6 Friday, September 28, 1979
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THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
4,500 Syrian Jews Fear Leader `Totah' Government
By BARBIE ZELIZER
JERUSALEM (JTA) —
The 4,500-member Jewish
community in Damascus is
dominated by an 80-year-
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old Jewish supporter of the
Syrian regime who is re-
garded with distrust by the
Jewish population, two
American Jewish students
recently told the Jewish-
Telegraphic Agency.
The two, ,Terry Magady,
23, and Dan Weiner, 22,
both of California, spent..
five days last month in the
Syrian capital as part of a
personal "fact-finding" tour
of the region, including
Egypt, Jordan and Israel.
"Every official transac-
tion, including applications
to go abroad, must go
through a man called Mr.
Totah," they explained. "He
acts as aliaison between the
government and the Jewish
community. Unfortunately,
he acts largely out of self-
regard and sells informa-
tion to Syrian officials about
the comings and goings of
the community."
The figurehead leader,
as Magady and Weiner
described him, is re-
garded by the Jewish
community, who call him
"a 50-50 Jew," with a mix-
ture of distrust and fear.
"Talk to Mr. Totah first,"
they were told. "Totah will
make a phone call and ev-
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erything will be OK." Totah
is also reportedly in regular
contact with the American
Embassy in Damascus.
"We avoided Totah for as
long as we could, because we
kneW that meeting with
him might prevent us from
reaching the community at
large," they said. Totah,
however, "caught up" with
them on the fourth day of
their visit, greeting them by
name at one of the local
synagogues.
The next day, which was
by coincidence their last,
two "well-dressed" men vis-
ited them at the youth hos,
tel at which they were stay-
ing, 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 prob-
lems and minimizing the
political oppression to
which Syrian Jews are sub-
jected. They received a
different picture, however,
from other community
members.
We found an ex-
tremely affluent commu-
nity, with surprisingly
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 con-
cerns center on a political
take-over by Islamic radi-
cals or another war with Is-
rael. Most important, all
want out of Syria.
Magady and Weiner re-
ported that community
members branded the con-
troversial screening of a
CBS-TV "60 Minutes" pro-
gram on Syrian Jewry a few
years ago as a "total farce."
They pointed to the
presence of Syrian officials
who accompanied the tele-
vision crew at all times as
ample evidence of the one-
sided picture of content-
ment and freedom which re-
sulted.
"We would give up every-
thing we have here, all our
possessions and money, if
we could just get out," com-
munity members told the
two students, with many
expressing a desire to im-
migrate to Israel. "All we
want is to be with our family
and to keep our Jewish
identity — anywhere but
here."
Time and again, the
two students heard ex-
pressions of bewilder-
ment 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 re-
lated.
For this reason, as well as
one of safety, the Jewish
community in Damascus is
a cohesive orie, clinging to
remnants of Jewish tradi-
tion as a means of retaining
their heritage. All shops
close on the Sabbath, some
of the sommunity 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 are
freely brought in from
abroad. Daily life for many
of the community observes
most of whom are brass and
copper merchants, is a good
one, and Weiner added that
the impressive Jewish
community center is re-'
miniscent of a local Jewish
community center back in
the U.S.
Tensions between the
Jewish community, and
Moslems have largely died
down since the 1973 Yom
Kippur War. But Magady
and Weinerreported 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 $7,000 deposit be-
hind.
In addition, some 400
women lack partners for
marriage; emigration is a
forbidden topic of discus-
sion; 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 vio-
lence 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 reg-
ularly to Israel Radio's
Arabic-language broad-
casts 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."
* * *
Synagogue, Homes Razed
NEW YORK (JTA) ---
The centuries-old
synagogue and yeshiva of
Beth Nassi in Aleppo, Syria;
was demolished last month
by Syrian authorities, ac-
cording to reliable reports
received here by the Com-
mittee for the Rescue of Sy-
rian Jewry, committee
president Abraham Dwek
reported.
According to the report,
Syrian authorities also or-
dered the destruction of an
entire Jewish section in
Aleppo and the eviction of
Jewish families whose be-
longings were thrown into
the street.
Dwek said he sent a
telegram to President
Carter, reporting on the
"distressing situation" of
the Jews of Syria and
asking the President to
instruct the State De-
partment to protest "this
outrageous act of sac-
rilege and demolition" of
the synagogue and
yeshiva, located near the
Bab el Faraj Square in
the heart of Aleppo, as
well as the destruction of
the Jewish section.
Swek said he reiterated
his appeal to Carter to call
on Syrian President Hafez
Assad to permit the Jewish
community to emigrate.
Zionist Conference in Miami
NEW YORK — An inter-
national Zionist leadership
conference, sponsored by
the Zionist Organization of
America, the Latin Ameri-
can Confederation of Gen-
eral Zionists and the Zionist
Organization of Canada
will take place in Miami
Beach, Fla., Oct. 24-28.
Simha Erlich, Israel's
minister of finance; Leon
Dulzin, chairman of the
Jewish Agency Executive;
and Ephraim Evron, am-
bassador of Israel to the
U.S. will address the con-
ference.
The theme of the confer-
ence is "Issues and Prob-
lems Affecting Israel and
World Jewry."
Other speakers will in-
clude ZOA President
Ivan J. Novick; Rabbi
Joseph P. Sternstein,
president of the Ameri
can Zionist Federation.
and Jacques Torczyner,"
president of the World
Union of General
Zionists.
A ZOA "Commission on
Zionist Ideology" under the
chairmanship of Donald
Wolpe of Washington, D.C.
will also report to the con-
ference on its deliberations.
Blessings are upon the
head of the righteous.
JEWISH NATIONAL FUND
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SOUTHFIELD, MI 48076
Phone: 557-6644
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