Israel's hard line right wing government clearly does not speak for all of the world's Jews in its refusal to accept Syrian refugees, despite the tendency of many members of the general public to assume that Jews everywhere share all of Israel's specific political and national policy objectives.

Jewish religious leaders and organizations in Europe are taking the lead in welcoming and assisting Muslim refugees in their countries, in memory of their own persecution during the Holocaust and in their belief that kindness to people in desperate need is the very essence of Judaism itself.

Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, Executive Editor of Global Spirituality and Religion for the Huffington Post, provides details in his October 2 (edited October 6) article: Hearing Echoes Of The Past, Jews Are On The Front Line Of The European Refugee Crisis.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/...migrant-crisis

Raushenbush gives some moving examples of assistance which Jewish groups in Europe are providing to the mainly Muslim Syrian refugees.

First, Milan:

"In Milan, the Jewish commitment is made plain in the ongoing work of the Milan Holocaust Memorial where thousands of migrants and refugees have found a safe, free, place to spend the night. The memorial, which opened just two years ago, is located under Milan's central railway station and was where Jews were warehoused and ultimately sent to concentration camps...

Since that day, [earlier this summer] over 3,500 migrants and refugees have spent the night in the memorial where 40 makeshift beds have been placed and where food is brought over by other Jewish and Christian groups. The memorial serves as a much needed sanctuary for those who have just arrived from the south and who are moving on to their ultimate destination, wherever that may be."

It would not be inappropriate to refer to the the Holocaust Memorial underneath Milan's central train station as a Jewish "Underground Railroad" for Muslim refugees in Europe.

To be continued.
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Roger Algase is a New York immigration lawyer and a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School. For more than 30 years, he has been helping mainly skilled and professional immigrants obtain work visas, green cards and US citizenship.

His practice is focused primarily on H-1B and O-1 work visas, J-1 training visas, and green cards through Labor Certification, extraordinary ability and opposite sex or same sex marriage.

Roger's email address is algaselex@gmail.com