They live surrounded by hostility. Often. in fact. surrounded by Palestinians. Finally. these Jews living in Syria are denied the right of emigration or even temporary foreign travel. They are in effect treated as hostages in the conflict with Israel. There are 25.000 Jews of Syrian background in the United States. Many of the Jews who are still in Syria have relatives here. Permitting them to emigrate to the United States would remove them from the hostile environment in which they live and in no way exacerbate the military and political situation in the Middle East. It would also be in the great tradition of this Nation to provide a home for oppressed minorities such as the Jews in Syria. Of course. if they want to go elsewhere I believe they should have the right to do so. For these reasons I am today introducing a resolution calling upon the President to urge the Syrian leadership to let the Jews in Syria emigrate to the United States or elsewhere. I ask unanimous consent that the text of my resolution may appear at this point in the RECORD.
Keywords matched
emigrate emigration