Some 30 Jews to leave Yemen for Israel this week

A group of Yemeni Jews will emigrate from Yemen to Israel this week in a secret exodus organized by the Jewish Agency, sources close to the Jewish community said Saturday.The Yemen Observer has the story:

"About 30-35 Yemeni Jews, from six families, from Raydah and Kharef, are scheduled to leave Yemen forever on May 19th, 2009, said the sources, who asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue.

“A delegation from a Jewish agency in Sana’a has been convincing these families of the move and arranging the trip since the beginning of this month,” the sources told Yemen Observer.

"The Jews will be transferred from Sana’a to Tel Aviv via Amman, the sources added.

"The remaining 332 Yemeni Jews have been living in fear and come under growing threats, especially after a Muslim extremist killed one of them last December in Raydah, about 50 km north of the capital Sana’a.

"A total of 267 Jews are living in the two areas of Raidah and Kharef in Amran, one of the most conservative and tribal provinces in Yemen.

"The government failed to transfer them to the capital after seeing an increased number of threats against them. Security agencies have shown concern over the suspended transfer to Sana’a, where they are all supposed to be housed in one or two buildings.

“They could be easy target for extremists or Al Qaeda, and a massacre may happen,” a security official said in light of the plan to house them all together.

"After the promise of the government to relocate them last December, the Jews offered their properties and houses for sale, but nothing was bought until now. An extremist, local mosque speaker urged their Muslim neighbors not to buy anything from the Jews."

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