Yemen

The Republic of Yemen (Arabic: al-Jumhriyyah al-Yamaniyyah), commonly known as Yemen i/jmn/ (Arabic: al-Yaman), is a country located in Western Asia, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, the Gulf of Aden and Arabian Sea to the south, and Oman to the east. Its capital and largest city is Sana'a. Yemen's territory includes over 200 islands, the largest of which is Socotra, about 354 km (220 mi) to the south of mainland Yemen. It is the only state in the Arabian Peninsula to have a purely republican form of government. Yemen was the first country in the Arabian peninsula to grant women the right to vote.Yemeni unification took place on 22 May 1990, when North Yemen was united with South Yemen, forming the Republic of Yemen. The majority of Yemen's population is divided into tribal groups, especially in the northern areas of the country where 85% of local residents belong to various tribes. There are also small groups of peoples of Turkish/Ottoman and possibly Veddoid origin in urban areas. The Majority of the population are Sunni Muslims following the Shafi'i school with a large minority adhering to the Zaidiyyah Islamic jurisprudence and small minorites of Jews and Ismali Muslims.

Contents
1 Etymology 2 History

3 Geography 4 Politics 4.1 Administrative divisions 5 Foreign relations 6 Economy 7 Demographics 7.1 Religion 7.2 Health 8 Human rights 9 Languages 10 Culture 10.1 Cinema 10.2 Education 11 Sport 12 World Heritage sites 13 Yemen's jews

Etymology
One etymology derives Yemen from yamin, meaning "on the right side", as the south is on the right when facing the sunrise. Another derives Yemen from yumn, meaning "felicity", as the region is fertile. The Romans called it Arabia Felix (Happy Arabia) as opposed to Arabia Deserta (Deserted Arabia), which was their term for northern Arabia. Yemen was mentioned in Old South Arabian script as Yamnat particularly after the unification of the four dynasties of ancient Yemen by the Himyarite kings and it literally means "the south-land".

History
Yemen has long existed at the crossroads of cultures. It linked some of the oldest centres of civilization in the Near East by virtue of its location in South Arabia. Between the 12th century BC and the 6th century AD, it was home of the Minaean, Sabaean (biblical Sheba), Hadhramaut, Qataban, and Himyarite kingdoms, which controlled the lucrative spice and incense trade.The Sabaens built the 1894 feet high and 3000 feet long Marib Dam in the 8th century BC. The Sabaeans led by the priest-king Karib'il Watar I (Karib El and translated as the closest to the god El) launched a campaign in the 7th century BC to unify most of Southern Arabia and established a confederacy with the Hadramites and Qatabanis.All of the ancient South Arabian kingdoms were city states consist of various sub-tribes The lack of water in the Arabian peninsula prevented the Sabaeans from establishing a centralized government. Instead, they established various colonies to control the trade routes throughout the Arabian peninsula bordering the fertile crescentand such colonies were scattered in northern Ethiopia as well.By the late second century BC, tribal unrest broke out and the Himyarites formed a tribal confederation

that succeeded in abolishing the four dynasties transferring the "confederacy" into a centralized rule with Zafar as their capital instead of Marib.Tribal unrest rose again in the beginning of the 6th century, the last Himyarite King Joseph Dhu Nuwas was Jewish and led a military campaign against the rebellious Christian tribes which provoked the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I to send a flee and provide aid to the Kingdom of Aksum and the local Christian tribes to fight the Jewish king. Joseph Dhu Nuwas was killed in battle in 525 AD after massacring more than 22,000 Christians. The western coasts of Yemen briefly became a puppet state from 525 until 570 AD when Himyarite nobility partly regained their throne, all of those nobles were Jews. The rest of the country lost a central government and entered a phase of Feudalism until the rise of Islam. By the 7th century, Yemeni tribes converted to Islam and played a major rule during the Muslim conquest of their surroundings especially in North Africa and Spain. The Ottomans annexed Sana'a and Tihama from 1547 until they were expelled in 1630. They came back again 1872 and were faced with a stiff resistance from the Zaydi Tribes and were forced to sign a peace treaty and recognize Yahya Hamid ed-Din as the Imam of Yemen. The modern history of Yemen began in 1918 when Yemen gained full independence from the Ottoman Empire. Between 1918 and 1962, Yemen was a monarchy ruled by the Hamidaddin family. There was a brief revolution in 194748, in which Imam Yahya Muhammad Hamid ed-Din was killed. A rival sayyid family, the Alwazirs, seized power for several weeks. Backed by the al-Saud family of Saudi Arabia for the "constitutional" nature of the coup, the Hamidaddins restored their rule until 19621970 during the North Yemen Civil War when a republican Egyptian backed government overthrew the Imamate. The U.S. recognized the republic in November 14, 1962. Saudi Arabia, Britain, and Jordan provided financial and military aid to the royalist during the 6 years civil war. The republicans were eventually victorious in February 1968. The revolution in the north coincided with Aden Emergency which hastened the end of British rule on 30 November 1967, and thus the People's Republic of Yemen was proclaimed. On 22 May

