The coalition of the fringe sticks it to the white core.<\/p>\n
Ron Kampeas writes<\/a>:<\/p>\n Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society launches drive to let in 100,000 Syrians, while Reform leader writes to Obama<\/p>\n ANAHEIM, Calif. (JTA) \u2014 Arab Americans advocating on behalf of Syrian refugees have found some unlikely allies in their effort to resettle families from the war-torn nation: influential Jewish groups.<\/p>\n Over the last few days, HIAS, the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, launched a petition drive calling on President Barack Obama to swiftly open America\u2019s gates to an additional 100,000 Syrians, and the president of the Union for Reform Judaism wrote to the president and congressional leaders calling for a coordinated international response.<\/p>\n \u201cOur great nation must respond immediately by providing safety, food, shelter, refuge, and dignity,\u201d wrote the Reform leader, Rabbi Rick Jacobs. \u201cHow can a nation built by refugees from political persecution turn our back on refugees fleeing religious and political persecution?\u201d<\/p>\n Omar Hossino, the Washington-based Syrian American Council\u2019s public relations director, singled out HIAS as being particularly helpful.<\/p>\n \u201cHIAS has been consistently calling for more resettlement and pushing back against the discriminatory rhetoric opposing opening the doors to Syrian refugees,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n This week, HIAS president Mark Hetfield held a conference call with American Jewish organizational officials to talk about his agency\u2019s decision to join with Arab-American leaders in critiquing US policies that limit the numbers of refugees settled in the United States to about 70,000 per year.<\/p>\n Only about 1,500 Syrian refugees have been admitted since the start of the civil war in 2011. Obama announced Thursday that the United States soon would take in 10,000 refugees, but Hetfield said that number was inadequate.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are dealing with a global humanitarian crisis to which the entire world must respond,\u201d he said in a statement issued within hours of Obama\u2019s announcement. \u201cIf Germany can open its doors to 800,000 asylum seekers, the US, with a population four times the size of Germany\u2019s and a history as a nation of immigrants and refugees, can take 100,000.\u201d<\/p>\n Hetfield appealed to regional Jewish groups to act on the grassroots level to help absorb refugees.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Jewish voice is very influential here, very important and very much needed,\u201d Hetfield said.<\/p>\n Akram Abusharar, a Gaza-born US immigration attorney who handles approximately 80 Syrian asylum cases per month, said HIAS\u2019s involvement was a boost to his cause.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Jewish community has more capacity to move the politicians on this issue than the Arab-American community,\u201d he told JTA in an interview.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Nowhere does the article bother to argue that these refugees will be good for America. Nowhere does the article bother to argue that the Jewish state should take in Muslim refugees. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The coalition of the fringe sticks it to the white core. Ron Kampeas writes: Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society launches drive to let in 100,000 Syrians, while Reform leader writes to Obama ANAHEIM, Calif. (JTA) \u2014 Arab Americans advocating on behalf … Continue reading