Yemeni authorities rejected a request by the family of Moshe
Yaish Nahari Hy'd, who was murdered in Riydah last
week, to have the body flown to Eretz Yisroel for burial. The
killing was an embarrassment to President Ali Abdullah Selah,
who would like Yemen to be portrayed internationally as a
place where Jews are treated well.
Following the rising threat to the safety and well-being of
Jews living in Riydah, including firebombs thrown in the
middle of the night at the home of a Jew named Saadiya
Yaakov, President Selah issued an offer to all of the Jews of
the Amran, a governorate in the northwest of the country, to
move to the capital city of Sanaa and receive an agricultural
land grant and a subsistence allocation of 2 million rial
($10,000) as well as his pledge of protection. To carry out
the proposal the Jews would have to sell their assets in the
area and then they would be able to build homes in the
section of Sanaa allotted to them. The Arab media claims the
President is "fawning on the Jews." The Jewish families of
Riydah have not yet presented their reply.
After the firebomb was thrown at his home, the owner said he
has no dispute with anyone and has no idea why the act was
perpetrated against him. "May Hashem have mercy on us," he
said.
The rov of the Jewish community, R. Yechia Yaish, told a
local reporter that during a meeting with Selah, the
President told security officials to oversee the relocation
of the Jews. In light of the uncertain situation, some Jews
are now considering aliyah. The Yemeni press reported that
ongoing persecution by Muslim extremists could cause all of
the Jews to flee the country.
A desert town located 70 km (45 miles) north of Sanaa, Riydah
is home to one of the last two Jewish communities left in the
country, whose 270 Jews are the only remnant of the splendid
Jewish community that once graced Yemen. The central
government is unstable and many residents, including the
Jews, carry weapons for self-defense. National law prohibits
Jews from carrying the traditional Yemeni dagger known as a
jambiya.
Over a year ago a few dozen Jews from the northern town of
Saada were transferred to Sanaa, where law and order prevail.
The government relocated them following death threats by
Shiite extremists from the Al-Houthi militia and now they
report they lack nothing under President Selah's patronage
and are not interested in moving to Eretz Yisroel.
As a result of the sharp increase in antisemitic incidents
recently in Yemen, Jewish Agency Chairman Ze'ev Bielski sent
a letter to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert asking him to step in.
"Based on reports we've received from the heads of the Jewish
community in Yemen we're concerned the situation could
deteriorate," wrote Bielski. "I am turning to you with a
request to wield your influence among friendly countries,
primarily the US and the international community, to contact
the authorities in Yemen in order to prevent the situation
from deteriorating."
