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SYRIAN
REFUGEE
CRISIS
Safety concerns, Jewish
ethics guide attitudes
toward helping those
in need
By Melissa Gerr
S
aturday morning, a few
days after the terrorist attacks
in Paris last November, Rabbi
Daniel Cotzin Burg of Beth Am used
his Shabbat sermon time to invite an
open discussion about the brutal and
tragic incidents that occurred throughout the city and their aftermath.
Several people expressed their anger
and concern about the way Syrian
Muslim refugees — those fleeing possible persecution and fear of death — were
repeatedly linked with terrorist activities in the rhetoric of some politicians
and in the media. They also voiced
concern about an ensuing climate of fear
and hateful sentiment aimed at refugees
that could spread from that portrayal.
The discussion resulted in a small
group of congregants meeting with
employees of the International Rescue
Committee’s Baltimore office on Eastern Avenue in Highlandtown a few
weeks later to learn what they might do
to welcome and assist Syrian refugees
who are expected to arrive in Baltimore
in the coming year.
Congregant Wendy Schelew, who has
a decades-long history volunteering and
working in refugee resettlement in
her native Toronto, went to the IRC, she
explained, because “as a Jew I really felt it
24
was a moral obligation to help people
who didn’t have a home and that we
could not relive the history of the
Second World War and turn away
from people in need.” She added that
though she has her concerns about
the State Department’s ability to screen
refugees adequately to weed out potential terrorists, “I believe that most of
these people are not security threats.
They’re homeless just like so many of
our [ancestors] were, and they deserve a
chance to start over in a new place.”
The group learned that the IRC
helped resettle more than 800 refugees
last year; 35 of them are Syrians, but
there is no information on how many
Syrians will be resettled in Maryland
in 2016. The organization provides
clients with up to eight months of
case-management support when
they arrive to help them stabilize and
navigate a new life. Refugees are met
at the airport and ensured simply
furnished affordable housing — the
first month’s rent is paid for — and a
first warm meal, and their children are
enrolled in school. Each new arrival
must attend a five-day orientation that
covers details such as instructions for
riding the bus, getting groceries and
finding English-language classes; and
Baltimore Jewish Times January 29, 2016
everyone receives a full medical
screening within a week or so of
arrival. Then the IRC’s employment
services team steps in to help the
adults find work.
“That’s the big ask by the U.S. government,” said Ruben Chandrasekar,
executive director of the IRC’s Baltimore and Silver Spring offices. “We
welcome you, but you’ve got to work,
to pull yourself up by your bootstraps. So we help folks find their first
job. Then usually within three to four
months, 85 percent of our clients are
working and paying their bills.”
Staffers at the IRC cited several
large local employers who regularly
return to them seeking employees,
impressed by the pool of new immigrants’ work ethic. About 12 percent
of Maryland’s population is foreign
born, yet immigrants own and run
about 22 percent of small businesses,
which are viewed as economic generators. Currently, there are sizable
communities of Burmese, Somali,
Ethiopian, Eritrean, Congolese and
Iraqi populations throughout the
greater Baltimore area.
The available resources and capacity of resettlement agencies determine the number of refugees assigned
to a city. About 1,800 Syrian refugees
arrived in the United States in 2015,
and the largest Syrian community is
located in Toledo, Ohio. According
to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, Syria’s civil war
remains the single biggest generator
worldwide of both new refugees and
continuing mass internal and external
displacement.
“The reality is, because [Syrians are]
a new migrant group and because of the
lengthy vetting process, we’ll be seeing
very few coming to Baltimore in the
coming year,” said Beth Am member
Joe Nathanson, who went on the IRC
visit and has an extensive background
in economic urban planning for
refugee communities.
With nearly 60 million refugees
worldwide, and 4.5 million of whom
are Syrians — one quarter of that
country’s population — Mark Hetfield, president and CEO of HIAS,
the organization formerly known as
the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society,
called the Syrian displacement “the
biggest refugee crisis” since World
War II.
“Frankly, the U.S. response is disproportionately low compared to
other refugee crises,” he said.
