It’s a shame when higher education suffers because of global events but this is the world we live in now.

Adam Kredo of the Washington Free Beacon reported.

Colleges Recall Students from Israel as Conflict Rages

Several U.S. colleges have decided to cancel their study abroad programs in Israel and evacuate students from the region, citing safety concerns as the conflict with Hamas continues.

While Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system has protected much of Israel from attacks, spokesmen for several of the universities that evacuated students from the region said concerns about safety and warnings from the Obama administration fueled decisions to cancel programs in Israel.

Several of the universities reached for comment said they were influenced by State Department travel warnings and a highly controversial decision by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to temporarily suspend U.S. flights to Israel.

The FAA’s flight ban prompted outrage in Israel and accusations that it was politically driven by the Obama administration to pressure Israel to stop its campaign against Hamas terrorists.

All of the study abroad programs that were cancelled as a result of the administration’s warnings are now on an indefinite hold until calm returns to the region, according to spokesmen from several universities, including George Mason University, Michigan State, and Penn State.

“The trigger that caused our university to recommend an evacuation was the decision made by the FAA to suspend the flights of U.S. carriers in and out of Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv,” said Gary Gilbert, an associate professor of religious studies at Claremont McKenna College in California.

The FAA’s late July flight ban to Israel forced Claremont McKenna to quickly evacuate its students through Jordan and back to America, Gilbert said.