- The 1,000 Aliyah

Zionists come to Syria in the 1930s, recruiting young people to help build the Jewish state of Israel. Between 1945 and 1946, 1,300 Jewish children leave Syria for Israel in an operation called “The 1,000 Aliyah.”

“We have a shlichim messenger that came from Palestine in the 1940s that start teaching us about being a Zionist. Every time the Boy Scouts have a party in the school, we always sang “Hatikvah.” As a child, I got so emotional that I want to go to Palestine and fight to create the state. So, I went to the bus station. I bought ticket to Lebanon, hoping I find somebody to smuggle me to Palestine. I was 14.”  – Joe Aboudi, Episode 6

(Image of Joseph Aboudi after leaving Aleppo at age 14.)