Nadia Cohen
Photo: Alex Kolomoisky
WUJS to Assad: Repatriate Eli Cohen
Annual congress of World Union of Jewish Students to gather in Beer Sheva Sunday. Attendance of Nadia Cohen - wife of executed Israeli spy Eli Cohen - prompts campaign demanding Syria return his remains to Israel
On Sunday students from all over the world will gather in the Israeli city of Beer Sheva for the annual congress of the World Union of Jewish Students to discuss important issues such as Jewish identity, politics, the State of Israel, and the prospects of peace in the Middle East.
The agenda includes a campaign with the potential to impact regional peace, as well as the lives of one Israeli family, a campaign demanding Syria repatriate the remains of executed spy Eli Cohen.
Among the guests of the conference will be Nadia Cohen, widow of the Israeli spy who was caught and hung in Damascus, Syria, in 1965 after transferring valuable military information to the young Israeli nation.
In light of the Cohen’s attendance at the conference, WUJS leaders have decided to send a letter to Syrian President Bashar Assad asking him for this compassionate gesture to prove he is truly serious about peace with Israel.
In the letter, initiated by WUJS chairman Daniel Translateur, the organization appeals to Assad's humanitarian side: "We, as the young generation of Jewish youth, are longing for the day when true peace will be upon the Middle East, between all nations, and we know Syria has a major role in achieving this objective," the letter reads.
In the letter, WUJS makes a direct connection between this humanitarian move and the prospects of peace between Israel and Syria which could influence the entire region: "In the name of the Jewish People around the world, and the citizens of the Sate of Israel, we call on you, as the leader of the Syrian People, to take a trust-building step, a step of true humanitarian value, and order the return of the remains of Eli Cohen to his family in Israel," it says.
