U.S. Advocates for Syrian Refugee Resettlement Find Unexpected Allies
Sep 16, 2015
On September 15, 2015, The Washington Post reported that "advocates for Syrian refugee resettlement found unexpected allies as major Jewish groups have called on President Obama to open America’s gates to 100,000 asylum seekers from the war-torn Arab nation."
They write, in part:
The American Jewish resettlement agency HIAS has launched a petition drive calling on Obama to resettle 100,000 Syrians in the U.S., and Reform rabbis pledged to make refugee assistance a key theme for High Holiday sermons and congregational activism.
Jewish American groups, saying they can’t be bystanders as the worst refugee crisis since World War II unfolds, are joining Arab-American leaders in a critique of existing policies, which have sharply limited the numbers of refugees settled in the United States.
HIAS President and CEO Mark Hetfield said the request for additional Syrian refugees is also a matter of ensuring Israel’s safety. “The crisis in Syria threatens to destabilize Jordan, Lebanon, and perhaps even Turkey and Egypt,” he said. “This cannot be good for Israel.”
Click here to read the full story on washingtonpost.com.