1990, the two Yemens unified to form the Republic of Yemen. The 2011 Yemeni revolution followed the initial stages of the Tunisian revolution and occurred simultaneously with the 20112012 Egyptian revolution and other mass protests in the Arab world in early 2011. The uprising was initially against unemployment, economic conditions and corruption, as well as against the government's proposals to modify the constitution of Yemen. The protestors' demands then escalated to calls for President Ali Abdullah Saleh to resign. After an election, power was transferred to the vice president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Al-Hadi, for a two-year term starting in February 2012. Al-Hadi will oversee the drafting of a new constitution, followed by parliamentary and presidential elections in 2014.

Geography
Yemen is located in Western Asia, in the southern half of the Arabian Peninsula, bordering the Arabian Sea, Gulf of Aden, and the Red Sea. It lies south of Saudi Arabia and west of Oman, between latitudes 12 and 19 N and longitudes 42 and 55 E. A number of Red Sea islands, including the Hanish Islands, Kamaran, and Perim, as well as Socotra in the Arabian Sea, belong to Yemen. Many of the islands are volcanic; for example Jabal al-Tair had a volcanic eruption in 2007 and before that in 1883. At 527,970 km2 (203,850 sq mi), Yemen is the world's 50thlargest country. It is comparable in size to Thailand and larger than the U.S. state of California. Yemen is situated at 15N 48E. Until the signing of the Yemen-Saudi Arabia peace treaty in July 2000,Yemen's northern border was undefined; the Arabian Desert prevented any human habitation there. The country can be divided geographically into four main regions: the coastal plains in the west, the western highlands, the eastern highlands, and the Rub al Khali in the east. The Tihamah ("hot lands" or "hot earth") form a very arid and flat coastal plain along Yemen's entire Red Sea coastline. Despite the aridity, the presence of many lagoons

makes this region very marshy and a suitable breeding ground for malaria mosquitoes. There are extensive crescent-shaped sand dunes. The evaporation in the Tihamah is so great that streams from the highlands never reach the sea, but they do contribute to extensive groundwater reserves. Today, these are heavily exploited for agricultural use. Near the village of Madar about 48 km (30 mi) north of Sana'a, dinosaur footprints were found, indicating that the area was once a muddy flat. The Tihamah ends abruptly at the escarpment of the western highlands. This area, now heavily terraced to meet the demand for food, receives the highest rainfall in Arabia, rapidly increasing from 100 mm (3.9 in) per year to about 760 mm (29.9 in) in Ta'izz and over 1,000 mm (39.4 in) in Ibb. Agriculture here is very diverse, with such crops as sorghum dominating. Cotton and many fruit trees are also grown, with mangoes being the most valuable. Temperatures are hot in the day but fall dramatically at night. There are perennial streams in the highlands but these never reach the sea because of high evaporation in the Tihamah. The central highlands are an extensive high plateau over 2,000 metres (6,562 ft) in elevation. This area is drier than the western highlands because of rain-shadow influences but still receives sufficient rain in wet years for extensive cropping. Diurnal temperature ranges are among the highest in the world: ranges from 30 C (86 F) in the day to 0 C (32 F) at night are normal.[citation needed] Water storage allows for irrigation and the growing of wheat and barley. Sana'a is located in this region. The highest point in Yemen is Jabal an Nabi Shu'ayb, at 3,666 metres (12,028 ft). Yemen's portion of the Rub al Khali desert in the east is much lower, generally below 1,000 metres (3,281 ft), and receives almost no rain. It is populated only by Bedouin herders of camels. The growing scarcity of water is a source of increasing international concern. See Water supply and sanitation in Yemen.

