Earlier this week, the Jewish Press and the Jerusalem Post reported that in Yemen, 45 Jews have left their village in Sa'ada county after a leader of the Jewish community was warned-- in a letter delivered to him by 4 masked Shi'ite militants-- that if the Jews stayed they would be exposed to killings, abductions and looting. The letter said: "After accurate surveillance over the Jews residing in Al Haid, it has become clear to us that they were doing things which serve mainly global Zionism, which seeks to corrupt the people and distance them from their principles, their values, their morals, and their religion. Islam calls upon us to fight against the disseminators of decay."
The Yemen Times, reporting that the threats against Yemen's Jews are being discussed by the Israeli government, said that the trouble began when a Jewish teenager recently arrived from Israel took photos of some tribal girls on farms with his personal camera, as well as in a village jointly inhabited by both Jews and Muslims. The threatening letter that was delivered to the Jewish community has been posted on the website of Yemen's Islah Party. Yemeni Prime Minister Abdulqader Bajammal, at a press conference attended by Jordan’s Prime Minister, said: "We don’t allow anyone to harm any of the Jewish citizens in Yemen. We strongly reject what happened to Jews in Sa’ada." He promised all citizens, including Jews, state protection.
The Jews have moved to a hotel in Yemen's capital of Sa'ada. The Yemen Observer reported today that the governor of Sada'a, Yahya al-Shami, has promised that arrangements were underway to return the Jews to their homes with a security escort. However no date for their return has been set.
The Jews involved are part of a few hundred Jews left in Yemen. Most of Yemen's 45,000 Jews have been brought to Israel, beginning in 1949 after 1948 Muslim riots in Aden that killed 82 people.
