Over the last year, reports have been rife that the Jobar synagogue, one of Syria's oldest, has been destroyed. Other reports say the synagogue is intact. Adam Blitz reviews the evidence in the Times of Israel. One thing is certain: both the Assad regime and the opposition rebels are using the synagogue as a propaganda football:
Ideology aside, the headline of The Times of Israel’s article, “Syria’s ‘Destroyed’ Ancient Synagogue is Still Intact”, should not come as a revelation. The video posted by the Dubai-based pan-Arab al-Aan broadcasting corporation on 23rd June 2013 entitled, “Jobar Synagogue and Bashar al-Assad?” [24] shows some damage to the traditional poplar-beamed ceiling of synagogue and its roof. There is also some residual debris; but it is fully evident that the synagogue is far from destroyed. Moreover, the interview with F.S.A. fighters indicates that they are protecting the synagogue – a claim not too distant from The Times of Israel’s story (except without reference to the much sought after Judaica).
Ideology aside, the headline of The Times of Israel’s article, “Syria’s ‘Destroyed’ Ancient Synagogue is Still Intact”, should not come as a revelation. The video posted by the Dubai-based pan-Arab al-Aan broadcasting corporation on 23rd June 2013 entitled, “Jobar Synagogue and Bashar al-Assad?” [24] shows some damage to the traditional poplar-beamed ceiling of synagogue and its roof. There is also some residual debris; but it is fully evident that the synagogue is far from destroyed. Moreover, the interview with F.S.A. fighters indicates that they are protecting the synagogue – a claim not too distant from The Times of Israel’s story (except without reference to the much sought after Judaica).
On close inspection al-Aan’s account consists of earlier video footage from March. It also insists that Jobar was “the oldest synagogue in the world”, that it housed “the oldest Torah in the world” and that town of Jobar was once home to “the second largest concentration of Jews”.
Despite these grandiose and false claims the footage contains important
evidence. Whether the video was disseminated by al-Assad’s foes or not,
it is a critical witness in a conflict where validation is increasingly
dependent upon videography and partisan reportage.
The task, of course, is to know where fact begins and credibility ends. What is apparent is that December’s coverage in The Times of Israel takes
matters one step further. The article omits the collateral damage to
the ceiling and roof. No mention is made of the very real consequence of
regime bombardment if the F.S.A remains encamped in the sacred site. Of the scrolls, one is noticeably desecrated (although there is nothing to associate the object in the photograph with Jobar
as the newspaper rightly reports). More significant is the image of the
synagogue with mysterious “card” in situ. It does not, of its own
accord, constitute proof of the synagogue’s endurance in December of
2013. Surely the Skype-friendly rebels can do better than that.
What the image
does show, which previous video coverage from March and June had not
shown, is proof of a prayer hall bereft. Gone is the large menorah which
sat upon the stone attributed to Elijah; so too are the many hangings
and carpets that once “muffled” the walls as Colin Thubron, author of
“Mirror to Damascus”, put it [25]. At its very least, The Times of Israel prayer hall photo may be one of the most recent images to emerge from Jobar post-June 2013.
Sadly, if the
coverage from April of this year helped to preserve the synagogue,
perhaps because the site provided no further political purpose, the
latest news may yet have the opposite effect. Judaica, Syria’s Jewish past, has gained currency. It has entered the discourse of rebel strategy, whether in actuality or virtuality. Syria’s Jewish legacy now stands and falls with international perception of a conflict far away from these shores.
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