Immigration to America – Syrian Jewish Community

Today, over 60,000 Syrian Jews form a community in Brooklyn in the area nicknamed “Aleppo in Flatbush”, where they continue to pass down the culture and traditions that were brought with their ancestors from Syria. However, it took many years for Syrian Jews to immigrate out of Syria, specifically the city of Aleppo, and begin their new life in New York. The story of Syrian Jewish immigration spans from the late 19th to 20th century, involving the many obstacles that they faced and were forced to overcome, ultimately resulting in the flourishing community that can be found in the Flatbush area of Brooklyn.

Article from the New York Times discussing anti Jewish riots that were occuring after the UN Partition Plan in 1947 Image credit: Separtic heritage Museum — Article from the New York Times discussing anti Jewish riots that were occuring after the UN Partition Plan in 1947
Image credit: Separtic heritage Museum

Yusef (Joseph) Beyda, one of the first Syrian Jewish immigrants in New York, 1892
Image credit: Separtic heritage Museum — Yusef (Joseph) Beyda, one of the first Syrian Jewish immigrants in New York, 1892 Image credit: Separtic heritage Museum

Syrian Jewish immigration to New York began around 1869, when 50,000 Jews migrated out of Syria due to an economic decline from the opening of the Suez Canal. A second wave of immigrants arrived in New York in around 1909, escaping the military draft of Jewish boys by the Ottoman Empire. When Syrian Jews first arrived in New York, they settled into the Lower East Side and started working as peddlers before moving to Bensonhurst in the 1920s. Jews that remained in Syria in the 1920s were influenced by French language and culture as they were now under French control as opposed to Ottoman control. Elie S. Sutton, a Syrian Jew, expresses that, “We, the Jews, are happy with the French because at least we had some protection…” In the 1930s, anti-semitism started rising in Syria, so Jews fled, and the Syrian community in Brooklyn grew once again. After Israel declared its independence in 1948, the situation only worsened, and laws were passed prohibiting Jewish emigration. After the Six Day War in 1967, anti-semitic riots ensued in Syria, followed by curfews, travel bans, stamped IDs, the burning of holy Jewish relics, and muslim control over Jewish schools.

Image of a Syrian ID with a Mussawi stamp, a red line that was stamped onto Jewish IDs in 1956. The government in Syria used this stamp to prevent Jewish citizens from various activities such as obtaining passports and buying and selling properties.
Image credit: Separtic heritage Museum

Article from the New York Times, published around early 1970s , stating that the Syrian Jewish community in the U.S is deeply concerned about Jews in Syria due to reports of the extremely hostile and violent treatment of Syrian Jews there by citizens, the government, and the secret police.
Image credit: Separtic heritage Museum — Article from the New York Times, published around early 1970s , stating that the Syrian Jewish community in the U.S is deeply concerned about Jews in Syria due to reports of the extremely hostile and violent treatment of Syrian Jews there by citizens, the government, and the secret police. Image credit: Separtic heritage Museum

When the Syrian community in Brooklyn, which was now located in the Ocean Parkway area after a move from Bensonhurst in the 1940s and 50s, heard reports about the desperate situation of Jews in Syria, they advocated for their safety and Syrian Rabbis and political leaders held rallies in support of Jews in Syria. In 1988, pressure started amassing from people around the world for Hafez al-Assad, the president of Syria at the time, to raise the ban on Jewish emigration. Assad officially lifted the ban in 1992, and immediately more than 75% of the Jews in Syria immigrated to the US, marking the last wave of immigration.