Syrian rabbi returns to Damascus after 33 years

Jewish Rabbi Yusuf Hamra, who was forcibly displaced from Syria in 1992, has returned to Damascus after 33 years.

Following the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, Jews, who were expelled from the country in 1992, have begun returning.

Rabbi Yusuf Hamra, along with a group of Jews, visited the Frenc and Raki churches, the Ibn Maymun Jewish School, and the Cobar Synagogue, which was largely destroyed during the civil war, in Damascus’s historic districts.

Speaking to Anadolu, Rabbi Yusuf Hamra, one of the former leaders of the Jewish community in Syria, said he had returned home to Damascus after 33 years.

After visiting his neighborhood and the synagogues, Hamra stated: “I couldn’t recognize the house I built with my own hands, but what has truly changed is the country itself.”

He noted that the warmth of the Syrian people remained the same.

Hamra, who left Syria with his family in 1992, said: “I have been trying to return to Damascus for a year and a half, but Syria’s ousted regime did not allow it.”

Addressing Jews in the West, Hamra said: “Come to Syria and see for yourselves. Perhaps your perspective will change, and you may want to return.”

Muaz Mustafa, Director of the Syria Emergency Response Team, said that this was the first Jewish delegation to return to Syria in 33 years.

Mustafa emphasized that the new government supports the return of all Syrians to the country, saying: “Very few Jews remain in Syria. We aim to rebuild the synagogues and mobilize the international community to lift sanctions.”

In a message to Syrian Jews around the world, Mustafa said: “Your homeland is safe; you can return.”

In 1992, over 5,000 Jews were forcibly displaced by the Hafez al-Assad regime and had to settle in various European countries, unable to return for years.

Bashar al-Assad also prevented Jews from returning to Syria over the years and seized their properties.