24-29-refugees cover 1/27/16 11:21 AM Page 25
“IF PEOPLE ARE COMMITTED TO PROTECT
REFUGEES JUST BECAUSE THEY LOOK
LIKE THEY DO OR WORSHIP LIKE
THEY DO, THAT WON’T REALLY LEAD TO
ANYBODY BEING PROTECTED. SO WE
HAVE TO STAND UP FOR EVERYBODY.”
— Mark Hetfield, president and CEO, HIAS
Hetfield noted that 240,000 refugees
were admitted to the United States
from Vietnam in 1980; by contrast,
just 10,000 Syrians are slated for
admission this year.
In 2016, for a person to gain refugee
status and legally enter the United
States, according to the Department of
Homeland Security, he or she must
first apply through the United Nations
High Commission of Refugees. Less
than 1 percent of those applying
achieve resettlement. A person must
prove he’s been driven from his home
“due to a well-founded fear of being
persecuted for reasons of race, religion,
nationality, membership in a particular
social group or political opinion,” as
stated in the 1951 Refugee Convention, which was created in response to
the Holocaust and to prevent countries from denying refugees entry and
sending them back to life-threatening
situations.
If an applicant clears this first step,
his or her documents are sent to the
State Department, where more information is collected and security
screenings are done via the National
Counterterrorism Center, the FBI
and the Department of Homeland
Security. Syrian applicants get additional interviews and screenings
called the Syrian In-House Review,
which could include more crossreferencing with the U.S. Citizenship
and Immigration Services’ fraud
detection and national security directories. Biometric screenings, including
fingerprinting and often iris scans, are
collected from all applicants and are
crosschecked with databases at the
FBI, DHS and the Department of
Defense. If the applicant passes all of
these screenings, he or she submits to
health screenings and is enrolled in
cultural orientation classes while
information continues to be checked
against terrorist databases to ensure
no new intelligence has turned up
since the application process began.
In total, the vetting process can last
12 to 24 months from application to
arrival here, and it’s considered the
most rigorous of any country in the
world. However, in November, the
House of Representatives voted 289
to 137 in favor of a bill that would
further tighten the vetting process
for Iraqis and Syrians. The bill was
defeated in the Senate on Jan. 20.
Still, FBI director James Comey
testified in October that “a number
of people who were of serious concern”
have slipped through screenings,
including two Iraqis arrested on
terrorism-related charges, as reported
in The Washington Post. “There’s
no doubt that was the product of a
less-than-excellent vetting,” Comey
said. “I can’t sit here and offer anybody an absolute assurance that
there’s no risk associated with this.”
Hetfield compared the Syrian vetting
process with the scrutiny of the Iraqi
and Afghan vetting process, but “we
actually occupied those countries and
had access to their criminal records to
use during the screening processes,
and we don’t have that luxury with
Syrians.”
“But security is not a new issue for
refugees,” Hetfield added, citing the
more than 400,000 Soviet Jews who
came here from what was “probably
the most fearsome [foe] that the
United States has ever had. There was
plenty of opportunity for mischief by
the Soviets … and the U.S. knew that
and tried to screen for it. I’m sure
they caught some and others slipped
through, but the bottom line is, we’re
stronger as a country because we
brought in those 400,000 Soviets.
But there was a risk.”
Chandrasekar hopes that advocacy
by his and other resettlement organizations will push the U.S. to increase
President Barack Obama’s pledge to
accept 10,000 Syrians and 85,000
refugees overall to 100,000 and
200,000 refugees, respectively.
It’s a prospect that has some in the
Jewish community, including Zionist
Organization of America national
president Morton Klein, concerned
about the nation’s safety.
“The violence perpetrated by
Muslim immigrants in Europe — especially toward European Jews —
portends what America has in store if
we bring more such immigrants here,”
Klein wrote in an opinion piece published late last year by the Jewish
Times. He reproached HIAS, the
Anti-Defamation League, the American Jewish Council, the Union for
Reform Judaism and the Jewish
Community Relations Councils
nationwide for signing a letter that
opposed the induction of additional
restrictions and security measures
and for “supporting dangerous Syrian
immigration.”
Groups representing the Conservative and Orthodox movements,
however, have joined the JCRCs, the
AJC and the URJ in backing the call
to resettle Syrian refugees.
Jewish Roots,
Jewish Ethics
Albert Einstein’s plea for political
asylum in 1933, when the Nazi
regime took hold of Germany, “was
the guiding force behind the creation
of the IRC,” Chandrasekar said.
