The Canadian Jewish Congress (CJC) sent a cable to President Hafez Assad of Syria yesterday urging him “immediately to take all the necessary steps to protect the Syrian Jewish community” in the wake of the brutal murder in Aleppo last December 28 of a Jewish mother and her two children.
The slaying and mutilation of Mrs. Lillian Adabi, a pregnant mother, and her six year-old son and 3 1/2 year-old daughter has shocked Jews and others the world over and prompted demands that the Syrian authorities bring the killer to justice. Copies of the CJC cable to Assad were sent to Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau and Foreign Minister Allen McEachen.
It stated: “The Canadian Jewish Congress, the representative organization of Canadian Jewry, is deeply distressed over the brutal murder of Mrs. Lillian Adabi and her two children … This murder of a Jewish family has shocked all Canadians. We urge you immediately to take all the necessary steps to protect the Syrian Jewish community from further harm.”
The cable also called on Syria, as a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to allow Syrian Jews who wish to emigrate to leave the country. The CJC asked for a meeting with the Syrian Ambassador to Canada to pursue the matter. The Syrian Ambassador in Washington, Rafik Joujati, is accredited to Canada.
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