The Central Synagogue in Aleppo (by Govorkov via Wikimedia).
To say we live in tumultuous times would be an understatement. The news, both domestic and international, is noisy, and the impassioned protest even noisier. We are bombarded with news that may be “fake,” forced to discern between facts and “alternative” facts, and confronted with a growing sense that what divides us is swallowing what we have in common. Irrespective of where one falls on the political spectrum, it behooves us to recognize the grievances of those around us. Yes, in some quarters there is optimism, while in others dread, and this all may well be a healthy reaction to the unsustainable course our country may have been on. It can all get very tiring.
As a student of history (at least according to my college diploma), I know that periods of peace and tranquility are the rare exception in the lives of nations and their peoples. Conflict is as part of the human condition as the need to sleep in on a cold and snowy winter’s day. With armed conflict, there comes movement — of armies, navies, and civilians caught in the middle looking to escape. We call these people refugees, just as we call those who seek to escape oppressive regimes for political or religious reasons refugees as well.
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Various democratic countries have adopted measures to deal with refugees in this time of security risk from potential terrorist infiltrators. These include Germany’s recent open door policy, to Canada’s apparent decision to not accept single men, to the more restrictive policies adopted by others. As a country, we are in the midst of a great legal and political debate on how to deal with today’s political refugees, and how to balance pressing security concerns with America’s traditional role as a haven, nay beacon, for those yearning to be free.
Lawyers have a serious role to play in this debate. Some have and will take center stage, as jurists and advocates dealing directly with those affected by changing immigration and refugee policies. Others will lend their voices to protest or support of our government’s actions. Some will donate money to causes they find worthy, or do what they can to support refugee-run businesses in their hometowns. And because this is an important debate, lawyers who come from refugee stock, or were refugees themselves, should take the opportunity to share their perspectives. Lawyers are among society’s leading communicators, and we must use those skills to help inform the debate both intellectually and with ethical sensitivity.
Biglaw firms are well-equipped to spring into immediate action when the need arises. To their credit, they quickly mobilized resources and the prodigious legal talent they have on hand in no time at all, as we recently saw with the response to the temporary ban. While Biglaw firms may lead the way, and capture (together with legal public interest groups like the ACLU and Legal Aid) most of the media attention dedicated to “lawyers responding to crises,” lawyers at small firms can also make an impact when their conscience calls them into action. The need for good lawyers, on both sides of any social or legal debate, is paramount, and the contributions of lawyers working for firms of all sizes is an important factor in ensuring a peaceful, democratic resolution.
Importantly, the need to escape armed conflict or political oppression is not the only reason refugees (some would say immigrants) are created. The need for better economic opportunities can be just as pressing, and has historically informed the mass migrations of various peoples to these shores, from countries near and far. Whether or not one agrees that those seeking better economic opportunities are truly refugees, there does seem to be a consensus that our primary and more immediate obligation is to help those refugees in the “political” category — since their lives are at risk.
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As every informed person knows, perhaps the most prominent group of political refugees today are those poor souls fleeing the Syrian city of Aleppo, a proud and ancient city that is the epicenter of a devastating civil war. Besieged on all sides, innocents have to choose whether to fight or flee, as a return to normalcy seems unthinkable for now.
If Syria were Texas, Aleppo would be Dallas. The refugees we hear about are not people fleeing a makeshift tent town in the middle of the desert. For millennia, Aleppo was a major trading center, and a cosmopolitan home to a diverse populace of Christians, Muslims, and Jews. As with any major city, it was never immune to conflict, but it survived. In the 1800s, a major challenge to Aleppo’s prosperity arose with the opening of the Suez Canal, and the newfound option of shipping goods by sea from Europe to Asia via a much shorter and safer voyage. As time passed, the economic pressure on Aleppo’s citizens increased, sparking a wave of emigration to other countries by people desperate to provide for their families.
Among those who eventually left Aleppo was a Jewish merchant called Sion. While some of his compatriots settled in Lebanon, or what was then called Palestine, or even made their way to America around the turn of the last century, Sion decided to pursue his fortune in Egypt. As with any immigrant, he benefited from the established infrastructure provided by Egypt’s own ancient and sizable Jewish community, and Sion was able to raise a large brood while making a living in his new country. As time passed, however, geopolitical events and religious conflict forced Sion to leave Egypt. This time Sion fled as a political refugee, to avoid being thrown in jail — as some of his sons and sons-in-law were — on accusations of spying for Israel. So our erstwhile economic refugee from Aleppo became a political refugee again in his later years, before arriving in America around fifty years ago.
Sion was fortunate. Both times he landed on new shores, he was able to join existing communities of fellow co-religionists, and was welcomed into countries that valued their immigrant populations. While that changed in Egypt, to the great sorrow of many Jews and Christians who had lived there for millennia, it was certainly the case in America when Sion arrived sometime in the 1960s. Eventually, Sion’s entire immediate family, his eight surviving grown children and their families, were able to settle together here. From one humble refugee from Aleppo, thanks to the beauty of opportunity and freedom provided by this country, eventually came numerous descendants who are today doctors, lawyers, teachers, rabbis, businesspeople, and more. As time went on, his children went on to give him dozens of grandchildren, and even though Sion passed many years ago, his memory and spirit lives on in his hundreds of great-grandchildren. One of them even wrote this column. This is my contribution to the debate.
Please feel free to send comments or questions to me at [email protected] or via Twitter: @gkroub. Any topic suggestions or thoughts are most welcome.
Gaston Kroub lives in Brooklyn and is a founding partner of Kroub, Silbersher & Kolmykov PLLC, an intellectual property litigation boutique. The firm’s practice focuses on intellectual property litigation and related counseling, with a strong focus on patent matters. You can reach him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter: @gkroub.