“He was responsible in many ways in
stimulating the IRC.”
He added that in the beginning it
was “a clandestine organization that
had staff in German occupied territory,” such as Varian Fry, a Jewish
journalist-turned-activist who created fake travel permits allowing Jews
to escape to other parts of Europe
and the United States. “Our history
as an organization is linked to the
Jewish community and its history.”
Now, the IRC has offices in 33 countries and 26 American cities. Internationally, it provides humanitarian
assistance such as food, shelter and
medical care. Within the United States,
many refugees helped by the IRC have
jewishtimes.com
25
MUHAMMAD HAMED/REUTERS/Newscom
24-29-refugees cover 1/27/16 11:21 AM Page 26
The U.N. Human Rights Council estimates there are 4.5 million Syrian refugees, with many
more displaced. Approximately 1,800 Syrians entered the U.S. as new immigrants in 2015, and
President Barack Obama has pledged to accept approximately 10,000 Syrian refugees in 2016.
Ervin Shulku/Polaris/Newscom
Organizations such as the International Refugee
Committee and HIAS assist refugees before and
after they arrive into a newly adopted country. IRC
settled more than 800 refugees in Maryland last
year, 35 of whom are Syrians.
“WE EVOLVED FROM BEING AN AGENCY
THAT HELPED REFUGEES BECAUSE THEY
WERE JEWISH TO AN AGENCY THAT HELPS
REFUGEES BECAUSE WE ARE JEWISH.”
— Mark Hetfield, president and CEO, HIAS
26
Baltimore Jewish Times January 29, 2016
stories similar to that of Ali and Amina
(not their real names).
Ali was a successful carpenter in
Damascus and owned three retail furniture stores. He and his wife, Amina,
had five daughters with a much-hopedfor son on the way. Violent conflicts
and eventually civil war erupted in
Syria, but the family chose to remain
in their home country. While the civil
war raged on, the hospital Amina gave
birth in was bombed and her infant
was killed.
It was then the couple had to make
a difficult decision to leave for their
safety and that of their daughters. So
in 2012, they left for Lebanon and
lived off of savings for a while. Soon
Ali needed work and found a job
delivering furniture. They tried to make
ends meet, but life as a displaced
refugee was a dangerous struggle with
no end in sight.
Finally, they applied for entry into
the United States.
“We resettled them 18 months
after they applied, in 2014,” Chandrasekar said, adding that a goal of
the IRC is to help repopulate Baltimore
24-29-refugees cover 1/27/16 11:22 AM Page 27
Camille Wathne/IRC
“My main
concern right
now is to
continue to
encourage our
own people,
the Jewish
community,
to think
expansively
and kindly
about the
other.”
Jeff Malet Photography/Newscom
— Rabbi Daniel Cotzin Burg,
Beth Am Congregation
Top: Syrian sisters, resettled with
assistance from the IRC, share a hug
in their adoptive city of Baltimore.
Above: Hundreds of demonstrators
rallied outside the White House in
November in support of allowing Syrian
refugees to enter the United States.
Alberto Reyes/INFphoto/Newscom
Left: An anti-Syrian refugee protester
in New York City.
City, which lost about 300,000 inhabitants during the decades between 1980
and 2000, and to increase its tax base.
“Now, Ali works at Under Armor as a
fork-lift driver. Amina just received her
driver’s license and the kids are in
school.” After losing so much, “refugees
come here with the passion to rebuild.”
“And when you look at the nation’s
history for more than 200 years, that’s
what refugees have done,” Hetfield said.
“They’ve strengthened this country
not weakened it.”
Since its inception in 1881, HIAS
has resettled nearly 5 million new
immigrants. This month, after 130
years in New York City, the organization moved its headquarters to Silver
Spring, Md.
In the past decade, HIAS readjusted its mission as the first and only
agency to protect and resettle Jewish
refugees to focusing on non-Jewish
refugees. It has received some criticism
for the change.
“We evolved from being an agency
that helped refugees because they
were Jewish to an agency that helps
refugees because we are Jewish,”
said Hetfield, who has worked with
HIAS on and off since he began as a
caseworker in Rome in 1989. “Now,
jewishtimes.com
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24-29-refugees cover 1/27/16 11:22 AM Page 28
we’re a humanitarian service agency,
an advocacy agency that is guided by
Jewish values and history.”
