Benjamin Bright-Fishbein '07 was kidnapped and later released early Sunday by Palestinian gunmen as he was traveling in Israel, according to University officials. The United States consulate in Jerusalem "has informed the University that Benjamin has been brought back to Jerusalem and is safe," Michael Chapman, vice president for public affairs and University relations, told The Herald Sunday morning.
According to Kendall Brostuen, associate dean of the College and director of international programs, Bright-Fishbein spent the Fall 2005 semester at a University-sponsored program at the American University in Cairo. He took a leave of absence from the University for Spring 2006, Brostuen said.
Israeli news sources reported that Bright-Fishbein is currently a student at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and he was shown holding a Hebrew University identification card in a videotape of him filmed by his captors. University policy currently does not give academic credit for programs located in countries on the U.S. Department of State travel warning list, including Israel, but Brostuen said some students take a leave of absence from the University and enroll at programs not approved by Brown, hoping to receive academic credit retroactively.
Bright-Fishbein was traveling alone in the West Bank city of Nablus, which is controlled by Palestinians, when he was snatched from a coffee shop by a gunman named Ahmed, Reuters reported. "He had a pistol, a grenade and a machinegun. I didn't want to be in his company, but it seemed I didn't have any choice at that point," Bright-Fishbein told Reuters.
Security forces negotiated Bright-Fishbein's release with Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a militant group linked to Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah Party, a senior Palestinian security official told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. Fatah militants were apparently behind the kidnapping, the newspaper reported.
In a videotape made by Bright-Fishbein's captors and released to Reuters, Bright-Fishbein, wearing a traditional Jewish skullcap, said in Arabic, "If the prisoners are not released, they will execute me." The Reuters report added that though it is uncommon for an Israeli Jew to speak Arabic, Bright-Fishbein is fluent in the language.
Bright-Fishbein was handed over to Israeli security forces a few hours after he was abducted, possibly due to the fact that he is an American citizen and not an Israeli citizen, Israeli defense officials told Haaretz.
"In the end, I got the impression that they were in over their heads and they were going crazy talking on the phone," Bright-Fishbein said, according to Reuters. "They clearly had no idea what they were doing. They were not organized."
Haaretz reported that the Israeli military and the Shin Bet security service first received word of a kidnapping of an Israeli Saturday evening. "The first report came in at 9 p.m. and seemed a little doubtful to us," a senior security source told the newspaper. "But toward midnight we received indications that it is a serious story. We started to relate to it as a kidnapping."
The reports initiated what the newspaper described as a "frantic manhunt" by Israeli military forces and Palestinian security forces.
Israeli defense officials have long issued warnings about kidnappings of Israelis in order to negotiate the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, according to Haaretz.
After the ordeal, Bright-Fishbein told Reuters that his sightseeing visit alone to Nablus was "a mistake, a big mistake." He said he had wanted to see the city because he had heard of its beauty, but he could not find anyone to go with him.
Israelis are prohibited from visiting Nablus and other Arab-controlled cities because of the danger of terrorist activity, according to Israeli news agency Arutz Sheva.
Until recently, the University prohibited studying abroad in countries on the U.S. Department of State travel warning list, including Israel. The Corporation revised the policy in March to allow travel to countries on the warning list if students and their parents sign a supplemental waiver in addition to the existing waiver required from all students studying abroad. The new policy will go in effect for the Fall 2006 semester.
