(29 Dec 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Damascus – 26 December 2024
1. Tracking shot of Jobar Synagogue entrance
2. Syrian Jewish citizen Bakhour Chamntoub walking on debris
3. Chamntoub taking video of debris on phone
4. Various of Chamntoub entering destroyed synagogue
5. Pan from visitors to destroyed synagogue
6. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Bakhour Chamntoub, Syrian Jewish citizen:
“Before the conflict, there was nothing (no damage to the synagogue), we were entering normally. Now I am frankly disturbed, I was surprised to see the synagogue like this. God willing, it will be back as it was, but it needs time.”
7. Tilt down from damaged synagogue sign to debris
8. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Bakhour Chamntoub, Syrian Jewish citizen:
“They (Jewish expats) keep calling me, saying they will rebuild it. It is an old building, not a normal, modern one. It means a lot to us.”
9. Chamntoub walking
10. Tilt up from debris to destroyed synagogue
11. Chamntoub looking at destroyed synagogue
12. SOUNDBITE (Arabic), Barakat Hazroumi, Jobar resident:
“It was in good condition. There was a copy of the Torah here as I remember, and in his area (points) there was a school called al-Mjaidel.”
13. View of men through destroyed synagogue windows
14. Hazroumi talking to Chahmntoub, UPSOUND (Arabic) Hazroumi:
“They (Jews) can come back, we have no problem with religions or anyone. They lived here and all were together, Christians, Jews and Muslims. Nobody was interfered with.”
15. Pan of destroyed synagogue
16. SOUNDBITE (Arabic), Bakhour Chamntoub, Syrian Jewish citizen:
“I am happy. It is true that I am a Jew but all the people like me and wherever I go they say to me ‘Shalom, shalom.’ I have no problem. On the contrary, when they know that I am a Jew they express their happiness, they like Jews. But some people have the mistaken idea that Jews are bad and when they live with us they find this idea wrong. On the contrary, the Jew is peaceful, does not hurt, does not harm and does not create problems.”
17. Various of Chamntoub walking in old Damascus alleys
18. Chamntoub visiting Jobar resident Firdos Mallakh
19. Pan from trees to Chamntoub on his balcony
STORYLINE:
In a Damascus suburb, the handful of remaining Jews in Syria can again make pilgrimages to one of the world’s oldest synagogues where people from throughout the region once came to pray.
Syria’s 13-year civil war left the synagogue partially destroyed.
Walls and roofs have collapsed.
Some artifacts are missing.
A marble sign in Arabic at the gate says it was first built 720 years before Christ.
Since insurgents overthrew former president Bashar Assad in early December, people have been able to safely visit the widely destroyed Jobar suburb that was pounded for years by government forces while in the hands of opposition fighters.
Syria was once home to one of the world’s largest Jewish communities.
Those numbers have shrunk dramatically, especially after the state of Israel was created in 1948.
Today, only nine Jews live in Syria, according to the head of the community, almost all older men and women.
The community believes that no Syrian Jews will remain in the country in a few years.
One of the people visiting the Jobar Synagogue, also known as Eliyahu Hanavi synagogue, on Thursday was grey-haired Bakhour Chamntoub, the head of the community in Syria.
“This synagogue means a lot to us,” the 74-year-old told The Associated Press during his first visit in 15 years.
“I am frankly disturbed,” he said.
He said he was happy in Syria and surrounded by people who respect him.
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