In the December edition of Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle, Jews were asked whether the Syrian refugees should come to Wisconsin. Most said yes. Many of these Jews based their opinion on the history of the Jewish refugees from the Nazis. However, if the state of Israel had existed during World War II, it is highly likely that every Jew who today wants the Syrian refugees to immigrate to the United States, would have suggested that the best place for Jews escaping Nazism to immigrate to would have been Israel. So why don’t these very same Jews think that the best place for Syrian refugees to immigrate to would be an Arab Muslim country, e.g. Saudi Arabia, considering that 97 percent of them are Arab Muslims?
During World War II there were only three countries in the entire world that would allow Jews to immigrate. Today there are over one hundred countries, many within a few hundred miles of Syria, which would allow Syrian refugees to immigrate so why should they be shipped 5,000 miles to the United States?
In addition, how do any of these Jews who want the Syrians to come to the United States know whether the Syrians want to come to Wisconsin? Why would a Middle Eastern Arab Muslim want to leave a culture, religion, and climate he/she has known and valued for centuries to come to a largely Christian land with temperatures that go below zero and gets several feet of snow every year?
The Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle should have addressed some of these questions, which are much more relevant than the one they did ask.
Ivan M. Lang
Glendale
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