Politics

As a result of the Yemeni revolution, the constitution of Yemen is expected to be rewritten, and then new elections held in 2014. The national government administers the capital and largest cities, but some other regions are outside of its grasp, governed by armed militant groups which expanded their control during the chaos of the 2011 12 uprising. The two major groups are Ansar al-Sharia (a branch or affiliate of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula), which has declared several "Islamic emirates" in the southern provinces of Abyan and Shabwah, and the Houthis, a Shiite rebel group centered in Sa'dah province. Yemen is a presidential republic with a bicameral legislature. Under the 1991 constitution, an elected President, an elected 301-seat Assembly of Representatives, and an appointed 111-member Shura Council share power. The President is the head of state, and the Prime Minister is the head of government. The 1991 constitution provides that the president be elected by popular vote from at least two candidates endorsed by at least fifteen members of the Parliament. The prime minister, in turn, is appointed by the president and must be approved by two thirds of the Parliament. The presidential term of office is seven years, and the parliamentary term of elected office is six years. Suffrage is universal for people age 18 and older, but only Muslims may hold elected office. President Ali Abdullah Saleh became the first elected President in reunified Yemen in 1999 (though he had been President of unified Yemen since 1990 and President of North Yemen since 1978). He was re-elected to office in September 2006. Saleh's victory was marked by an election that international observers judged to be "partly free", though the election was accompanied by violence, violations of press freedoms, and allegations of fraud. Parliamentary elections were held in April 2003, and the General People's Congress (GPC) maintained an absolute majority. The constitution calls for an independent judiciary. The former northern and southern legal codes have been unified. The legal system includes separate commercial courts and a Supreme Court based in Sana'a. Sharia is the

main source of laws, with many court cases being debated according to the religious basis of law and many judges being religious scholars as well as legal authorities. Administrative divisions Main article: Administrative divisions of Yemen As of February 2004, Yemen is divided into twenty governorates (muhafazat) and one municipality called "Amanat Al-Asemah" (the latter containing the capital, Sana'a)[33]

Population
'Aden Aden 589,419 634,710 1 'Amran 'Amran 877,786 909,992 2 Abyan Zinjibar 433,819 454,535 3 Ad-Dali' Ad Dali' 470,564 504,533 4 Al Bayda' Al Bayda' 577,369 605,303 5 Al Hudaydah Al-Hudaydah 2,157,552 2,300,179 6 Al Jawf Al-Jawf 443,797 465,737 7 Al-Mahrah Al-Ghaydah 88,594 96,768 8 Al-Mahwit Al-Mahweet 494,557 523,236 9 Amanat Al-Asemah Sana'a 1,747,834 1,947,139 10 Dhamar Dhamar 1,330,108 1,412,142 11 Hadhramaut Al-Mukalla 1,028,556 1,092,967 12 Hajjah Hajjah 1,479,568 1,570,872 13 Ibb Ibb 2,131,861 2,238,537 14 Lahij Lahij 722,694 761,160 15 Ma'rib Ma'rib 238,522 251,668 16 Raymah Kosmah 394,448 418,659 17 Sa'dah Sa`dah 695,033 746,957 18 Sana'a Sana'a 919,215 957,798 19 Shabwah Ataq 470,440 494,638 20 Taiz Taiz 1,121,000 2,513,003 21 The Governorates are subdivided into 333 districts (muderiah), which are subdivided into 2,210 sub-districts, and then into 38,284 villages (as of 2001).