The result has been that a majority
of Jewish family service agencies
HIAS previously partnered with to
do the groundwork once a refugee
entered the United States have either
dropped out of the network or will do
so this year, including such agencies in
Maryland and Washington.
But supported by Jewish laws
protecting strangers Hetfield notes
are the most repeated in the Torah,
he sees his mission as a righteous one.
We were “once strangers ourselves,”
he said. “So for that reason it’s very
important we’re committed to
refugees regardless of who they are. If
people are committed to protect
refugees just because they look like
they do or worship like they do, that
won’t really lead to anybody being
protected.
“So we have to stand up for everybody.”
To that end, HIAS “managed to
easily” get more than 1,200 rabbis to
sign a declaration — including more
than 80 from the Baltimore-Washington area — that was delivered to
all members of Congress in December imploring them to learn from
Jewish history, welcome all nationalities of refugees to the country “and to
oppose any measures that would actually or effectively halt resettlement or
prohibit or restrict funding for any
groups of refugees.”
Cotzin Burg of Beth Am was one
of the letter’s signees.
“My main concern right now is to
continue to encourage our own people, the Jewish community, to think
expansively and kindly about the
other,” he said. “And this [refugee crisis]
seems to me a great opportunity to
do so.” JT
[email protected]
Since 2000, the Baltimore Jewish Council has
hosted interfaith events that stimulate a dialogue
among members in the Baltimore community.
The Jewish-Muslim dialogue is one of them.
“The mission is to create genuine and organic
relationships and open the dialogue between the
Jewish and Muslim communities,” said Madeline
Suggs, director of public affairs at the BJC, “and
focus on the topics we do have in common and can
work on together.”
There were more than a dozen events last year,
and they expect to host as many in 2016. Suggs
noted that Gov. Larry Hogan’s office “has been a
fantastic partner,” with its office of community
initiatives that does interfaith work, as well as the
Institute for Islamic, Christian and Jewish Studies
with Muslim scholars Homayra Ziad and Ben Sax.
Martha Weiman, BJC Interfaith Commission
chair, warned of the danger in generalizing about
an entire community, as people have historically
done to the Jews, but “when you keep the doors
open there’s dialogue — whether it’s small
or whether it’s large. And you have to hope that
it spreads.”
This month, the BJC cosponsored a Jewish and
Muslim women’s advocacy program, where they
trained on lobbying techniques and strategies with
Ziad and Rep. Shelly Hettleman. There were
about 25 women in attendance, Suggs said, and “it
was a rallying call to focus on how we can work
together. The unifying factor was women’s issues,
28
Baltimore Jewish Times January 29, 2016
Provided
A CONTINUING
JEWISH-MUSLIM DIALOGUE
Women participate in advocacy training with BJC’s Jewish-Muslim dialogue program.
she added, but the overall message was, “We can’t
give in to the polarizing climate of the national
dialogue.”
There are social justice and social programs as
well, such as collecting goods for donation that go
to each community, which is “a great way to see
what our faiths have in common, and charity is
one of them,” Suggs said. The BJC also hosted
dinner in the sukkah, and in the spring, it will
collaborate with ICJS and The Stoop Storytelling
Series to host an evening of stories about what
“home” means to them as Muslims and Jews.
Suggs said gender for attendance is split 50-50,
and there is a “really strong young professional age
group.” But depending upon the programming,
ages range from 30 to 70.
After 9/11 there were federal and state Homeland Security grants available to communities that
felt threatened, and “the Muslim community
asked us to help them with the grant for a fence
around their mosque on Johnnycake Road,” Art
Abrams, BJC executive director, said. “We helped
them get $20,000, and we continue to do so; we
work together constantly.”
Suggs said a new dinner program will be
launched in May, a trilogue of Jewish, Muslim
and Christian faiths. There will be panelists
including an imam, a rabbi and a priest to kick
off discussion, then attendees will break into small
discussion groups.
One of the biggest causes of anti-Semitism or
anti-Muslim sentiment, Suggs said, “is a fear of the
unknown, and by creating relationships and
friendships, we’re able to tackle the fear and
misconceptions that make that happen.” JT
— Melissa Gerr