#yemeni Jews

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

by Tabby Refael

It was no surprise, then, that immediately after the Tel Aviv attack, social media users arrived in Tel Aviv’s Yemeni neighborhood of Kerem HaTeimanim (the name means “Vineyard of the Yemenis”) to ask people what they thought of Yemen, and of the Houthis. Kerem HaTeimanim is adjacent to the famous Carmel Market, and many Yemeni Jews, some of whom must have been second generation Israelis, were asked if they had a message for the Houthis back in Yemen. The responses, all in Hebrew, were quintessentially Israeli:

“You’re Yemeni, right?” a young woman who was filming the video asked a kippah-clad, gray-bearded man as he prepared traditional Yemeni flatbreads, most likely at a stall at the Carmel Market. “I’m Swedish,” he answered jokingly. His response reminded me of each time that Americans asked me or some of my Iranian friends from where we hailed, and we responded that we were Italian. 

“Do you have a message for the Houthis?” the young interviewer asked the man. “A message for the Houthis?” he repeated the question. “Go to hell.” When asked if the Houthis scared him, the man, who was holding a large tray of flatbreads ready to be baked, answered, “Can anyone scare Am Israel (the people of Israel)? No one can scare Am Israel!”

Two dark-haired young men of Yemeni descent sat at a cafe and stated, “A few Houthis won’t affect us. Definitely not here in the Yemeni neighborhood. It’s the stronghold.” Every now and then, that’s exactly how I feel when I read dire headlines about Iran while living in an area of West L.A. called “Tehrangeles.”

There were so many memorable responses, and I want to share even more of them with readers: 

“They’re backwards,” said one Yemeni woman regarding the Houthis. “I think they’re overdoing it,” a tan, dark-haired man working at another food stall said “I love Yemenis,” added his co-worker. “But you went too far, friends. In Tel Aviv, and with no warning!” he chuckled.

My favorite respondent was a buff, young Yemeni baker with a bald head, a heavily tattoed upper arm and an impressive black goatee and mustache. While calmly continuing to pull at a giant, pliable mass of dough, he yelled, “Why at four in the morning?!” (regarding the bombing). “Do it in the afternoon! Why at four?!”

“Congratulations to the Houthis,” said another young man. “Everyone from Hamas to Iran has tried to hit Tel Aviv and failed. And they [Houthis], suddenly with their flip flops, opened up a new parking spot for us.”

Finally, there was a young Yemeni man who looked straight at the camera and delivered his own message to the Houthis, “I’m sure our Jachnun [bread] is better than yours, you #%S!!”

The responses of these Israeli Yemenis say it all: Embarrassment and dissociation on the one hand (one woman said, “They’re embarrassing the Yemenis! We’re not connected to them at all”), and pride and ownership in their own Yemeni identities, on the other. It’s almost as if they were saying, “We’re Yemeni too, but unlike you [Houthis], we got it right.” Millions of Iranians feel the same way about the regime in Tehran.

[koenji]

Handcrafted Yemenite silver filigree Mezuzot (png) by Chaim Gershon "Gershi" in Bnei Brak. x

Yemenite silversmithing is a historic craft practiced by the Jewish communities of Yemen. It is especially known for its filigree work, which produces intricate designs using fine silver wire. The results are ornate jewelry and other cultural and religious items. The traditional techniques are often passed down through generations.

Yemenite Jews have practiced silversmithing since at least the 1700s at a time when Muslims did not engage in this work, and their products were highly sought after in the southern Arabian Peninsula and beyond.

Following the mass exodus of Yemenite Jews in the mid-20th century, the majority fleeing to Israel, Yemenite silversmiths have continued practicing and passing down their craft. It remains a renowned aspect of Jewish artistic heritage.

[sarcasticsweetlara]

We have to stand for Palestine!

Stand for what is right and advocate for their rights.

However don't mistake calling out Israeli Government for hatred towards Jews.

Remember there are Palestinian Jews, and that there are Jews that have been discriminated against either in their countries of origin and would not be welcome back, like Yemeni Jews, Bukharan Jews, Kurdish Jews, etc.

