The tragedy of the Yemeni Jews
Pastor Dale Morgan
The tragedy of the Yemeni Jews
*
The government has stood by and let jihadist gangs drive Jews out of
Yemen. Now their community is on the brink of extinction
o Lyn Julius
o guardian.co.uk, Sunday 7 June 2009 10.00 BST
The last Jews of Yemen are leaving. They are packing their bags and
moving to Israel or the US. A community dating back to Biblical times is
on the brink of extinction.
Sixty years ago one million Jews lived in Arab countries, but violence
and state-sanctioned discrimination scapegoating them as Zionist spies
have forced out all but 4,000 – who remain mainly in Yemen, Morocco and
Tunisia.
Most Jews were airlifted from Yemen to Israel in the 1950s. The 400 left
have resisted moving to Israel, having come under the influence of the
non-Zionist Satmar sect. Some returned after a taste of life in the US
or Israel (the government generally turns a blind eye to Jews travelling
to the Jewish state). Now things have got so bad that even these
die-hards are departing.
The murder in December of Moshe al-Nahari, a 30-year-old teacher based
in Reda, north of the Yemeni capital, sparked this latest crisis. At
first, the authorities claimed that the murderer was "mentally
imbalanced". But it became clear that he was religiously motivated,
screaming "convert or die, Jew!" as he pumped five bullets into his victim.
For some time jihadist gangs have been harassing Jews in Yemen. Girls
have been abducted and forced to marry local tribesmen. Two years ago,
45 Jews, driven out of their village of al-Salem in north Yemen by
threats from Shia Houthis, were relocated to the capital Sana'a.
Yemen is hardly an oasis of tranquility: it has more guns than people.
The Jews are not the only ones to suffer in its long history of
lawlessness and instability. Lately, however, Jews have had it
especially tough.
Jews, tribal sheikhs, rights activists and lawyers all concur that
harassment has reached an all-time high. After al-Nahari's murder, the
Jews were besieged in their own homes and petrol bombs lobbed at them.
Moshe's brother, rabbi Yahia Ya'ish, appealed to the government:
"protect or deport us". Those wishing to leave could not claim their
passports because the government's computers had mysteriously broken down.
Yemen's president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, pledged to take the Jews under
his wing in Sana'a, where, in contrast to the countryside, he has firm
control. Some say the government is well-meaning but ineffective; others
that the promised relocation was never serious. The Jews were to be
re-housed in two blocks, too cramped for their large families and
vulnerable to attack. But they could not even sell their homes in Reda
after local imams intimidated would-be buyers.
The Al-Nahari murder verdict in March was the last straw. During the
trial the murderer's family threatened the victim's relatives. Instead
of the prescribed death sentence, the judge ordered the murderer to pay
"blood money". The Jews felt less secure than ever: the Jewish Agency
and the US government swung into action to plan the Jews' rescue and
resettlement.
Mahmud Taha, a journalist who has been following the story, is not
surprised that the Jews want to go. "There is no option for the Yemeni
Jews but to migrate. The local authorities have failed to protect them
... The Jews are fed up and have reached an intolerable situation," he said.
Mansour Hayel, a Muslim human rights activist and Yemeni Jewry expert,
blames the government: "In Yemen there is hardly a mosque sermon that's
free of bigotry. The government's own political rhetoric marginalises
the Jews, and civil society is too weak to protect them," he says.
Perhaps because they understand that tolerance towards minorities is the
key to strengthening Yemen civil society, Yemeni human rights activists
have been vigorously defending Jewish rights. They want the media to
start promoting democracy and tolerance; and equal civil rights for
Jews, who pay discriminatory taxes and, as dhimmis, suffer various
handicaps under sharia law. But Jews whose lives are in danger are
unlikely to stick around long enough to see such reforms implemented.
The lesson one draws from the final exodus of the Jews of Yemen is that
the Arab world does not even tolerate non-Zionist Jews. There can be no
future for the pitiful remnant in Arab lands if their safety cannot be
guaranteed.
In Morocco, where the Jewish community is largest, Jews traditionally
repaid the king's sympathy with tremendous loyalty. But the king of
Morocco was unable or unwilling to prevent 260,000 Jews leaving in the
face of rising antisemitism in the 1960s, media incitement and forced
conversions.
Even benevolent rulers have been powerless to stem the rising tide of
anti-Jewish hatred engulfing the Arab world. Few Arabs are now likely to
meet a Jew in their lifetime, and the gullible believe the demonisation
and conspiracy theories peddled by their media.
No wonder Jews have spurned official invitations for them to return to
live in their countries of birth. Jews visit as tourists, but few see
their future in these countries. In Tunisia and Morocco al-Qaida
targeted Jews in 2002 and 2003. In April the murder of a Jew in
Casablanca sent the community into a panic.In May, eight terrorists were
arrested for planning attacks on Jewish sites.
If Morocco and Tunisia fail to keep a lid on jihadist terrorism and
incitement, their last Jews, too, will soon be following the beleaguered
Jews of Yemen into exile.