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Op-Ed: Refugee situation hits close to home for San Francisco writer (Includes interview)

But for San Francisco-based author Joseph Sutton, the refugee crisis strikes a chord deep within.
Last year Sutton published “The Life and Death of Abraham Massry and Other Stories.” It is a collection of 11 short stories describing memories from a childhood growing up in Los Angeles. Each story reads very much like something playwright Neil Simon would express. Or perhaps something that even film director Woody Allen would put up on the big screen.
Sutton and his family background are transplants to California from Brooklyn, NY. And the book, which was released in electronic format in Sept. of 2014, reveals that Sutton comes from a Syrian Jewish family.

This is something Sutton does not hide. But his overall inclination is being a Californian. In each of his short stories, he describes that pull to a modern world; and then the beckoning as he came of age, to assimilate even more into a secular world. Family of course, was always important. And, while he appreciated and treasures the memories of a close-knit family with strong “old world” traditions, “I just wanted to play baseball and be like other kids,” he said.

This is an old family photo of the Suttons in Hollywood  1947.   In the photo are my mother and fath...

This is an old family photo of the Suttons in Hollywood, 1947. “In the photo are my mother and father, my brothers Dave on the left, Bob on the right, Maurice squatting and me, he said, (Joe or Jake as portrayed in his new book) in a cowboy getup.” “Unfortunately,I have no photos of the relatives in Brooklyn,” added Sutton.
courtesy of writer Joseph Sutton


After serving in the U.S Coast Guard, Sutton completed his education. After teaching for a while in LA public schools, Sutton wanted to write about his experiences. Through his Coast Guard experience he became enamored with the San Francisco Bay Area and wanted to settle there and raise a family.

For the past 30 years in San Francisco, he has put much of his life experience into books; especially his years teaching in South Central LA during the tumultuous 1960s. And as for the rest and best of his books, they have been either about writing or about his love of baseball. The Life and Death of Abraham Massry and Other Stories was a way to express this connection to a family past and to a people that few in the American mainstream would understand.

Some of the short stories in the “Life and Death of Abraham Massry” talk about what any close-knit family would share: hospitality, warmth, celebrations and strong work ethic that kept the family together.

This reporter was curious if Sutton saw any correlations between his childhood recollections and the situation with the thousands of Syrian refugees trying to flee a region of conflict. I approached him with some questions.

In your book The Life and Death of Abraham Massry, you mention a close-knit community full of hospitality, food and warmth. Your book describes a people who are also hardworking and very conscientious of building a life for themselves and their families. Do you think that sense of community, closeness and hospitality as well as strong work ethic is still part of today’s Syrian people?

“I am not familiar with today’s Syrian people,” he said. “But I’ve heard that they are a well-educated people. I can only guess, but my answer would be: Yes, today’s Syrian people have a great sense of community, closeness, hospitality and work ethic.”

According to humanitarian organizations like World Vision, there are more than 13 million people in Syria impacted by the crisis. Over six million are displaced within Syria and 50 percent of that population is made up of children. Only 10 percent of the overall Syrian population has traveled to Europe. Most Syrians remain in the Middle East, in places like Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt. Yet, the situation is critical as WorldVision and other humanitarian groups point out. “World Vision is a Christian humanitarian organization dedicated to working with children, families, and their communities worldwide to reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice,” said Lauren Fisher, media relations manager for World Vision.

The Middle East has always been a ‘hot-spot’ area prone to conflict. So I asked Sutton, What were the conditions that made your relatives leave Syria?
“After the First World War,” he said, “my father sailed with his family to the United States. Many immigrants from many countries were flowing into the U.S. around that time.”

According to the Brooklyn Historical Society and the Brooklyn Historical Initiative there were two groups that came to the United States from Syria, Jews from Aleppo and Damascus. (Sutton’s parents were from Aleppo). The bulk of the migration took place around 1907 and at first, the two groups did not assimilate so harmoniously. The group from Damascus considered themselves more learned because Damascus was a center of learning since ancient times. And, with varying customs and approaches to traditions, the two groups had differing opinions.

