Source: The Washington Post
In Syria, Mostafa Hassoun was told that Jews were the enemy of Syrians and that Israel was out to occupy and oppress his people. But then he fled his country — and he gained access to the Internet.
One of the first topics he read about online was the Holocaust. And his attitude shifted drastically.
On Thursday, Hassoun found himself in a building he might never have thought he would enter — a synagogue — to speak to people he had been taught to hate — Jews.
“Hitler, he was the butcher who killed millions of the Jews. And I’m certain, from the help of you all in the Jewish community, that Jews will never allow anyone in the world to be another Hitler,” he told the crowd made up of both Jews and Muslims. “If Jew is the attribute of what they call someone who asks for freedom, then I am honored that I have many great friends from the Jews.”
Temple Rodef Shalom in Falls Church, Va., hosted Hassoun along with six Syrian refugee families at a dinner to welcome them to America. The refugees — more than 30 people in all, more than half of them children — have been resettled in Maryland in the past year and a half. One family arrived just three days before they found themselves at dinner in a Jewish house of worship.
“We as a congregation feel it’s especially important for us. Especially as Jews. We’re commanded in the Torah to be kind to the stranger, because we were strangers in the land of Egypt,” Rabbi Jeffrey Saxe said. “We want to give them a message of welcome, which is not always what they’re hearing in this country.”
The United States has resettled 1,285 Syrians, according to a report in April by Human Rights Watch. That number is far short of President Obama’s pledge to resettle 10,000 Syrians by the end of the year, and it shows the difficulty many have had entering the country. The vetting process is lengthy, and several governors have voiced opposition to allowing Syrians into their states.
Categories: America, Jewish Faith, refugees, The Muslim Times, USA