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Since the rise of Islam, Jews have been living in the Yemen as the only non-Muslim minority. Their status, never enviable, deteriorated in the twentieth century as the Imam Yahya sought to maintain the full force of Islamic law and local custom. The attempts to create a Jewish National Home in Palestine, Arab propaganda, new economic realities and local resentments had the effect of further undermining their position. While battling to maintain their rights, the Yemenite Jews started trying to emigrate. British immigration policies in Palestine, the Imam's efforts to prevent them from leaving, and British regulations in Aden often frustrated their efforts. This movement of people was to culminate in 1948-50 in what was then the largest human airlift the world had ever seen - Operation Magic Carpet - when the Yemenites were taken 'on wings of eagles' to Israel.
About the author
Tudor V. Parfitt M.A., D.Phil. (Oxon), is Reader in Modern Jewish Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. He has published widely on Hebrew language and literature, Judaising sects and Jews in the Islamic world, including
The Jews of Palestine 1800-1882 (
Royal Historical Society, 1987).
