A renewable 49-year lease for BYU's Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies was signed here May 18.
The lease was signed by BYU Pres. Jeffrey R. Holland in the office of Yehuda Ziv, district officer of the Jerusalem Lands Authority. Also signing the lease, representing the BYU board of trustees, was President Howard W. Hunter, acting president of the Council of the Twelve. Also attending the signing was Elder James E. Faust of the Council of the Twelve.The signing took place in the same office where BYU and lands authority officials four years ago signed a five-year development lease, allowing construction of the BYU Jerusalem Center.
Construction on the center, located on a five-acre site on Mt. Scopus near the Mount of Olives, began with the clearing of land in the summer of 1984.
Paul Richards, BYU director of public communications, said Holland telephoned the university shortly after the lease was signed. Holland said, "We are pleased, and the government officials we have dealt with are pleased. We have been made to feel welcome." He expressed pleasure in realizing what is considered as the last major obstacle for the Jerusalem Center.
"Pres. Holland said he feels like a great load has been lifted from the shoulders of BYU. He said it is a great relief after eight years of constant attention, effort and anxiety," Richards reported.
On May 8, the Israeli cabinet approved the lease on an 11-4 vote. An addendum to the lease contains provisions prohibiting BYU students, faculty and staff associated with the Jerusalem Center from proselyting for the Church.
Richards said one of the concerns voiced by opponents to the center was that it would be used in proselyting for the Church. "Since the outset of the project, BYU officials have promised that the center would not be used for proselyting purposes and that individuals associated with the center will be asked to not participate in any activities that might be viewed as proselyting," Richards said.
"Students who do not conform with the provisions of the lease agreement in regards to proselyting will be dismissed from the program and sent home."
The addendum to the lease also provides for a five-member oversight committee - composed of representatives of the attorney general's office, the cabinet, the Jerusalem mayor's office, and the BYU Jerusalem Center - that will review any planned public event associated with the center, as well as investigate claims of proselyting by BYU students, faculty or staff.
However, the committee will not have any jurisdiction over the operations or educational programs of the center, Richards said.
The BYU Jerusalem Center long has been a target of criticism from outspoken leaders of ultraorthodox Jewish sects, who for several years have expressed fears centering on the proselyting issue. Most of the much-publicized demonstrations occurred in 1985 and 1986.
Since then, the center has enjoyed "a welcomed quiet season," Richards said.
The $20 million center is used by BYU for its study abroad programs. Although minor touch-up construction continues at the facility, the center was occupied in March 1987.