[sephardigf]

(from @adiradirim)

Photographs of the last remaining Jews of Yemen.

There were 55,000 Jews in Yemen in 1948. Today there are fewer than a hundred. The community existed for nearly three thousand years.

[agentfascinateur]

The long history of Israeli draconianism

#nowhere near civilized

#baby stealers

[secular-jew]

[psychologeek]

Adding to it the Orphans' Decree in Yemen (aka for CENTURIES, underage orphans were taken from their families and forced to convert to Islam.) The only way out was escaping (for example, to Eretz Yisrael) or getting married (sometimes as young as 3 yo), which meant being considered legally adult.

*to be clear, it does NOT mean having sex. My great-grandma was married at 15 yo, but went to live with her husband at about 17 yo, after she "became a woman" (aka got her period).

And the way jews weren't allowed to own land (which had a HUGE impect, consider 80% of the population lived in small villages.)

A brief History of Mizrahi Jews in Arabic countries and Their expulsion

A\N: While I am an Ashkenazi Jew, I have done A LOT of research, and have both Iraqi friends and relatives to corroborate this with. Also, I'm petty - an Iraqi user who comments regularly on my posts seems to forget about his own country's Jewish history... Well, I hope he forgot instead of the more likely reality: It seems like Arabic people nowadays aren't aware of Jewish history in their countries since they either killed to expelled them all. Thus is born the constant argument that all Jews originated in Europe and are merely settlers in the Middle East.

I realized that what may be obvious to me won't be obvious to others since I'm a history nerd who grew up in Israel with plenty of rich archeological evidence and resources surrounding me. I'm happy to make these posts in hopes of educating others and contributing my part to ending antisemitism and prejudice. ___________________

You might have seen the following picture in one of my previous posts:

It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words. Unfortunately, in this case, it concludes hundreds of years of discrimination, violence, and exile for Mizrahi Jews. * It is important to note that numbers are slightly varied between sources, but the meaning is clear.

In a nutshell- all throughout history, the fate of Jewish people in countries where they weren't the religious majority was the same:

Discriminatory laws, blood libels, being blamed for disasters > violence & murder > Pogroms * > and eventually- exile or mass murder AKA ethnic cleansing \ genocide.

Pogrom-  the term refers to violent attacks by local non-Jewish populations on Jews in the Russian Empire and in other countries.

Every Jewish community has its own Pogrom. While my side of the family might immediately think of the Kristallnacht or persecution & pogroms in Hungary, it is different for Jews from different backgrounds. You can read about a few cases of forced conversion to Islam here.

A brief History of the land of Israel

The land of Israel has always been considered a strategic passageway, and so many empires throughout history have conquered it:

* I simply cannot accurately write 3000+ years of Jewish history in the land of Israel. I found that this video summarizes it perfectly.

Exile from the land of Israel

Jews were exiled from the land of Israel numerous times since the Assyrian empire conquered Israel in 732 BCE, to what we call "the diaspora" גולה. It was not by choice and we were persecuted everywhere we went.

Jews were not allowed to legally return to Israel until 1948 when the British mandate over the land of Israel ended and Israel was formed. Yes, even during the Holocaust.

The Jewish answer to exile - Aliyah עליה There have been 5 waves of illegal immigration from all over the world to the land of Israel before 1948, recorded in modern times.

Chart taken from Wikipedia (their chart was the best I could find in English)

Forced Conversion

Whether in conquered Israel or in exile, Jews were often forced to convert to either Christianity or Islam. The choice was between conversion or death.

*You can read more about some of the forced conversion of Jews during history here and here.

First Case study- The last jew of Peki'in, Margalit Zinati

Peki'in is an ancient village in the upper Galilee, Northern Israel. Nowadays, its population is mostly Druze.

