THE FORCED MIGRATION OF JEWS FROM

ARAB COUNTRIES AND PEACE

Prof. Ada Aharoni

SYRIA

In 1943, the Jewish community of Syria had 30,000 members. This population was mainly distributed between Aleppo, where 17,000 Jews lived and Damascus, which had a Jewish population of 11,000.

Anti-Jewish riots, which broke out as early as 1945 and 1947, prompted the denial of basic rights to Jews. In 1945, the government restricted emigration to Israel, and Jewish property was burned and looted. In 1949, banks were instructed to freeze the accounts of Jews and all their assets were expropriated.

This situation caused 15,000 Jews to leave Syria by 1948, 10,000 emigrated to the U.S.A. and another 5,000 to Israel. Today, 4,350 Jews remain in Syria: and they are held as hostages in dire conditions. 3,000 live in Damascus, another 1,000 in Aleppo and 350 in Kamishli. The remaining Jews in Syria are denied free movement or any contact with the outside world. Those who have family in Israel are always in danger of persecution by local officials, and several Jewish leaders and youths were tortured and hanged over the years.