Foreign relations

Main article: Foreign relations of Yemen The geography and ruling Imams of North Yemen kept the country isolated from foreign influence before 1962. The country's relations with Saudi Arabia were defined by the Taif Agreement of 1934, which delineated the northernmost part of the border between the two kingdoms and set the framework for commercial and other intercourse. The Taif Agreement has been renewed periodically in 20-year increments, and its validity was reaffirmed in 1995. Relations with the British colonial authorities in Aden and the south were usually tense. The Soviet and Chinese Aid Missions established in 1958 and 1959 were the first important non-Muslim presence in North Yemen. Following the September 1962 revolution, the Yemen Arab Republic became closely allied with and heavily dependent upon Egypt. Saudi Arabia aided the royalists in their attempt to defeat the Republicans and did not recognize the Yemen Arab Republic until 1970. At the same time, Saudi Arabia maintained direct contact with Yemeni tribes, which sometimes strained its official relations with the Yemeni Government. Saudi Arabia remained hostile to any form of political and social reform in Yemen and continued to provide financial support for tribal elites. In February 1989, North Yemen joined Iraq, Jordan, and Egypt in forming the Arab Cooperation Council (ACC), an organization created partly in response to the founding of the Gulf Cooperation Council and intended to foster closer economic cooperation and integration among its members. After unification, the Republic of Yemen was accepted as a member of the ACC in place of its YAR predecessor. In the wake of the Persian Gulf crisis, the ACC has remained inactive. Yemen is not a member of the Gulf Cooperation Council mainly for its republican government. Yemen is a member of the United Nations, the Arab League, and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, and also participates in the nonaligned movement. The Republic of Yemen accepted responsibility for all treaties and debts of its predecessors, the YAR and the PDRY. Yemen has acceded to the nuclear nonproliferation treaty. The invasion of Kuwait crisis in 1990 dramatically affected Yemen's foreign relations. Yemen's President, Ali Abdullah

Saleh opposed military intervention from non-Arab states. As a member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for 1990 and 1991, Yemen continued to abstain on a number of UNSC resolutions concerning Iraq and Kuwait[40] and voted against the "use of force resolution.". The vote outraged the U.S. Saleh at the Pentagon, 8 June 2004 Subsequent to the liberation of Kuwait, former president Saleh continued to maintain high-level contacts with Iraq. This hampered its efforts to rejoin the Arab mainstream and to mend fences with its immediate neighbors. Saudi Arabia actively aided the south during the 1994 civil war. Since the end of that conflict, tangible progress has been made on the diplomatic front in restoring normal relations with Yemen's neighbors. In the summer of 2000, Yemen and Saudi Arabia signed an International Border Treaty settling a 50 year old dispute over the location of the border between the two countries. Yemen settled its dispute with Eritrea over the Hanish Islands in 1998. Since 2004, a civil war has been fought in Northern Yemen between Yemeni forces and Zaydi Houthi rebels. In 2009, the war spilled over into the neighboring border region of Saudi Arabia after accusations by the Shiite rebels of providing support to salafi groups to suppress Zaydism in Yemen. Saleh's government used Al-Qaeda in its wars against Hothis, and UNDP Yemen report a growing problem of civilians fleeing from the region. Some news reports have suggested that, on orders from United States President Barack Obama, US warplanes fired cruise missiles at what officials in Washington claimed were Al Qaeda training camps in the provinces of Sanaa and Abyan on 17 December 2009. Instead of hitting Al-Qaeda operatives, it hit a village killing 55 civilians. Officials in Yemen said that the attacks claimed the lives of more than 60 civilians, 28 of them children. Another airstrike was carried out on 24 December.

On 3 January 2010, the U.S. and British embassies in Yemen closed for security reasons after the failed plot to bomb a plane in Detroit and after reports of eight individuals planning an attack on the embassy itself. One was arrested with a suicide vest, while three others were killed. Four remained at large as of 4 January 2010. Despite these tensions between the US and Yemen, as well as increasing worries about terrorism in Yemen, President Obama has stated that he has no plans to introduce US military forces into the country, a sentiment that was echoed by US General David Petraeus the US government increased military aid to $140 million in 2010.By 2012, however, under the Obama administration, there has been an increase in drone strikes against al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) in Yemen, as well as a "small contingent of U.S. special-operations troops" in addition to CIA and "unofficially acknowledged" U.S. military presence in response to increasing terror attacks by AQAP on Yemeni citizens. The Americans found that former president Saleh had been draining them. By 2006, when the U.S. decided that Yemen was no longer a threat to national security and cut foreign aid for Saleh's corruption and lack of reform, the former Yemeni leader was not pleased. A week after the U.S's decision, 23 al Qaeda suspects tunneled out of a maximum-security prison.The U.S. knew that the prisoners had had inside help. Nevertheless, al Qaeda was once again a substantial threat and over the coming months the United States was forced to redirect its attention and aid dollars to Yemen. Many analysts have pointed out the former Yemeni government role in cultivating terrorist activity in the country. in 2012 Abyan offensive, The new president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi and the Yemeni military was able to recapture the governorate. Yet, former president Saleh continue to hinder the new government effort as his sons are still running security sectors in the country The geopolitical significance of Yemen (primarily its straits and oil fields) keeps this country in the sphere of U.S. strategic interests. Control over the Aden port the "gate to Asia" brings huge benefits to the USA and opens infinite possibilities for maneuvering in front of them. However, America is not the only nation to be interested in Yemen.