Peki'in has had a Jewish presence since the Second Temple period, until Arab riots in the 1930s*. Meet the remaining member of the Zinatis, the only family who returned. (aish.com)

*Read more on the Arab riots of the 1930s here and here. Margalit is currently the last Jew living in the village of Peki'in . She is the last direct descendent of the Zinati Cohen family. The Zinati family's origins are dated back to the Second Temple era. The former Jewish community of Peki'in maintained a presence there since the Second Temple period (516 BCE – 70 CE). That is when the polytheistic Persian Empire conquered the land of Israel. For reference- that was approximately 500 years before Jesus was even born! "During which the Second Temple stood in the city of Jerusalem. It began with the return to Zion and subsequent reconstruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, and ended with the First Jewish–Roman War and the Roman siege of Jerusalem." (Wikipedia)

As an adult, Margalit chose to not marry so she could stay in Peki'in and continue her family's Jewish legacy in Peki'in. She later became in charge of the ancient synagogue in the village and turned her basement into a visiting center \ museum of Jewish history in Peki'in- "House of Zinati". in 2018, she lit up a torch as part of Israel's 70th Independence Day Torch lighting ceremony (which is considered an honor given to influential and trailblazing people).

-Margalit Zinati pictured in the Peki'in Synagogue yard, 2016 Picture taken from Wikipedia, uploaded by Deror Avi.

Second Case study - Iraqi Jews (Babylonian Jews \ יְהוּדִים בָּבְלִים)

Iraqi Jews are one of the oldest documented Jewish communities living in the Middle East. It is estimated that they originated around 600 BC.ת

The Farhud الفرهود הפרהוד

Unfortunately, Iraqi Jewish history ended in the same pattern I've described earlier. The Farhud was the violent mass dispossession against the Jewish population of Baghdad, Iraq between 1-2 June 1941. was the pogrom or the "violent dispossession" that was carried out against the Jewish population of Baghdad, Iraq, on 1–2 June 1941, It immediately followed the British victory in the Anglo-Iraqi War.

Background for the Farhud:

WW2- At the time, many Arabic countries in the Middle East agreed with Nazi ideology.

History of violence towards Jews.

The Anglo-Iraqi War (2–31 May 1941) - caused rising tension, and as usual, it was turned on the Jews.

personal family ties to the Farhud My relative was born in 1939 in Iraq, to a big upper-class Jewish family. Unfortunately, the mass exile of Jews in the 1950s didn't skip her family: she was stripped of her belongings and exiled to Israel along with her family. In the 1950s there were approximately 140,000 Iraqi Jews. As of 2021, there are only 4 left.

----------------- Please feel free to add anything I missed in the notes. And as usual - remember I am a human being. If you cuss or harass me, I will block and report you.

______________

Online Sources: * https://www.israelhayom.co.il/article/865383 - Hebrew article, Title means "Sad ending to a magnificent history: Only 4 Jews left in Iraq".

What was the Farhud https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farhud

History of the Jewish community in Baghdad https://cojs.org/the_jewish_community_in_baghdad_in_the_eighteenth_century-_zvi_yehuda-_nehardea-_babylonian_jewry_heritage_center-_2003/

What are Pogroms?https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/pogroms?gclid=Cj0KCQiAkeSsBhDUARIsAK3tiedM7DuwIaSQX-kRxvXTgCDxN6-zqeo_DNNFgyanSYGyGOhwu_0vfrkaAg6REALw_wcB

The last Jew of Peki'in, Margalit Zinati https://aish.com/the-last-jew-of-pekiin/

Arab riots of 1930s- https://www.gov.il/en/Departments/General/ben_zvi_30 https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-1936-arab-riots

Israel's history from ancient times & timeline : https://www.travelingisrael.com/timeline-land-israel/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=iiUIWnU-Ofk

Second Temple era - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Temple_period

Forced conversion of Jews across history- https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt18mvnct.7?seq=4

https://academic.oup.com/book/32113/chapter-abstract/268043723?redirectedFrom=fulltext

[safije]

Yemenite Jewish women and girl's traditional headdress

[pleasestopthese]

"The photos of Yemenite Jews that we took 30-odd years ago record a world that no longer exists."

[hindahoney]

Has anyone else noticed the weird appropriation of Yiddish for specifically anti-zionist spaces? It makes me deeply uncomfortable.

