Plans by Brigham Young University (BYU) to build a multi-million dollar Mormon educational center on Mt. Scopus, adjacent to the Hebrew University campus, received a strong boost today when Mayor Teddy Kollek’s majority “One Jerusalem” faction in the City Council voted unanimously to support an arrangement aimed at defusing the bitter controversy the project has aroused.
The arrangement was proposed recently by Jeffrey Holland, president of BYU which is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, seat of the Mormon Church. It calls for a board of prominent Israelis to oversee the activities of the planned new center.
The project has been fiercely opposed by Orthodox circles in Israel, led by the two Chief Rabbis, Avraham Shapira and Mordechai Eliahu, and the Hasidic Rebbe of Gur. They point to the Mormon Church’s long record of proselytization all over the world and have expressed fear that a Mormon center alongside Hebrew University would serve as the focus for Mormon missionary activity in Israel.
REPLY BY THE MORMONS
BYU has replied that they are major accredited university, not merely an adjunot of their church. They point out that while the Mormon faith seeks converts, it does not proselytize where the local authorities forbid such activities.
They noted further that the BYU Jerusalem program has been in operation for more than a decade at Kibbutz Ramat Rahel, within the city limits, and has never engaged in proselytization.
BYU runs five month undergraduate courses here for its students from the U.S. The curriculum includes the Bible, history, archaeology and Middle East politics.
The Orthodox opponents admit there have been no known instances of missionary activity by BYU since the program began. But they claim BYU deliberately kept a low profile in order to obtain permission to build the center on Mt. Scopus and that once built, it will become aggressively missionary.
The Orthodox have been supported by Likud-Herut MK Dov Shilansky, chairman of the Knesset Interior Committee. He has not made clear his position toward Holland’s proposals. But the municipal planning committee has already given the green light to the project and legally, construction cannot now be prevented.
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