A little more than a quarter of a century ago a thriving Je ish community of 30.000 existed in Syria. That number has dwindled to some 4.000 to 4.500 men. women. and children who have b.een subjected to some of the worse forms of discrimination. harassment. and abuse. Their travel within Syria is severely restricted and there is no freedom of emigration. They are under the constant surveillance of the secret policethe Muhabaratand must carry identification cards with the word Jew marked on them. In light of the treatment accorded to the Syrian Jewish community I cannot conceive even considering any form of assistance to that nation without first requiring that the A1Assad government allow Jews to emigrate and to observe basic principles of human rights and human dignity in the treatment of minorities. I am encouraged by the attention which the Foreign Affairs Committee briefly gave to this pressing issue and am hopeful that the message is clearly received both in Damascus and in Foggy Bottom. Not only must full attention be given to the language authored by my good friend from the Bronx but the concurrent resolution veto process should be implementedin order to carefully consider all aspects of any aid to Syriaif and when assistance is sought under the Special Requirements Fund.
Keywords matched
emigrate emigration