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I have a high school friend who was at the tail end of 'walking the steps of Paul' tour through a couple of different countries and was in Jerusalem when the war broke out. She is with a group from her parish with a paid guide.

The day the attacks began, she posted on FB that she was safe, sheltering in place at their hotel in Jerusalem, near Gethsemane until they could get a flight out. She shared that they had a very politically savvy tour-guide and although it was scary, she felt safe. A couple of days later she posted that their original flight out of Jerusalem had been cancelled and the tour company was working on getting them out. She also shared that those who wanted to, had the opportunity to go for a walk through the garden because it was so close to their hotel. (not something I would have done, but having never been there, I have no idea how safe this would be at this time)

Then, last night, both of those posts that refer to being in Jerusalem disappeared from FB. I'm wondering if they were told (and by who?) to take them down for safety, and if so, safety from what. Does the government think they are at risk of being taken hostage because they're U.S. citizens? Or killed? None of the attacks are happening near Jerusalem, and I don't honestly think Jerusalem would be a target because of its roots for three major world religions.

I'm no expert (not even an amateur) on Middle East conflicts, but I can only garner that she removed those posts because someone told them to for some reason.

Are there any international experts here who might be able to offer some insight for me? I've always heard how safe Israel is to travel to, except when it's under attack. The news is not saying much about evacuating U.S. citizens who are stuck over there. My friend and her group can't be the only U.S. citizens over there.

I do keep checking her FB page to see if they've arrived home, because I would think that would be safe to post. At this point, friends are posting on her FB page that they're praying for her, but no details.

I have no real help on this but am thinking/praying for your friend.

So I know she still has internet connection, because, as her friends are posting on her FB wall that they're praying for her, she is liking those posts.

But no sight of her previous two posts which communicate she's in Jerusalem.

I have a long-time friend in Israel. She is a CPA. She has told me to NEVER travel there - so I never would. I hope those trying to get out - do get out. I take no sides in that 'war' as it's a religious war and has been going on since the beginning of time. The photos we are seeing are horrible and heart-breaking, especially the children. I sure hope your friend makes it home safely.

I'm from Israel. The majority of the time Israel's fairly safe (and quite pretty). But then again, New York was pretty safe on the 10th of September.. It's obviously not safe at the moment (through most of the terrorists within Israel are dead [edited]).

Jerusalem has been the target of some missile attacks but Iron Dome is pretty good and we get very few injured and even less killed from missiles - and none so far as I've heard in the last few days so I'm assuming your friend is fine. I don't know why she would remove posts about Jerusalem? That's kind of weird... Maybe she has some progressive friends and she's worried about being a target of online hatred?

[This message edited by SI Staff at 6:33 PM, Monday, December 11th]

I ‘suspect’ it’s because in those posts, she identified as being with a group of U.S. tourists, and she was specific about where they were and what they are doing, how they hope to get out, etc. Was she putting some kind of target on their backs? Or the backs of others who might be in her group that have high visibility?

I don’t know enough about the locations and where missiles are being fired from and to. All we really hear about is Gaza and the West Bank (and Ashkelon). Not much news from other areas that may be under fire but not at the intensity of those. There could be a lot of reasons she took the posts down - could have been requested by their tour guide, or the U.S. Embassy, or the Israeli government. That’s why I’m asking here.

In situations like this you want to be the gray man. The one nobody knows of or notices. The one that slips by because he’s not thought of as a target or a threat.
I would guestimate that the friend removed the posts to be exactly that – the gray man that doesn’t draw attention to themselves.

I think that in order to respect the No Politics guidelines this site has we should limit any discussion on this thread to the personal safety issues of the original question.

Our local newspaper yesterday carried an article about a tour group waiting to leave Jerusalem, and quoted the group leader, whom I know personally, saying they are safe. He said there were sirens the other day but life seemed back to normal yesterday, however they were following State Department guidance - whatever that suggests - while they waited for a flight home. They are supposed to return today, as I understood the article. So possibly that is why your friend pulled her message. I wonder if she is in the same group.

@Superesse - thanks for sharing that story. My guess is that, at any given time, there are many tour groups in or around Jerusalem and I'll never know if my friend is in the group mentioned in your local paper's article. But - I'm guessing the suggestion that they follow State Department guidelines applies to all tour groups, so perhaps that's what precipitated the removal of her posts. I might try to look at her hometown's local newspaper to see if there's anything reported there.

@Bigger - I'm guessing if it were me traveling abroad and in a similar situation, I would have no idea of what the gray man is, and I would have likely wanted to post something to let my friends know I was OK. But I'm guessing in hindsight, she realized, or someone told the group to remove any such posts for safety purposes. My bet is that, when they covered what kind of behavior to abide by while traveling in these countries, they didn't include what to and what not to post on social media if war broke out.

BINGO - I checked the local newspaper, and it is the main headline with an informative article; there were a few dozen people in this group. They safely made it to Jordan, are resting in a hotel, and flights out of there are still operating, so they are working on getting on home. Glad to read they are safe. I don't know why it didn't occur to me to check the local newspaper.

Edited to add - I found another article from a major metropolitan news source that her suburb is a part of. It states that the communication was limited; they were afraid that they weren't safe, and didn't want to give away any plans or locations. And they are supposed to return today.

[This message edited by number4 at 3:17 PM, Wednesday, October 11th]

Our local paper posted an update 4 hours ago, saying the group from here posted on FB they were on the plane.

Hope all arrive back home safely or are still arriving!

Wow... it took two days longer than expected, but my friend just posted that they just landed in her hometown. She referenced 23 hours of travel!

After she rests up, I hope she takes the time to write about their experience. I'm so glad they're safe.

They are very fortunate. I am very glad they are home safe.

My husband tried to get in touch with his friend a couple of times, no response.

He and his family have dual citizenship and split their time between the United States and Israel.

Very concerned, his daughter is/was? in the IDF, hoping the entire family is safe.

I do not understand how both sides seem to love killing babies and children. So very tragic.