President Nixon was asked by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations to make “a personal appeal to the Syrian authorities to permit Syrian Jews who wish to emigrate to the United States to do so.” The request was made in a letter to the President from Jacob Stein, chairman of the Presidents Conference.
Pointing out that Syria’s 4500 Jews “are suffering harsh terms of living, restricted employment and forbidden emigration,” Stein said that the membership of the 25 national organizations comprising the Presidents Conference “feel a deep sense of anxiety and anguish” over the fate of the Syrian Jews. Nixon was asked to make “a statement that our government, under the (Attorney General’s) parole authority provisions, would grant visas to all Syrian Jews who wish to emigrate to the United States.” Presently, Jews from the Soviet Union are entering the US under the parole authority.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
