Syrian Jewish group to work on returning seized property

Syrian authorities on Wednesday granted a licence to a Jewish-Syrian organisation that plans to work to return properties confiscated under previous governments, one of its founders said.

Since rebel forces toppled long-time ruler Bashar al-Assad in December last year after nearly 14 years of civil war, the country's dwindling Jewish community has begun welcoming back Syrian Jews who had emigrated, and the new authorities have made overtures towards the minority group.

Hind Kabawat, Syria's social affairs and labour minister, told AFP the government had granted a licence to the Jewish Heritage in Syria Foundation, the first Jewish organisation to be allowed to operate under the new authorities.

"This is a strong message from the Syrian state that we do not discriminate between one religion and another...Syria helps all Syrian men and women of every religion and sect who want to build our new state," she said.

Henry Hamra, one of the organisation's founders, said it will "work on making an inventory of Jewish properties and returning those confiscated during the previous regime, as well as protecting, caring for and restoring holy sites so that they are accessible to all Jews in the world".

Hamra's father, Rabbi Yusuf Hamra, was reportedly the last rabbi to leave Syria in the 1990s.

Both men visited Damascus from the United States in February, participating in a group prayer for the first time in more than three decades in the Old City's Faranj synagogue.

Syria's centuries-old Jewish community was able to practise their religion under former president Hafez al-Assad, Bashar's father, but was prevented from leaving the country until 1992.

After that, their numbers plummeted from around 5,000 at the time to just a handful now.

"We have counted dozens of Jewish-owned houses that were confiscated by the Bashar al-Assad regime," said Mouaz Moustafa, who heads the Washington-based Syrian Emergency Task Force association.