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CONTEMPORARY
Syria Has Stopped
Travel Permits
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New York (JTA) — Syria has
not granted travel permits to
Syrian Jews for the past
eight weeks, since the eve of
Bill Clinton's election vic-
tory, according to State
Department officials and
Jewish activists.
But Syrian Jews already
holding permits have been
permitted to travel abroad
during this period, and those
seeking to travel have been
permitted to submit applica-
tions.
The Syrian policy permit-
ting Jews to travel freely
was announced in April
through the State Depart-
ment and White House. It
followed decades in which
the 4,000-member Syrian
Jewish community was
barred from travel abroad
and was reportedly subjected
to surveillance, intimidation
and harassment from the
secret police.
Since the shift in Syrian
policy, 2,600 Jews have used
their visas, generally travel-
ing to Brooklyn's large
Syrian Jewish community.
There are roughly 1,400
Jews remaining in Syria; of
whom 400 do not intend to
leave.
American Jewish advocacy
groups first became aware
that Syria was no longer is-
suing the exit permits some
weeks ago. But they have
been hesitant, and remain
so, about making this into a
public issue.
"We have been in touch
with the State Department
and White House and have
been assured that they are
addressing the issue with
the Syrians," said Seymour
Reich, who heads the Syrian
Jewry task force of the Con-
ference of Presidents of
Major American Jewish
Organizations.
The United States has
raised the issue several
times with the Syrians, re-
portedly at the ambas-
sadorial level.
"They maintain there has
been no change in the Syrian
policy decision permitting
Syrian Jews the right to
travel like other Syrians,"
said a State Department of-
ficial in Washington.
"For our part, we continue
to raise the issue with the
Syrians. We consider the
policy decision to allow
Syrian Jews to travel abroad
to be a positive one, and we
hope and expect the Syrian
government to continue to
carry out its policy," the offi-
cial said in a telephone
interview.
The Jewish community's
decision to keep a low profile
on the issue is not only a J
reflection of the fact that the
Bush administration is
working on the problem.
Activists also feel that the
Syrian retreat from its
policy of free travel was c_)
designed to send a signal to
President-elect Bill Clinton, '-
who on the campaign trail
had criticized the Bush ad-
ministration for not taking a
hard enough line on Syria
for its involvement in terror-
ism.
"It has to be determined
the best way to deal with —
this," said one Jewish ac-
tivist. The Jewish commun-
ity, he said, is "engaged in
various operations and ac-
tivities to try different ap-
proaches to get the message
to the Syrians about what is
The Syrian retreat
from its policy of
free travel was
designed to send
a signal to
President Bill
Clinton.
happening," including con- I
tacts with government offi-
cials and others.
One Washington analyst
who follows the peace pro-
cess explained that "the
Syrians are looking to
leverage their assets to the 1
greatest extant possible and
muster up their most com-
pelling presentation to the
new administration."
Syrian President Hafez
Assad "initially released the
Jews to make nice to a presi-
dent rho has been defeated
and is now leaving town, so
he's essentially trying to sell
the Jews twice. Since there's c)
a new buyer, there's an op-
portunity for a new sale,"
said the analyst.
"Assad is playing it both
ways: He is pursuing peace
and he is pursuing conflict.
And Clinton will have to
play it both ways: carrot and
stick," the analyst said.