China is trying hard to expand its influence in the Indian Ocean by associating with countries across the region including Yemen.

Economy
Further information: Telecommunications in Yemen, Transportation in Yemen, and Internet usage in Yemen Yemen is one of the poorest and least developed countries in the Arab World, with a formal 35% employment rate, dwindling natural resources, a young population and increasing population growth. Yemen's economy is weak compared to most countries in the Middle-East, mainly because Yemen has very small oil reserves. Yemen's economy depends heavily on the oil it produces, and its government receives the vast majority of its revenue from oil taxes. But Yemen's oil reserves are expected to be depleted by 2017, possibly bringing on economic collapse.Yemen does have large proven reserves of natural gas. Yemen's first liquified natural gas (LNG) plant began production in October 2009. Rampant corruption is a prime obstacle to development in the country, limiting local reinvestments and driving away regional and international capital. Foreign investments remain largely concentrated around the nation's hydrocarbon industry. Beginning in the mid-1950s, the Soviet Union and China provided large-scale assistance. For example, China and the United States are involved with the expansion of the Sana'a International Airport. In the south, pre-independence economic activity was overwhelmingly concentrated in the port city of Aden. The seaborne transit trade, which the port relied upon, collapsed with the closure of the Suez Canal and Britain's withdrawal from Aden in 1967. Since unification in 1990, the government has worked to integrate two relatively disparate economic systems. However, severe shocks, including the return in 1990 of approximately 850,000 Yemenis from the Persian Gulf states, a subsequent major reduction of aid flows, and internal political disputes culminating in the 1994 civil war hampered economic growth.

In the late 20th century Sana'as population grew rapidly, from roughly 55,000 in 1978 to more than 1 million in the early 21st century.Sana'a may be the first capital city in the world to run out of water. Since the conclusion of the war, the government made an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to implement a structural adjustment program. Phase one of the program included major financial and monetary reforms, including floating the currency, reducing the budget deficit, and cutting subsidies. Phase two will address structural issues such as civil service reform. In early 1995, the government of Yemen launched an economic, financial, and administrative reform program (EFARP) with the support of the World Bank and the IMF, as well as international donors. The First Five-Year Plan (FFYP) for the years 1996 to 2000 was introduced in 1996. The World Bank has focused on public sector management, including civil service reform, budget reform, and privatization. Additional priorities for the programs have become attracting diversified private investment, water management, and poverty-oriented social sector improvements. These programs had a positive impact on Yemens economy and led to the reduction of the budget deficit to less than 3% of gross domestic product (GDP) during the period 19951999 and the correction of macrofinancial imbalances. Graphical depiction of Yemen's product exports in 28 color coded categories. In 1997, IMF and the Yemeni government began mediumterm economic reform programs under the Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility (ESAF) and Extended Fund Facility (EFF). This program aimed to reduce dependence on the oil sector and to establish a market environment for real non-oil GDP growth and investment in the non-oil sector. Increasing the growth rate in the non-oil sector was one of the government's most important objectives. Programs also focused on reducing unemployment, strengthening the social safety net, and increasing financial stability. To achieve these reforms, the government and IMF

implemented containment of government wages, improvements in revenue collection with the introduction of reforms in tax administration, and a sharp reduction in subsidies bills through increased prices on subsidized goods. As a result, the fiscal cash deficit was reduced from 16% of GDP in 1994 to 0.9% in 1997. This was supported by aid from oil-exporting countries, despite the wide-ranging fluctuations in world oil prices. The real growth rate in the non-oil sector rose by 5.6% from 1995 to 1997.

