On Monday, July 21, 2014, Brother Peter Bray, Vice Chancellor of Bethlehem University in the Holy Land, provided the following update on the crisis.
“Bethlehem University is closed today as part of the Palestine-wide General Strike in protest at the ongoing killing in Gaza. This interrupts our end of summer school exams as well as our entrance exams for the coming year, but in comparison with what the people in Gaza are going through this inconvenience is insignificant!
“In the midst of all that is going on in Gaza there is growing unrest on the West Bank and the clashes between the Israeli military and Palestinians on the West Bank are becoming more violent. For most of last night it was possible to hear stun grenades and gunfire from Israeli soldiers as Palestinians protested down at Rachel’s Tomb, a few hundred metres from Bethlehem University. We are not in danger at Bethlehem University, but we hope and pray for an end to the killing, the end of occupation, and the setting in place of a just and peaceful resolution to the conflict. Please keep the people of Gaza and us in your prayers.”