Forty-five Philadelphia judges today appealed to the United Nations for an investigation into the fate of Jews in Syria and Iraq. The judges–more than half of the jurists in the city’s Common Pleas and Municipal Courts systems–called on the UN to act on reports that Jews in these Arab countries face annihilation at government hands. The text of their appeal was released by Thacher Longstreth president of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce and chairman of the Committee of Concern for Syrian and Iraqi Jewry.
The appeal to the UN was organized by six of the judges after they and other civic leaders attended a recent luncheon sponsored by the Committee of Concern. At that time, three Jews who earlier this year escaped from Iraq–two of them widows of men murdered in public hangings–were brought to Philadelphia by the Jewish Community Relations Council to brief Committee members and guests on the plight of those Jews remaining in Iraq and Syria.
“We have heard reports of midnight trials without counsel, followed by pre-dawn executions,” the 45 judges said in a joint letter to Ilhan Lutem, of Turkey, chairman of the UN’s Third Committee. The Third Committee is charged with promoting international respect for human rights and freedom. “We have been told of dozens of people who merely disappear and are not heard from again,” the judges said, referring to continuing reports that many of the less than 400 Jews remaining in Iraq have been imprisoned and their property has been confiscated.
Continuing, the judges wrote: “In our lifetime we have seen an example of the shame and tragedy that can result when the most fundamental principles of law and justice are disregarded. Although the numbers of people involved may be small, the legal and ethical concepts involved are of the highest importance to the dignity of man. We urge your committee to conduct a full investigation of the charges that have been made, so that the community of nations may be assured that law and justice exist for these minorities in Iraq and Syria.”
Organizing the appeal among their colleagues were Judges Richard B. Klein, Lois G. Forer, Joseph T. Murphy, Paul Ribner, Herbert W. Salus Jr., and Calvin T. Wilson. Judge Klein predicted that other judges will add their names to the appeal when the vacation period ends.
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