Demographics

Yemeni Children in Jibla

The population of Yemen was about 24 million according to June 2011 estimates, with 46% of the population being under 15 years old and 2.7% above 65 years. In 1950, it was 4.3 million. By 2050, the population is estimated to increase to about 60 million. Yemen has a high total fertility rate, at 4.45 children per woman, it is the 30th highest in the world.Although this is lower than the rate in Somalia to the south, it is roughly twice as high as that of Saudi Arabia and nearly three times as high as those in the more modernized Persian Gulf states. Yemen's population is increasing by 700,000 every year.[citation needed] Yemenis are mainly of Arab origin.Arabic is the official language, although English is increasingly understood by citizens in major cities. In the Mahra area (the extreme east) and the island Soqotra, several ancient south-Arabic Semitic languages are spoken. When the former states of north and south Yemen were established, most resident minority groups departed. Yemen is still a largely tribal society. In the northern mountainous parts of the country live some 400 Zaydi tribes. There are also hereditary caste groups in urban areas such as Al-Akhdam tribe. Yemen officially abolished slavery in 1962.Turks arrived in the region during the Ottoman colonization process; today, there is between 10,00030,000 people of Turkish origin

still living in the country. In addition, Yemenite Jews once formed a sizable Jewish minority in Yemen with a distinct culture. They also occupied key industries including silversmiths, and their influence on Yemeni culture is still discussed within the souks. However, most of them emigrated to Israel in the mid 20th century, following the Jewish exodus from Arab lands and Operation Magic Carpet.In the early 20th century, they had numbered about 50,000; they currently number only a few hundred individuals and reside largely in Sana'a. The original Jewish village, popularly called Bait-baws, has since been left abandoned. Arab traders have long operated in Southeast Asia, trading in spices, timber, and textiles. Most of the prominent Indonesians, Malaysians, and Singaporeans of Arab descent are Hadhrami people with origins in southern Yemen in the Hadramawt coastal region. As many as 4 million Indonesians are of Hadrami descent.[citation needed] and today there are almost 10,000 Hadramis in Singapore. The Hadramis emigrated not only to Southeast Asia but also to East Africa and the Indian subcontinent. Maqil were a collection of Arab Bedouin tribes of Yemeni origin who migrated westwards via Egypt. Several groups of Yemeni Arabs turned south to Mauritania, and by the end of the 17th century, they dominated the entire country. They can also be found throughout Morocco and in Algeria as well as in other North African Countries. According to the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, Yemen hosted a population of refugees and asylum seekers numbering approximately 124,600 in 2007. Refugees and asylum seekers living in Yemen were predominantly from Somalia (110,600), Iraq (11,000), and Ethiopia (2,000). There are also about 70,000 Iraqis presently living in Yemen.United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that in 2008 more than 50,000 Somalis reached Yemen. Yemen's civil war has forced at least 175,000 Yemenis to flee their homes. The Yemeni diaspora is largely concentrated in the United Kingdom, where between 70,000 and 80,000 Yemenis reside; just over 15,000 to 20,000 Yemenis reside in the United States, and 2,000 live in France.[83] Saudi Arabia

expelled 800,000 Yemenis in 1990 and 1991 to punish Yemen for its opposition to the Gulf War against Iraq. Religion Minaret in Jibla Religion in Yemen consists primarily of two principal Islamic religious groups; 53% of the Muslim population is Sunni and 45% is Shiite according to the UNHCR.Sunnis are primarily Shafi'i but also include significant groups of Malikis and Hanbalis. Shi'is are primarily Zaidis and also have significant minorities of Twelver Shias and Musta'ali Western Isma'ili Shias (see Shia Population of the Middle East). The Sunnis are predominantly in the south and southeast. The Zaidis are predominantly in the north and northwest whilst the Ismailis are in the main centers such as Sana'a and Ma'rib. There are mixed communities in the larger cities. About 1 percent of Yemenis are non-Muslim, adhering to Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, or atheism. In the Yemenite city of Aden, there is still a significant population of Hindus. Health According to 2009 estimates, life expectancy in Yemen is 63.27 years.Despite the significant progress Yemen has made to expand and improve its health care system over the past decade, the system remains severely underdeveloped. Total expenditures on health care in 2004 constituted 5% of gross domestic product. In that same year, the per capita expenditure for health care was very low compared with other Middle Eastern countriesUS$34 per capita according to the World Health Organization. According to the World Bank, the number of doctors in Yemen rose by an average of more than 7% between 1995 and 2000, but as of 2004 there were still only three doctors per 10,000 people. In 2005 Yemen had only 6.1 hospital beds available per 10,000 persons. Health care services are particularly scarce in rural areas; only 25% of rural areas are covered by health services, compared with 80% of urban areas. Most childhood deaths are caused by illnesses for which vaccines exist or that are otherwise preventable.

