Henry Hamra, a Jew of Syrian origin now residing in the United States, has announced his candidacy for a seat representing the Damascus district. The vote is set for October 5.

Hamra, who fled Syria in 1992 at age 15 with his father, Rabbi Yusuf Hamra, is pledging to use his candidacy to rally Syrian expatriates abroad—particularly in the U.S.—to dismantle the “Caesar Act,” Washington’s sweeping sanctions regime against Damascus. The legislation, enacted in 2019, conditions relief on sweeping political reforms by the Assad government and has been blamed by Syrian officials for crippling the country’s already battered economy.

Hamra returned to Damascus in February on a highly symbolic visit to the city’s abandoned Jewish quarter, where only a handful of Jews remain from what was once a thriving community of 100,000. His campaign announcement leans heavily on that symbolism, presenting him as both a bridge to Syria’s exiled diaspora and a political outsider with ties to Washington.

The bid is unprecedented. Syria’s parliament, tightly controlled by the Assad regime, has not seen a Jewish representative in decades. While Hamra’s chances of winning remain unclear, his candidacy alone has drawn attention across the Middle East and among Syrian exile communities abroad—where debates rage over whether his campaign signals a genuine political opening or a carefully managed gesture by Damascus aimed at undermining U.S. sanctions.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)