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Opinion

Oh no! Syrian president Assad to restore synagogues

January 6, 2011 13:35
2 min read

Oh no! Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has agreed to the restoration of the country's synagogues and cemeteries, especially in Damascus and Aleppo.

Assad made his pledge, al- Ahram reports, during a meeting about 10 days ago with Malcom Hoenlein, the kippa-wearing executive vice-chairman of the influential Conference of Presidents of Major American Organizations. Hoenlein was not sent by the Israeli government, but was on a 'humanitarian mission', according to Ynet News.

Why greet this piece of news with dismay? The restoration of the crumbling and abandoned Jewish heritage in Arab countries must surely be a good thing. It will remind Arabs that Jews, whose history in Arab countries their regimes are so eager to erase, lived there continuously since Biblical times.

Equally, though, acceding to Hoenlein's demand would be handing Assad a PR-opportunity on a silver platter. It would be a chance to earn brownie points with the US at comparatively little cost to Syria - a cost easily recouped in tourist revenues. In this trend Baby Assad would be following Egypt, which lavishly restored the Maimonides synagogue in Cairo last year. Or Lebanon, where the Maghen Avraham synagogue in Beirut is being renovated with the blessing even of Hezbollah.