SHJ JOINS THE JEWISH COMMUNITY IN SPEAKING OUT ON SYRIAN REFUGEES
The Society for Humanistic Judaism joins with the majority of our Jewish community, as represented by organizations such as the Anti-Defamation League, American Jewish Committee, Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, National Council of Jewish Women, Union for Reform Judaism and Jewish Council for Public Affairs organizations, in supporting the call for Congress to support the U.S. refugee resettlement program for the millions of Syrian refugees who have been forced to flee the conflict in the Middle East. Recognizing the enormous humanitarian crisis unfolding, and our particular responsibility as Jews whose entire historical perspective includes our people wandering from shore to shore in search of refuge, we condemn efforts to suspend the program or explicitly exclude Muslims because of fears of terrorism. We believe the legitimate security concerns can be mitigated by the extensive vetting process refugees undergo before being admitted to the United States. We cannot let fear, however palpable, overcome our humanistic obligations to provide security to millions of innocent people who have been violently forced to start their lives again and who only wish to provide a future for themselves and their children. We therefore join in support of this letter to Congress: https://www.aclu.org/sites/default/files/field_document/sign-on_letter_protecting_refugees_-_november_17_2015.pdf). We also urge humanitarian assistance to Syrian refugees as SHJ called forth in its September 24, 2015 resolution.