[koenji]

A group of young Yemenite Jewish girls, Al Ajar, Haïdan, Saada district, 1986.

Myrian Tangi's photo series in 1980s Yemen documented a vanishing world. After two thousand years the ancient and diverse Jewish community of Yemen is no more.

Of tens of thousands of Jews who once called Yemen their home, all but one have fled. Levi Marhabi, held in captivity by the Houthis since 2016 for supposedly aiding fleeing Jews in transporting a holy Torah scroll out of the country is the last known remnant of a Jewish presence older than Islam.

[jewreallythinkthat]

Jewish food 😂😂 more like stolen land and food

Girl (gn) I hope you've never eaten a bagel in your entire life, you wouldn't want those nasty Jewish cooties we garnish them all with 🥱

[clarabosswald]

A remarkable discovery has been made in a coconut farm in Ramanathapuram: a tombstone with Hebrew inscriptions dating back to the 13th century. This find is expected to shed new light on the region's historical connection to the Jewish community. Thoufeek Zakriya, a Jewish history researcher and Hebrew calligrapher, the first to decipher the inscription, says that the tombstone dates to 1224 or 1225 AD. "This means that it is older than the Sarah Bat Israel Tombstone in Kerala’s Chennamangalam, which is considered the oldest Hebrew tombstone ever identified in India," Zakriya told THE WEEK. "The Hebrew inscription bears the date as the 1st of Shvat (Hebrew Month) 1536 or 1537 of the Seleucid era," Zakriya explained. [...] "When converting the dates from the Seleucid era to the common era, it was found that the date on the tombstone inscriptions is approximately equivalent to January 1, 1224 AD, or January 18, 1225 AD," Zakriya noted, adding that not every line in the inscription could be deciphered due to damage. "So, I could not find the name of the deceased or his father... But I could see a name partially which could be read as Nehemiah in Hebrew. The initial analysis shows a strong Yemeni Jewish influence in the tombstone's pattern."

[hero-israel]

Do you have any resources to learn about anti-Mizrahi and anti-Black racism in Israel? I’ve tried to look it up, but the only articles that I can find don’t go into detail, mention racism from decades ago when Mizrahi people were first (mass) immigrating to Israel and were settled into subpar camps, or they’ll bring up unverified things like the alleged kidnapping of Yemenite children and the alleged sterilization of Ethiopian Jewish women that iirc was fully debunked (but I can’t find anything about it either).

So yea I’m kind of in a tough spot lol. I want to learn more about it as someone who is a reconnecting Black and Mizrahi Jew but I’m based in the US and the information I’m getting is either vague, old or possibly fake.

I follow @HenMazzig and he posts a little here and there about anti-Mizrahi racism, but I’m looking for something more in-depth. If you do have any resources, thanks in advance! And if you don’t, still thanks! Your account is still a great help either way 😊

Those are two totally separate issues. On the one hand there has been well-documented xenophobia, economic / housing discrimination, and police brutality against Mizrahi and Beta Israel Jews.

On the other hand there are some Qanon-level conspiracy theories spread by fucking lunatics. My perspective on the latter can be seen below:

There is absolutely no evidence for either of the charges, and all zero-evidence accusations against Jewish people and Jewish institutions must be presumed to be lies until proven true.

More than 7,000 voters in just the state of Michigan alone turned in signed legal affidavits under their real names swearing they personally experienced or saw the Democrats steal the election from Trump. Again, that's ONE STATE. People who are that insane can put together legal documents, so why are we supposed to give any credence to "Israel did this to tens of thousands of people across decades but nobody saw it and it left no trace, yours truly Anonymous"?

[roomselfcontain2]

2 bedroom house to rent near me very cute visit here standard home and close to the major road at Nta road before ozuoba in port Harcourt city rivers state nigeria.

[secular-jew]

Here's a photo of an observant Yemenite Jew blowing a shofar. This photo was taken in the 1930s in the Land of Israel.

#Jews#jewishhistory

Photo credit: G. Eric and Edith Matson Photograph Collection, Library of Congress