Syrian Jews say held first group prayer in decades in Damascus synagogue

Syria's tiny Jewish community said they held their first group prayer in decades Wednesday, in a synagogue in Damascus's Old City, expressing joy at the long-awaited return to public worship.

In the Faranj synagogue, Syrian-American Rabbi Yusuf Hamra led the prayer for the first time since arriving this week from the United States, where he has lived since the 1990s.

"The last time I visited the synagogue here and prayed was before I travelled to America," said Hamra, 77.

"After arriving in Damascus two days ago, I came to pray for the first time... after 34 years," he told AFP in the Jewish quarter of the capital's Old City.

Hamra said he was the last rabbi to quit Syria -- one of thousands of members of the Jewish community to leave in the 1990s.

Syria's centuries-old Jewish community was able to practice their religion under then president Hafez al-Assad, but the strongman prevented them from leaving the country until 1992.

After that, their numbers plummeted from around 5,000 at the time.

Now just seven elderly Jews are believed to live in Damascus.

After an Islamist-led rebel alliance overthrew Hafez's son Bashar al-Assad in December last year, Hamra said he seized the opportunity to return with his son.

All of Syria's synagogues closed when civil war erupted in 2011, Hamra said.

A historic synagogue in the Damascus suburb of Jobar once drew Jewish pilgrims from around the world but was looted and heavily damaged during the war.

The whole suburb was devastated during the conflict.

The Assad family had presented itself as a protector of minorities in multi-ethnic, multi-confessional Syria.

Syria's new Islamist-led authorities have repeatedly sought to reassure minorities that they will be protected, and have pledged to involve all Syrians in building the country's future.

At the end of the prayer, community leader Bakhour Chamntoub expressed happiness at Hamra's return to the synagogue.

"I need Jews with me in the neighborhood," he said of the Jewish quarter, where he lives.

He expressed hope that "Jews will return to their neighborhood and their people" in Syria.

"For nearly 40 years, I haven't prayed with others. The feeling is indescribable," he said.

© Agence France-Presse