A UN panel said the JTA – the systematic persecution of Jews in Yemen by Houthi rebels and the previous government – has almost completely driven the ancient community out of the country, with at least seven individuals remaining.
revelations, First reported this week by Jewish Insiderwere included in a report commissioned by the United Nations Security Council on the civil war that devastated the country.
Reportedly, one in seven verified Jews are imprisoned in Yemen. The community once numbered around 50,000.
“The panel documented systematic persecution of Jews in Houthi-controlled areas,” said the report, released on January 26. “Most of the Jewish population left Yemen after several years of persecution, which began under former president Ali Abdullah Saleh but intensified under the Houthis. . The panel knows of seven Jewish individuals still in Yemen, including one Despite the order issued in July 2019, he is in custody.
it appears to refer to Levi Merhabi, Arrested for His Role in Bringing an Ancient Torah to Israel,
The Houthis, a Shia faction backed by Iran, assassinated Saleh in 2017 after collaborating with him in an effort to oust his successor.
The last group of Jewish immigrants from Yemen arrives in Israel with an ancient Torah scroll on March 20, 2016. (Jewish Agency for Ariel Di-Porto/Israel)
The report said the Houthis preach anti-Semitic violence to their school children.
Describing the Houthi summer camp, the report said, “Children were regularly expected to chant the Houthi slogan ‘Death to America, Death to Israel, Curse the Jews, Victory to Islam’.”
The report placed much of the blame for the conflict with the Houthis, describing their practices as “a constant threat to the civilian population”.
Houthi Shia fighters dressed in military uniforms ride on a pickup truck as they guard a road during a demonstration in Sanaa, Yemen, January 23, 2015. His sign reads ‘Death to Israel, cursed be the Jew’ (AP/Hani Mohammed)
It also noted that airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition backing Yemen’s government “continue to result in civilian casualties.”
The remaining Jewish population in Yemen was already thought to be small. Overall 10 in 2021. estimate less than People amid regular reports of anti-Semitic persecution in the country.
