Advocates for the Syrian Jewish community this week welcomed indications from the Clinton administration that it would make the plight of Jews trapped in Syria a top priority.
At a House Foreign Affairs Committee markup Tuesday of foreign aid legislation, Rep. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) announced that he and Rep. Benjamin Gilman (R-N.Y.) would not offer a Syria-related amendment to the 1994 foreign aid authorization bill because of assurances he had received from the administration.
The amendment would have prohibited aid to Syria until Damascus allowed Syrian Jews to travel freely and refrained from involvement in terrorism and narcotics trafficking.
Instead of the amendment, Schumer and other members of the committee, including Gilman and Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.), who had also received assurances that the administration would continue to press Syria on the issue of its Jews, agreed to insert tough language about Syrian actions into a committee report accompanying the bill.
Also at the markup, committee members earmarked $3 billion in aid for Israel, the same amount the country currently receives. The bill would include provisions for Israel to spend $475 million of its military assistance within Israel itself instead of in the United States, thereby providing a boost to the Israeli economy.
In addition, congressional sources said, Israel would receive its money earlier than many other aid recipients.
The bill, which still has several hurdles to clear on the legislative track, also includes language restricting the types of weaponry Russia could sell to Iran while receiving American aid.
Another provision in the bill, inserted at the request of Rep. Tom Lantos (D-Calif.) and based on legislation introduced by Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), linked future arms sales to Arab countries to their willingness to rescind the secondary and tertiary boycott of companies doing business with Israel.
‘ENCOURAGED’ BY U.S. STANCE
On the issue of Syria, congressional sources pointed out that Syria is already barred from receiving American aid, both because of other legislation and because Syria remains on the list of state sponsors of terrorism.
The amendment that would have been introduced, and the even tougher language that was inserted into the committee’s accompanying report, serves as a sing to Syria of American views, the sources said.
Alice Harary, president of the Council for the Rescue of Syrian Jews, said in a statement Wednesday that she was heartened by Schumer’s remarks Tuesday.
“I’m encouraged by the firmness with which the Clinton administration appears to be addressing the question of Syrian Jewry,” Harary said. “While I am cautiously optimistic at this news, I urge the Congress to continue to press the Syrian government to release the 1,400 Syrian Jews still remaining hostage in Syria.”
Recently, the Syrian government, responding to American complaints that Syrian Jews are no longer allowed to travel freely, asserted that the Jews no longer seek to leave the country — a claim that was quickly refuted by Syrian Jewry advocacy groups here and in Canada.
In the spring of 1992, Syria had announced a policy of free travel for Syrian Jews.
But between last October and January 1993, no Jews in Syria were granted travel visas, and in recent months, only a few have been given exit papers each week.
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