The Yemen Times spoke with 28-year-old Yemeni Jew Daoud Suleiman Marji, a married father of one son, and what follows are the details from that meeting.
What’s the total number of Jews in Yemen and where are they?
There are Yemeni Jews in Amran and Sa’ada, but I don’t know the exact number. Maybe there are 600.
Why did you come to Sana’a?
We came here to escape the war ignited by the terrorist Abdulmalik Al-Houthi, may Allah punish him.
Were you connected with the war between Houthis and the state?
We have no connection with it. We used to live our normal life until we received a letter from Houthis asking us to leave the area and giving us a 10-day ultimatum to do so. We informed the state, which airlifted us via helicopter to Sa’ada and provided us accommodation there.
What did you do when you received the Houthi ultimatum?
We informed the authorities and they transferred us to Sa’ada and gave us protection for 10 days in a Sa’ada hotel. They later moved us to another government building.
What made Houthis do this and do you know who sent the letter?
We don’t know; however, they told us that we profaned the land, despite the fact that we’re Yemenis and our values are Yemeni. We used to hear about the one who sent the letter, but we only knew him when he brought it.
You’re accused of trading in alcohol?
This isn’t true. We lived there for a long time and [Houthis] used to say this in order to increase enmity against us.
Did you have problems like this in the past?
No, this is the first time, as we didn’t experience anything before.
Are there any Jews left in Al-Salim and what about your property there?
No one is there, lest Houthis implement their threats. We couldn’t take anything, except what we could manage to carry.
Did you try to negotiate with Houthis or meet with them?
No, we can’t do anything. Because we’re unarmed, we couldn’t face them. The state and President Ali Abdullah Saleh are on our side.
If you had remained there, what would have happened?
God saved us, but if we had remained there, for sure, they would have killed us.
Did you decide for yourselves to remain in Sa’ada or did someone tell you to remain there?
When we arrived in Sa’ada, the authorities told us to remain there, hoping for a quick end to the war; however, when the war intensified, the state moved us to Sana’a for fear Houthis would infiltrate and kill us if we stayed in Sa’ada.
You said you stayed in a Sa’ada hotel. Who paid for that?
The hotel rent was paid by some pro-state sheikhs.
What was your life like during the previous Sa’ada wars?
We used to live like brothers, sharing the same environment and life with our Muslim neighbors. We also used to chew qat together. There were no problems between us and them; however, Houthis came before the fourth war and told us to leave, so we did.
Did your Muslim neighbors stand by you?
Our Muslim neighbors stood by us because we’re friends; however, the matter was beyond their capacity.
How long have you been away from your home?
I don’t remember exactly, but perhaps more than three months.
Following your arrival in Sana’a, what was provided for you?
Under direct orders from President Saleh, the state gave each family an apartment and provided us with everything.
What about money?
Each individual is given YR 5,000, but this sum isn’t enough.
How do you spend your time?
We usually go out or shopping and we sometimes sit together and chew qat.
Why didn’t you go to Israel?
Because Yemen is my homeland. You’re Yemeni, so you know the feelings of those who leave their country. My father traveled to Israel but returned after three months because he was uncomfortable there. Israel is Zionist and you know the difference between Zionist and Jew.
Were you offered to go to Israel?
Yes, but we don’t want to go there. My cousin traveled to Israel 12 years ago and told me that life is difficult and there’s difference between Yemenis and Zionists.
How are you treated regarding rights, employment and voting?
We’re treated like Muslims. As for jobs, we don’t care [about government employment] because we prefer private enterprise jobs. Regarding voting, no one is forced and participation is open to all.
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13 Responses
and you know the difference between Zionist and Jew.
Now let all the zionists climb out of their holes and tell us he felt forced to say such truths.
Take a look at the Yemen Times website and search for ‘Jew’. It’s very interesting. For example, look at this letter they printed:
In the 1920s both pairs of my grandparents left Yemen, where they were born and grew up, and found there way to the land of their forefathers. They were Jews. Yehudim. Arab Jews, you could call them, 2000 years in Yemen, and their Arab-Jewish heritage is so strong, that almost 100 years later, me, their grandson, 42 years old myself, is still interested in Yemen, Yemenis and Arabs in general, including Arab culture and Arab people: I actually love Arab people. I feel close to them. I really wish that we could relate to each other as 1st cousins, sons of Yitshak, grandsons of Avraham (Ibrahim).
But the truth of the matter is that there’s war now. And the war is totally not only the Jews fault. If you think it’s only the Jews to blame, you are either totally ignorant, or totally prejudiced.
I’m Jewish, and Israeli, and a proud one. It doesn’t mean I agree with all that my government says or does. Usually on the contrary.
Still, reading your commentary about Dr. Rantissy’s killing and the Bush-Sharon meeting, I wish to express some things, as follows:
1. Dr. Rantissi and the Hamas explicitly express their goal: the ruin of the State of Israel.
2. On the everyday level, Dr. Rantissi was a major cause in the terror attacks, including against civilians.
Under these circumstances, i would like to ask the following rhetorical questions:
1. What good reason could Israel have for not fighting the Hamas, and Dr. Rantissy?
2. What valid argument is there against building a defensive wall?
3. How should Israel relate to Palestinian demands regarding the right of return – knowing that the return of all refugees to Israel will practically destroy Israel as the Jewish people’s state.
These questions and comments come from an honest heart. I do not mean to insult or create more hatred, but really to clarify my opinions and hear the other side.
Hamakom yerachaim alayhem v’yotziem mitzara l’rvacha…
@Joseph:
My thoughts exactly!
Look at the question / response – Is this for real!! May who punish them??
Why did you come to Sana’a?
We came here to escape the war ignited by the terrorist Abdulmalik Al-Houthi, may
Allah
punish him.
Is that the real picture of the person interviewed?? He looks pretty old for a 28 year old person.
Shaila,
Yemeni Jews speak Arabic as we speak English, and Allah is the Arabic word for G-d. It is the way they say Hashem. There is nothing strange about it.
shaila? Exactly. I wonder if that’s what the guy said, or an editorial “comment” by the paper.
Also, he looks pretty old for a 28 year old guy. (:-)
Allah is the Arabic word for God. It’s the inequivalent of an American Jew telling an English paper that God should punish terrorists.
“If you had remained there, what would have happened?
God saved us, but if we had remained there, for sure, they would have killed us.”
OK, which is it, God or Allah? Was the interviewee speaking and the newspaper writing English or Arabic?
Did his Yemenite relatives ever visit the charedei Yemenite communities in Israel? There they daven to Allah at shul. We all know how this senerio is going to end—-Don’t we!
sayitlikeitis
give the guy a break . He has a tough life he dosn’r need your slap in punim.
now is the 40th anniversary of the xpulsion of “adenese jews” from yemen. they are an interesting historical fact, but they today travel back and forth between yemen today, using their british passports, including the communist part of yemen a few years ago.
of course they are “desirable” to the yemenese govt, since they are responsible for whatever foreign trade (and desirable goods) the yemenese govt wants. as for these teymanim, well ….
similar to the quartari jew(s) mentioned in another yw news item.