A Syrian foundation dedicated to preserving Jewish heritage has begun restoration work at the main Jewish cemetery in Damascus, as part of efforts to revive what remains of the Jewish community’s legacy in Syria. The move comes alongside official and community initiatives in recent months, including the establishment of the first licensed organization to protect Jewish heritage and repeated visits by Syrian Jews living abroad to places of worship, cemeteries, and neighborhoods where they once lived.
Joe Jajati, head of the Syrian Mosaic Foundation, told Agence France-Presse on Tuesday that the foundation had begun cleaning the cemetery, located on the road to Damascus International Airport, as well as reinforcing several deteriorated graves. Work to restore the outer wall, install a lighting system, and set up surveillance cameras is expected to be completed during July.
The Syrian Mosaic Foundation operates between Damascus and the United States and is overseeing the project, which targets one of the most prominent Jewish cemeteries in Syria. The cemetery contains hundreds of graves, some dating back many decades.
Maintenance and Security Work at the Site
The cemetery contains old graves, most of them inscribed in Hebrew, while others bear Arabic inscriptions. Engineers and workers contracted by the foundation carried out a field inspection, according to the agency, to assess the condition of the walls and determine the maintenance work required, in addition to surveying the distribution of lighting points and surveillance cameras.
Jajati said the cemetery “was not damaged by the war” that Syria has witnessed since 2011, noting that the last burial there took place about a year and a half ago. However, visits to the site had largely stopped over the past three decades, before delegations of Syrian Jews living abroad began visiting Syria after the recent political changes to inspect their properties, places of worship, and the graves of their ancestors.
Hebrew inscriptions on one of the graves at the Jewish cemetery in Damascus, June 30, 2026. (AFP)
Decline of the Jewish Presence in Syria
The Jewish presence in Syria has gradually declined over the past decades, amid the repercussions of the Arab Israeli conflict and restrictions imposed on the movement of members of the community under the rule of Hafez al-Assad. They were banned from travel until 1992, before the pace of emigration abroad accelerated, reducing their number from about 5,000 people to only a few individuals, according to the head of the Jewish community in Syria, Bakhour Chamntoub.
The years of the Syrian conflict also saw an almost complete halt to visits by Syrian Jews to the country, and synagogues were closed. The Prophet Elijah Synagogue in Damascus’s Jobar neighborhood was looted and destroyed, after it had been a religious destination for Jews coming from around the world.
In February 2025, Jews living in Damascus and others who came from the United States held a communal prayer at the al-Firenj Synagogue in Damascus, the first such prayer held there in more than three decades, in an indication of a gradual return of religious activity for the community inside the country.
Official Steps to Revive Jewish Heritage
The cemetery restoration work comes months after the Syrian government announced that it had granted an official license to the first organization specializing in the protection of Jewish heritage in the country, a step the government described as reflecting non-discrimination among Syrians on the basis of religious affiliation.
The Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor said in December 2025 that the new organization specializes in preserving Syrian Jewish heritage. Minister of Social Affairs and Labor Hind Kabawat said its licensing carried a message affirming that the state “does not discriminate between one religion and another,” and that it supports the participation of all Syrians in building the state.
According to Syrian American rabbi Henry Hamra, the organization, founded by several members of the Syrian Jewish community abroad, aims to document Jewish properties and follow up on the recovery of those confiscated under the rule of the former regime. It also aims to protect and restore Jewish synagogues and shrines and make them available for visits.
Damascus witnessed several visits last year by delegations of Syrian Jews living abroad. The first was in February, with the participation of Rabbi Henry Hamra and his father, Youssef Hamra, the chief rabbi of Syrian Jews in New York, who left Syria in 1992 after the travel ban on members of the community was lifted.
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa also met a delegation from the Syrian Jewish community in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meetings last September, in meetings that addressed the conditions of members of the community and their potential contribution to reconstruction efforts and heritage preservation.
A Syrian worker walks inside the Jewish cemetery in Damascus, June 30, 2026. (AFP)
Property File Remains Open
In parallel with efforts to restore religious and historical sites, demands continue over the recovery of Jewish properties that were confiscated or seized over the past decades.
Mouaz Moustafa, executive director of the Syrian Emergency Task Force, said in previous remarks to AFP that his organization had counted dozens of homes belonging to Syrian Jews that were seized under the rule of the former regime, and that work was underway to document them as part of a legal process to return them to their owners.
The head of the Jewish community in Syria, Bakhour Chamntoub, previously told Enab Baladi that about 30 homes owned by expatriate Jews in the al-Amin neighborhood of Damascus had been seized over the past years. He said he had contacted government authorities to examine the file of these properties, after it became impossible to recover them through the officials who had overseen their distribution at the time.
The restoration of the Jewish cemetery is the latest practical step in a series of efforts connected to preserving what remains of Jewish heritage in Syria. The number of community members living inside the country remains limited, while most Syrian Jews live in the United States, Europe, and other countries, with some continuing to make intermittent visits to the cities where they lived before emigrating.
The post Restoration Begins at Damascus Jewish Cemetery appeared first on Enab Baladi.