Rep. Stephen J. Solarz (D.NY), a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee who has just returned from a visit to Syria, and three other Mideast states, said here that the Jewish community in Syria is living in “a state of terror” and that Syrian Jewry is “the most oppressed Jewish community in the world.”
Addressing a press conference called by the American Jewish Congress, Solarz, who met with Syrian President Hafez el-Assad, declared that he brought up the question of Syrian Jewry during a two-hour discussion with Assad and that he (Solarz) suggested that Assad permit a small number of Jews to leave Syria to reunite with members of their families in other countries.
ASSAD REJECTS EMIGRATION OF JEWS
According to Solarz, Assad replied negatively and said that no member of the Jewish community would be granted permission to leave Syria, explaining that if Syria permitted emigration of Jews, Syria would not be in a position to put pressure on the Soviet Union not to permit emigration of Soviet Jews to Israel.
Solarz, who is the first Jewish Congressman to meet with Assad, said that only after the Syrian President personally intervened, was he allowed to tour the Jewish ghetto in Damascus and to attend service at France Synagogue there. The Congressman said that throughout his visit to the Jewish ghetto, he was accompanied by three Syrian government officials. He said that while he was in the synagogue, none of the 16 men participating in the services approached him. He said that because of the presence of the Syrian officials. he did not approach any of the worshippers or ask them any questions.
MIKE WALLACE SHOW RAPPED
Referring to a recent program on the CBS-TV network in which Syrian Jews were interviewed by Mike Wallace, Solarz said that Wallace did not “have the sensitivity to the delicacy of the position” of those interviewed, who were surrounded by Syrian officials.
The Congressman also visited Egypt, meeting with President Anwar Sadat; Jordan, where he met with King Hussein; and Israel, where he met with Premier Yitzhak Rabin and Foreign Minister Yigal Allon. Solarz, who also discussed the Mideast situation, said that his impression was that a solution could not be found to the conflict as long as the Arab states continue to refuse to provide Israel with offers that will have “sense and a substance of security” in them for Israel. He presented these views to a press conference last Friday.
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