N.Y. Syrian Jewish Community Leaders Ask U.S. for Help

Leaders of the Syrian Jewish community in New York have made quiet representations to US government officials in recent weeks on behalf of some 4000 oppressed Jews in Syria. They have urged the US to make its position clear to the Syrian authorities regarding Jews who wish to emigrate from Syria, and the US government has responded in a positive manner, according to Abraham Dwek, president of the Committee for the Rescue of Syrian Jewry.

Dwek released to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency the contents of letters he received recently from Joseph J. Sisco, Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, and John Richardson Jr., Acting Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs. The letters were in reply to representations by Dwek and by Jacob Stein, chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, who wrote to President Nixon asking for an extension of the Attorney General’s parole authority to admit Syrian Jews who want to emigrate to the US.

Sisco and Richardson, in separate letters, advised Dwek that the US has already informed the Syrian government directly of its readiness to make immigrant visas available to Syrian Jews who have relatives in the US. They also observed that the US was utilizing “quiet diplomatic channels” to approach Syria on the subject in the absence of formal diplomatic relations between Washington and Damascus.

Both letters to Dwek ante-dated the release in Washington last week of a letter from Richard K. Cook, Deputy Assistant to President Nixon for Congressional Relations, to Rep. Edward 1. Koch (D. NY) informing Koch that the US has let Syria know it is ready to supply visas to Syrian Jews with American relatives.