Now, his relatives are making the rounds in Washington with Mr. Moustafa, who said they had met with people at the National Security Council, the State Department and on Capitol Hill. A State Department spokeswoman confirmed that a meeting took place; the White House did not respond to a request for comment.
Maissa Kabbani, a Syrian Muslim who sought asylum in the United States decades ago, joined the Jewish delegation to Syria. Western officials have expressed concerns that Syria’s new rulers are not committed to pluralism and protection of minorities, despite their pledges, so she said she saw the visit as an opportunity to prove a point.
The symbolic value of the visit was also not lost on the Syrian Foreign Ministry, which welcomed the group and provided guidance, drivers and security, she said.
Sanctions relief for Syria will not come quickly, if at all, but some lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are making the case to the Trump administration. Representative Joe Wilson, Republican of South Carolina, a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, and Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, the top Democrat on the Banking Committee, wrote to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent last month, arguing that “broad restrictions” aimed at a defunct regime “now risk undermining U.S. national security objectives and impeding Syria’s reconstruction.”
Mr. Wilson met with the Hamras on Tuesday and said he was “encouraged” by their accounts of interactions with the new Syrian government. “Obviously, the terrorist connections, we should be concerned,” he said. “But people change, OK. As we see, whole countries change.”
Later, Mr. Wilson posted on social media about the “important meeting” with Syrian Jews. “I agree with them,” he said. “We must ease sanctions on the Syrian people to give them a chance to live.”
