Resolution Adopted by the CCAR
Jews in Hostile Countries
Adpoted by the 103rd Annual Convention of
the Central Conference of American Rabbis
San Antonio,
Texas, April, 1992
WHEREAS, in the
last decade of the twentieth century, there remain Jewish communities
in the different parts of the world
which are subjected to discrimination, prejudice,
oppression and persecution, and
WHEREAS, the governments of numerous countries such
as Iran, Iraq, Syria, Yemen and
Libya sanction or promote such heinous treatment, and
WHEREAS, these governments do not
allow the Jewish populations of their countries
to join their brethren in Israel,
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Central
Conference of American Rabbis join with
the United Synagogue of America in supporting efforts to remove
all barriers to free
emigration
anywhere in the world, and
BE IT
FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Central Conference of American Rabbis and
United
Synagogue of America call
upon the Government of the United States and Canada to
take all necessary measures to rescue
endangered Jews anywhere in the world.
SYRIA N JEWRY
WHEREAS, the
population of Syria suffers under a repressive regime, and
WHEREAS, the Jews in Syria are
denied basic human rights, including the right to emigrate,
and their plight is one of spiritual and
physical oppression, and
WHEREAS,
Eli Swed and Selim Swed are Syrian Jews who were arrested in November,
1987,
and sentenced to additional
prison terms of two -and-one-half years on May 21, 1991;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Central
Conference of American Rabbis join with
the United Synagogue of America to:
(a) call upon the governments of Mexico, Canada and
the United States to make urgent
appeal to President Hafez al-Assad and the government of Syria
to release immediately
these Syrian
Jewish prisoners in accordance with universally recognized legal
standards, and
(b) call upon the
governments of Mexico, Canada and the United States to make urgent
appeal to the Syrian government to
lift all repressive regulations and to permit
its Jewish citizens to emigrate freely, in
accordance with the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights to
which Syria is a signatory.