Activists Urge Caution Despite Arrival in N.Y. of Syrian Jews

Cautious optimism, not euphoria, continues to be the predominant emotion among activists working for the release of the 4,500 Jews of Syria.

This despite the arrival Sunday night in New York of nine Syrian Jews, two weeks after Syria announced it was lifting travel restrictions on its Jewish population.

“I think things might be heading in the right direction,” said Alice Harary, president of the Council for the Rescue of Syrian Jews. “But we don’t want to settle for divided families.”

The group that came this week included two divided families, as well as someone coming for medical treatment. Syrian Jews in these categories have quietly arrived in the United States over the years.

“While we’re very happy divided families are coming in a trickle, this is not living up to the (April 27) White House press statement regarding eliminating restrictions on travel,” said Harary. The White House statement was the first official word of the new Syrian policy, which was later confirmed in Damascus.

Travel is generally seen as a euphemism for emigration, which remains prohibited.

Activists say that the lack of clear evidence of a changed Syrian policy may indicate bureaucratic delays rather than any malevolence on the part of Syrian President Hafez Assad.

“It’s only two weeks” since the Syrians announced their new policy, said Seymour Reich, chairman of the Task Force on Syrian Jewry of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. “We’re biding our time, and monitoring it carefully.”

Activists say the true indicator of the lowering of Syria’s barriers against Jewish travel would be the arrival of a complete family unit. Until now, Syria has insisted that Jews traveling abroad leave behind a family member to serve, in effect, as a hostage for their return. This was the case as well for some of those who arrived Sunday.

Such an indication may come as early as this week, say activists. They say that a full family unit is reportedly among a group of 24 more Jews who received permission to travel in the past few weeks.

But as recently as last week, as three children were about to board a plane to be reunited with relatives in the West, Syrians required one to stay behind.

“That was distressing, and not in accord with the anticipated free travel,” said Reich.

While the arrival Sunday night in New York of the nine Jews may not have been proof that Syria has changed its policies, for those involved “it was very emotional,” said Harary.

“It was a divided family, with children, that hadn’t been together in four years. There was another who hadn’t been with his family in many years. But it wasn’t new. These divided families had been seeking reunification for years,” she said.

She said one promised reform had been implemented. The group was not required to leave a sizable deposit with the Syrian government, as required until now.

“That is a significant change,” Harary said.

But on other issues, the jury is still out.

One deterrent to Jews leaving Syria has been a ban on selling their homes and businesses without official permission. The promised change in that policy “so far has not trickled down” to the bureaucracy, said Harary, who noted that requests to sell businesses were recently denied.

The U.S. State Department has been advising patience, saying that it will take a while for new procedures to be put into place, said Reich.

The Syrians will “do it at their own good time, and seek their own rewards,” he said.