Syrian refugees have found unexpected allies in Jewish Americans who have called on Barack Obama to open America's gates to the Arab asylum seekers.
Jewish American group HIAS has petitioned Obama to resettle 100,000 Syrians in the US and Reform rabbis pledged to highlight refugee assistance in their High Holiday sermons.
They have joined forces with Arab-American leaders in critiquing current policies, which have been limiting numbers of refugees settling in the US.
They say they cannot do nothing as the worst refugee crisis since WWII occurs.
"We know what it is like to be denied entry, to be turned back at borders, to be put into camps. We also know what it is like to have refuge," said Rabbi Malcom Cohen, Las Vegas.
The US has admitted around 1,500 refugees since the start of the Syrian conflict in 2011. Obama has said they will accept 10,000 refugees this fiscal year.
"How can a nation built by refugees from political persecution turn our back on refugees fleeing religious and political persecution," said Reform leader Rabbi Rick Jacobs in a letter to Obama.
The motivation to support refugees is also the protection of Israel, HIAS President Mark Hetfield told RNS.
"The crisis in Syria threatens to destabilise Jordan, Lebanon, and perhaps even Turkey and Egypt," he said. "This cannot be good for Israel."
Israel has provided medical aid to hundreds of injured Syrians, but Benyamin Netanyahu refuses to shelter refugees. Syria and Israel have technically been at war since 1948.
Currently, Syrian refugees can wait up to two years after applying for asylum to be called to interview, according to Akram Abushara, a Gaza-born immigration officer.
"The Jewish community has more capacity to move the politicians on this issue than the Arab-American community," said Abusharar.
"I have 119 cases for Syrians pending at the asylum office in Anaheim," he added.
Authorities work much more quickly on applications from Mexico and Central America.
"HIAS has consistently called for more resettlement and pushed back against discriminatory rhetoric opposing the opening of doors to Syrian refugees," said Omar Hossino, public relations director for the Syrian American Council in Washington, DC.
