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Pi«* • THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE October IJ. 1*7*
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Syrian Jews want out!
American students discover truth behind propaganda
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JERUSALEM (JTA>—The
<500 fki Jewish coumdy
ia Dwiini is doonaitd by u
00 year-old Jewish supporter at
the Syria* repine who is itpnM
with dritrast by the Jewish
population, two Aacriaa Jewish
students recently told the Jewish
Telegraphic Agency
The two. Terry Magady. 23. and
Daa Weiner, 22. both of
Cahfnnha, spent free days last
aKMth in the Syrian capital as part
the region, mrhnhng Egypt,
Jordan and Israel.
"Every official transaction,
including applications to go
abroad, most go through a man
called Mr. Torah," they explained.
"He acts as a liaison between the
government and the Jewish
community. Unfortunately, be
acu largely out of self-regard and
sells information to Syrian
officials about the comings and
goiags of the community."
The figurehead leader, as
Magady and Weiner described
him, is regarded by the Jewish
community, who call him "a 50-50
Jew," with a mixture of distrust
and fear. “Talk to Mr. Totah first,”
they were told. "Totah will make a
I haven't tasted
Corned Beef like
this since I left
Neu York!
AISLE ONE DELI!
phone cal and everything win be
OR.” Totah ■ also reportedly ia
regular contact with the American
Embassy in Damaacns.
"We avoided Totah for as lo^
as we cowM. became we knew that
meeting with him might prevent us
from reaching the community at
large,” they said. Torah, however,
"caught up” with them on the
fourth day of their visit, greeting
them by anmeat one at the local
synagogues. The next day, which
mb by rninridtBi.i their last, two
~wrg dtrwrd* men visited them at
the youth hostel at which they were
staying, telling them “to be sure
they were on their scheduled flight
to Amman the next morning."
They were.
Totah presented the two
students with what they termed a
"white-washed" overview of
Jewish life in Syria, denying any
problems and minimizing the
political oppression to which
Syrian Jews are subjected. They
received a different picture,
however, from other, more
forthcoming community mem
bers.
"We found an extremely
affluent community, with
surprising strong Jewish values
and a strong Jewish identity,
spiritually led by the well-liked and
young Rabbi Albert Hamrah,”
Magady said. "But this community
is denied even minimal political
freedoms and is subject to an ever
present feeling of tension that
things could get worse at any
point.” Specifically, those
concerns center on a political take
over by Islamic radicals or another
war with Israel. Most important,
all want out of Syria
Magady and Weiner reported
teat community members branded
tee controversial screening of a
CBS-TV "go Minutes" program on
Syrian Jewry a few years ago as a
"total bice.” They pointed to the
presence of Syrian officials who
accompanied the television crew at
all times as ample evidence of the
one-sided picture of contentment
and freedom which resulted.
"We would give up everything
we have here, all our possessions
and.money, if we could just get
out,” community members told the
two students, with many
expressing a desire to immigrate to
Israel. “All we want is to be with
our family and to keep our Jewish
identity—anywhere else but here."
Time and again, the two students
heard expressions of bewilderment
over the fact that many Iranian
Jews chose to remain in Iran after
the Shah was deposed. For them,
the implications of the ascent of an
Islamic republic are all too clear.
Weiner and Magady related.
For this reason, as well as one of
safety, the Jewish community in
Damascus is a cohesive one.
clinging to remnants of Jewish
tradition as a means of retaining
their heritage. All shops dose on
the Sabbath, some of the
community observes kashrut. and
attendance is high at two Jewish
day schools and three synagogues.
Six men are studying for their
rabbinical ordination and religious
artifacts arc freely brought in from
abroad. Daily life for many of the
community members, most of
whom are brass and copper
merchants, is a good one, and
Weiner added that the impressive
Jewish community center is
reminiscent of a local Jewish
community center hack in the U.S.
Tensions between the Jewish
community and Moslems have
largely died down since the 1973
Yom Kippur War. But Magady
and Weiner reported that it is an
enforced, and perhaps illusory
picture of harmony. Entire
families are arbitrarily punished
for the act of one individual and
only family heads are allowed to go
on periodic trips abroad, provided
they leave their family and a S7000
deposit behind. In addition, some
400 women lack partners for
marriage; emigration is a
forbidden topic of discussion; and
a plain-clothes policeman
regularly patrols the shops in the
Jewish quarter.
Community members, the two
students said, praise the pressure
exerted on the Syrian government
by American officials and world
Jewry, contending that it is largely
responsible for the fact that acts of
violence committed against them
are now at a minimum. But all fear
that this respite is temporary and
that time works against them.
They look to Israel with great
pride, listening regularly to Israel
Radio's Arabic-language
broadcasts and tending to glorify
Israeli military prowess. “If only
Israel would destroy this regime
and free us," Magady and Weiner
said one person told them. “For
this we wait, because it is the only
way we will ever get out of Syria."
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