Syrien, einst Heimat einer großen jüdischen Gemeinde, unternimmt Schritte, um Eigentum an Juden zurückzugeben

ALEPPO, Syria — Decades after almost the entire Syrian Jewish community left the country, Henry Hamra of Brooklyn, N.Y., stands at the metal door of a small synagogue in this ancient Syrian city, literally holding the keys to a possible return of Jewish citizens.

Hamra was 15 years old when his family left Damascus in the early 1990s [after the Assad regime lifted a ban on travel](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1992/08/10/syrias-jewish-residents-begin-systematic-exodus/32b3ed71-9b92-47b3-83b6-cf82493ee922/). Many of the Syrian Jews were unable to sell their homes before they left. Some of the homes ended up occupied by other Syrians while the government took charge of the synagogues and schools.

[](https://www.npr.org/2025/02/27/g-s1-50596/syria-jews-damascus-visit)

In December, just days before Hamra’s visit to Aleppo, the Syrian government licensed [a Jewish heritage foundation](https://jhs.sy/about-us/) he leads, transferring control of Jewish religious properties from the government to the organization.

The organization will also help restore private property appropriated when the Jewish community left to its Jewish owners.

Personal take: This is a good thing to normalize relations.

It should come as no shock to some that some specific online spaces are very upset over this