Even before WWI, people from the region were attracted to seeking another place to live. The Middle East has never been completely at peace. The remaining vestiges of the Ottoman Empire had caused upheaval in nearby Armenia, resulting in massacres between 1905 and 1907.
“My mother’s parents came fifteen years earlier than my father and his family, in 1905,” he said, “for an opportunity to live a better life.” Sutton was not able to say for certain if that and other unrest in the region at the time impacted his relatives.
But I asked him, what similarities do you see in your relatives leaving, to the people who are leaving Syria now?

“No similarities,” said Sutton. “Syria is a war-torn country now. Today’s Syrian people are fleeing for their lives and livelihoods. My mother’s parents and my father didn’t leave Syria for fear of their lives, they came to America because they heard there was a better life there, that there was ‘gold in the streets.’ There was no threat of unrest or war in Syria when my relatives came to the U.S.”

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Syria has been caught up in a civil war since 2011. The war has become more deadly since foreign powers have joined the conflict. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also notes that 320,000 people have been killed, including nearly 12,000 children. About 1.5 million people have been wounded or permanently disabled.

I told Sutton that fears about letting Syrians into the U.S. are being equated with terrorism. So I asked him, When you read reports or notice the people in the news clips what do you see?
“I don’t see terrorists,” he said. “I see the Syrian people leaving a country just to survive as best as they can.”

Do you see families, I asked, similar to those you had in your family?

“Yes, of course,” he said. “Families are families all over the world. They all wish the best for each family member.”
As our chat wrapped up, I asked Sutton, Do you think the excuse of terrorism is a facade to cover the same old prejudices that America has had when it has to do with a new wave of immigrants coming to our shores?

“I most certainly do see the same old prejudices that America has had,” said Sutton, “when it comes to a new wave of immigrants coming to our shores.”

When the LA County Board of Supervisors held their meeting, in its report on Dec. 8 The Los Angeles Times noted that More than 30 state governors, mostly Republicans, have voiced concerns that extremists could infiltrate the United States and vowed to stop the refugees from settling in their states.

Yet two members of the LA County Board of Supervisors wanted to express the following: Submitted by Supervisors Mark Ridley-Thomas and Sheila Kuehl, they recommended to “declare that the Board will honor the Federal immigration policies of the United States and welcome refugees fleeing persecution in their home countries to adjust to a new, peaceful and productive life in Los Angeles County.” And, that they hope to honor Federal efforts to help Syrians fleeing violence and oppression and increase the overall number of refugees that the United States will resettle over the course of the next two years.

Since the act of terrorism that occurred in San Bernardino two weeks ago, the fears of Middle Eastern conflicts being played out on American soil have increased. High profile media figures like business tycoon Donald Trump proposing that borders be closed have filled the airwaves. This sort of attitude and stirring of fear does not help the humanitarian efforts.

One thing that Sutton’s book The Life and Death of Abraham Massry points out is that Syrian people like so many people here in America are not a stereotype. For example, yes there are Muslims in Syria, Mr. Trump. But there are also Christians and Zoroastrians. The Zoroastrian religion is an ancient form of monotheism – remember The three wise men in the Nativity scene from the Gospel? They came from that group.
Damascus, the capital city of Syria was and is a center of culture and learning and has been for centuries. The humanity of Syria is a lot clearer than the fears some of the media has been presenting.

And, most likely, just as here in America, there are probably many Syrians that have no interest in any religion. They just want to lead a good and peaceful life for themselves and their families.
That is what Sutton wanted growing up and that is what he treasures now most with is wife Joan and their two sons.

No doubt as the New Year unfolds, the Syrian refugee crisis will continue to be a very difficult topic of debate. Yet as LA County Supervisor board member Shelia Kuehl told the LA Times, “It is the federal government’s prerogative to decide who will be admitted.”

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