newton, Pa., will leave Jerusalem in the morning for Cyprus, where they will
be under the auspices of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), which
is headquartered there.

	Layne Hawley is heading for Cyprus on Sunday morning, although she has been
in the United States for the past few days speaking at a mission conference.

	 Hawley is the coordinator of the Young Adult Volunteers' Program in
Jerusalem.

	A resident of the August Victoria Hospital Compound on the Mount of Olives
in Old Jerusalem, Hawley witnessed the first outbreaks of the violence
between Palestinians and Israelis nearly two weeks ago and was outspoken
then about what she called the Israelis' excessive use of force.

	Hawley said soldiers were firing live ammunition into a crowd, although the
rocks thrown by young men were landing more than 30-feet away from soldiers.
 She said it appeared that other soldiers were firing rubber bullets, but
aiming at the eyes of Palestinians.  A number of the wounded were reportedly
blinded.

	Yi, however, was caught twice in the violence while in Ramallah, the
Palestinian community where she lived and taught outside Jerusalem.  One
week ago, Yi was a passenger in a car that was attacked by Palestinian
stone-throwers and narrowly escaped injury.  Two nights ago, the Israelis
bombed a building that was next to the Quaker school where she taught.

	Yi is staying at the Augusta Victoria Hospital, although she is uninjured.

	"We didn't want to remove them from the area completely," Steve Earl, who
directs the Young Adult Volunteer Program, told the Presbyterian News
Service, adding that both Mathewson and Yi may return quickly to Jerusalem
if necessary.  "But we thought it best to remove them from the situation as
soon as possible."

	Earl said the decision to evacuate was made jointly by ecumenical partners
there, staff and involved mission personnel.

	Yi is a student at Princeton Theological Seminary and Mathewson, at
McCormick Theological Seminary.

	Doug Dicks is remaining in Jerusalem until further notice.  He is assigned
to Catholic Relief Services there, but will begin itinerating in U.S.
churches in two weeks.

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