No wonder the Jews of Yemen are migrating, says the Yemen Times. The Jews complain that their allowances have been cut, that the accommodation provided for them by the government is inadequate, that they are deprived of passports. And if the government of Yemen cannot guarantee the rights of Yemeni Jews, what hope for its ordinary citizens? asks Mohammed Bin Sallam:
The Jews of Yemen who preferred to stay in their country are guaranteed a decent life in line with all legal, constitutional, and religious rights. They are entitled to enjoy these rights in the same manner that other people in society do, regardless of their religious affiliations.
The land, history, and soil of this country have intertwined with their lives and made them who they are today. Their ordeals should be considered ordeals for all Yemenis and not just for Jewish citizens.
The aggression and intimidation practiced against the Jewish population during the recent period brings to light a number of questions. Where is the role of the government and its security and judicial apparatuses? And why does the government relinquish its commitments toward its citizens?
Millions of Yemeni citizens, whether Muslims or Jews, are suffering. Ignorance and a backward mentality of those who rule this country made everyone succumb to oppression. When a journalist heard that the US and Israel intend to transfer rest of the Yemeni Jews outside of Yemen, he said, “What about us? As the situation is depressing, who will help us to immigrate?”
Yemeni Jews are subject to pressure and intimidation which causes them to think of immigration to any other country in the world, even though they still love their land where their ancestors have lived for thousands of years.
“The Yemeni security and judicial apparatuses ignore the suffering of the Jews and refuse – directly or indirectly – to provide them with protection," said Khaled Al-Anisi, director of the National Organization for Defending Rights and Freedoms or HOOD. “These incumbent bodies fully realize the identification of extremists who harm Jewish citizens.”
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Yemen Jews flee home of 2,500 years : Bloomberg
Do the writer of the Yemen Times article and the Yemeni human rights advocate risk their lives by speaking out like this?
ReplyDeleteIt's an interesting question, Victor.
ReplyDeleteBin Sallam has often written about the Jews, and sympathetically. Perhaps he comes from a convert family, of which there are thousands. And I think HOOD does understand the Jews are the canary in the coalmine in Yemen.