State Department Helps Bring Threatened Yemeni Jews To U.S.

The tiny remaining Jewish community in Yemen has been in increasing danger over the last year as growing internal strife and Islamic militancy has made it more difficult for Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh to continue to protect the 350-person community. Today's Wall Street Journal carries a long article on the U.S. State Department's role (along with private relief groups) in secretly getting some 60 Yemeni Jews out of the country and resettling them in Monsey, New York. Up to 100 more could still come to the U.S. Others will settle in Israel and and some will remain in a protected government enclave in Yemen. Those arriving in the U.S. have had little contact with the West. The Journal's striking photo of one family arriving shows a father with his hair in traditional peyot (sidelocks), and his three daughters all wearing burkas.