Bill de Blasio compared Syrian refugees to Jews

The head of the municipality, Bill de Blasio, called on Jewish immigrants from Syria to show solidarity with former Muslim compatriots who are forced to flee their country.

Speaking at the Shaare Zion synagogue in Brooklyn, de Blasio unexpectedly compared Syrian refugees to Jews who fled the Nazis. пишет The New York Post.

“I am sure that you, more than anyone else, understand the suffering of people forced to leave their homes to escape violence and discrimination. (...) When it comes to the children and families affected by one of the worst crises of our time, we need to look to history,” the mayor said.

As the publication notes, listeners greeted de Blasio’s words without much enthusiasm, and there was a murmur throughout the hall. “The Jews have no experience of destruction,” said one of those present. “The difference between me, who came here with my family in 1991, and them, is that I was kicked out for being Jewish,” added another.

However, when the mayor promised to protect the Jews of New York from terror, comparing the terrorist attacks in Paris with the wave of Arab violence in Israel, the hall exploded with applause.

Forum previously wrote that politicians have repeatedly expressed concerns about the trustworthiness of refugees from Syria.

Of the US 50 states, only ten statedthat support the refugee accommodation program. Nine more have not yet decided. The remaining 31 opposed: 30 of them are headed by Republican governors.

So, commenting on the Obama initiative to enlarge limit for them to 10 thousand people, a contender for the presidency of Donald Trump said: “We are good people and we want everyone to be good. But given the problems that our country is already facing, it is insane to accept hundreds of thousands of refugees, many of whom have big problems. ”