New York State Attorney General Robert Abrams, chairman of the Legal Coalition for Syrian Jewry, led a delegation of prominent New York and California public officials and attorneys today as they called for the United Nations to take immediate action to free the hostage community of Jews in Syria.
“The Syrian Jews, on whose behalf we are here today, are a hostage community,” Abrams said. “Jews in Syria are isolated from their families abroad; their useless passports and identification papers are stamped with “MUSAWI” (Jews); they are subjected to special curfew and internal travel restrictions; their mail and telephone communications are censored. Most importantly, Syrian Jews are not allowed to freely emigrate. Those who have attempted to escape from these intolerable conditions have met with severe punishment, sometimes torture.”
The delegation, which included distinguished Syrian Jewish lawyers and Abe Dwek, director of the Committee for Rescue of Syrian Jewry, presented a petition and a Bill of Particulars to U.S. Deputy Representative on the UN Security Council Richard Petree at the United States Mission to the UN. Later, United States Ambassador to the United Nations Donald McHenry arranged for a delegation of the Legal Coalition to meet with Fou-tchin Liu, director and deputy to Secretary General Kurt Waldheim.
Following their meetings, the delegation issued the following statement: “We have just presented our views on freedom and justice for all people and on behalf of the right of Syrian Jews to emigrate from that country to any other of their choice. As Americans look forward to the thanksgiving holidays and express appreciation for their many blessings, we hope they will remember the many throughout the world who are not free to practice their religion, who are not free to live where they choose, who have been tortured for trying to escape from a country where they are held hostage.”
SIMULTANEOUS RALLY IN CALIFORNIA
A simultaneous demonstration of support for the Syrian Jews was held at California State Assembly Speaker Leo McCarthy’s office in Los Angeles. McCarthy, co-author with State Senator William Campbell of a Joint Assembly Resolution calling for United States action on behalf of Syrian Jews, received a delegation of the Legal Coalition.
According to McCarthy, “The Syrian Jewish community, numbering only 5000. is among the most persecuted groups of people on earth. While the Jews clearly are not welcome in Syria the Syrian government will not let them leave. As a member of the United Nations, Syria is obligated to abide by the UN Declaration of Human Rights which it signed. We call for the government of the United States and the United Nations to investigate the case of the Syrian Jewish community and to take appropriate action.”
The Legal Coalition for Syrian Jewry is an association of members of the legal profession based in New York and Los Angeles working on behalf of Syrian Jewry.
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