Syrian Jew in Israel spots long-lost cousins

Even today in his spacious Haifa apartment, Mordechai Kamao reminisces about the home in Damascus he grew up in until the age of 13. Ynet reporter Ron Ben-Yishai's video documentation of Syria's last remaining synagogue last week brought with it a pleasant surprise for Kamao, who got to see his cousin's faces for the first time in 56 years.

Kamao's cousin Albert is the head of Damascus' small Jewish community, and along with his sister Rachel, was captured by chance in Ben-Yishai's video.

"No one had to tell me, I knew right away that it was him. As if 56 years haven't passed. I recognized him right away. It was very exciting. It is very hard to describe this feeling," Kamao said.

Albert's parents, according to Kamao, were very wealthy, and outside of the city's Jewish quarter had a large estate with 40 rooms, an ornamental pool made of marble that contained goldfish, and a large garden in the back.

"Maybe that's why they are stil there," Kamao guessed. "It is very difficult to leave such great property. The question is how do they want to spend the rest of their lives."

However, life in Syria wasn't always paradise. When Kamao saw in the video that the synagogue was guarded by an armed officer, he made a cynical remark that the guard's job was not to protect the worshippers, but to protect others from them.

He continued to describe a tragic incident that occured at the synagogue many years ago. "When we were children we would get together every Friday at the synagogue before worship to read the Song of Songs.

"One Friday, two Arabs came and threw grenades into the synagogue. Dozens were killed and there was great chaos. Although every neighborhood in Damascus has patrolmen, that night they were not around. They surprisingly disappeared."

The fact that he cannot contact his cousins weighs heavy on Kamao's heart. "We don't contact them on purpose, not out of fear that something will happen to us, but out of fear that they will be harmed. We don't know what the government's reaction would be if they knew they were making contact with Jews from Israel," he said. (I hope the Syrian government does not read Ynet News - ed)

Kamao expressed anger at the fact that Israel allows its Druze citizens to cross the border and enter Syria, saying, "If I was a Druze from the Golan Heights, I could go to Damascus, visit my family and safely return to Israel. Nothing would happen to me.

"When talking about family unification and family visits, we must remember that not only the Druze have families in Syria – Jews have families there too, and they also want to stay in touch with them."

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