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NEWS
Jewish Community Heads in Yemen Say Authorities
Indifferent to Extremist Threats
by Yated Ne'eman Staff
Following the shocking death of Moshe Yaish Nahari
Hy'd in Riydah, Yemen, who was killed by a Muslim
gunman last week, heads of the Jewish community say the
national authorities are indifferent to the frequent threats
against them by Muslim extremists. According to the rov of
the kehilloh in Riydah, Yechia Yaish Ben Yechia, the
Jews of the town filed an official complaint that they had
received death threats, but the authorities have taken no
action. He even threatened not to allow the levaya to
be held until Yemen President Ali Abdullah Saleh came to the
town to meet with him and with the representatives of the
Jewish community, who would demand he guarantee their safety
and transfer them to a safe haven.
"Riydah is no longer what it used to be. It's full of
monsters," he said in an AP interview, adding that local
residents threw stones at his house and some even pressed
handguns to the necks of Jews and their family members. He
says lately he has begun to feel like a foreigner in his own
town.
Most of the 50,000 Jews living in Yemen in the early 1950s
came to Israel and today only about 400 remain. Most live in
Riydah, located 80 km (50 miles) north of the capital city of
Sanaa. An Israeli journalist who visited the town recently
reported that half of Riydah's Jewish inhabitants are
children and infants. The adults work in various trades,
particularly as smiths, leather workers and merchants. Until
recently the Jews lived a relatively quiet existence and the
government showcased them to demonstrate its tolerance and
generosity toward minorities (e.g. during the recent election
campaign).
Until a year and a half ago several dozen Jews lived in the
northern city of Sada and in a village outside Al-Salam.
Following the takeover of the region by a Shiite militia
called Al-Hoti, the local Jews, whose lives had been
threatened, had to flee without their belongings. Today they
live in a protected facility in Sanaa, under the protection
of the President.
The Deputy District Commander said a suspect who had a
criminal record and "a tendency toward extremism" had been
arrested and brought before a judge. "He confessed to the
crime and during the preliminary interrogation said, `These
Jews must convert to Islam.'"
According to AP, the official investigation report of the
recent murder said the suspect murdered Nahari as a way "to
come closer to G-d." Eyewitnesses said the killer confronted
Yaish Nahari in the local market, calling out, "Jew, accept
the message of Islam," and then opened fire with an AK-47
assault rifle, striking him with five bullets. Local sources
reported the suspect is Abed el-Aziz el-Abadi, a former pilot
in the Yemeni Air Force.
The 35-year-old victim is survived by a wife and nine
children.
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