Human rights in Yemen

Yemen's human rights record is seriously marred by substantial inconsistencies between its obligations under International human rights instruments (ratified by Yemen) and legal practice under the tribal law/habits. Yemen's national human rights record was presented for the first time in the Human Rights Council in Geneva under the so-called Universal Periodic Review (UPR) between May and September 2009. Yemen accepted over one hundred recommendations by Council Members. While it promised to achieve progress on the establishment of a national Human Rights Commission and on legislation setting a minimum age for marriages (still highly controversial within the Yemeni tribal society), it squarely rejected the abolition of the death penalty. The government and its security forces, often considered to suffer from rampant corruption, have been responsible for torture, inhumane treatment, and extrajudicial executions. There are arbitrary arrests of citizens, especially in the south, as well as arbitrary searches of homes. Prolonged pretrial detention is a serious problem, and judicial corruption, inefficiency, and executive interference undermine due process. Freedom of speech, the press, and religion are all restricted. Human Rights Watch reported on discrimination and violence against women as well as on the abolition of the minimum marriage age of fifteen for women. The onset of puberty (interpreted by some to be as low as the age of nine) was set as a requirement for marriage instead.Publicity about the case of ten-year old Yemeni divorcee Nujood Ali brought the child marriage issue to the fore not only in Yemen but worldwide. Forms of hostile prejudice directed towards disabled people and religious minorities have also been reported. Censorship is actively practiced, and in 2005 legislation was passed requiring journalists to reveal their sources under certain circumstances. The government has raised the start-up costs for newspapers and websites significantly. In violation of the Yemeni constitution, the security forces often monitor telephone, postal, and Internet communications. Journalists who tend to be critical of the

government are often harassed and threatened by the police. Since the start of the Sa'dah insurgency many people accused of supporting Al-Houthi have been arrested and held without charge or trial. According to the U.S. State Department International Religious Freedom Report 2007, "Some Zaydis reported harassment and discrimination by the Government because they were suspected of sympathizing with the al-Houthis. However, it appears the Government's actions against the group were probably politically, not religiously, motivated". The U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants reported several violations of refugee and asylum seekers' rights in the organization's 2008 World Refugee Survey. Yemeni authorities reportedly deported numerous foreigners without giving them access to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, despite the UNs repeated requests. Refugees further reported violence directed against them by Yemeni authorities while living in refugee camps. Yemeni officials reportedly raped and beat campbased refugees with impunity in 2007.

Languages
The official language is Modern Standard Arabic. Yemeni Arabic is spoken in several regional dialects. Yemen is one of the main homelands of the South Semitic family of languages, which includes the non-Arabic language of the ancient Hemiari. Its modern Yemeni descendants speak modern standard Arabic like many other Arab countries. Foreign language in public schools is taught from grade seven onwards, though the quality of public school instruction is low. Private schools using a British or American system teach English and produce proficient speakers, but Arabic is the dominant language of communication. The number of English speakers in Yemen is small compared to other Arab countries such as Egypt, Lebanon, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia. There is a significant number of Russian speakers, originating from Yemeni-Russian cross-marriages occurring mainly in the 1970s and 1980s. A small Vietnamese-

speaking community is found in the capital city of Sana'a, originating from Yemeni immigrants expatriated from Vietnam after the Vietnam War in the 1970s. A small yet rising number of ethnic Chinese in Sana'a brought the Chinese language to the country, a byproduct of historic Chinese immigration. Also there are South Asian Languages spoken by the small but present South Asian community, most notably Hindi, Urdu, Malayalam and Marathi languages. Culture The National Museum in Sana'a Yemen is a culturally rich country with influence from many civilizations, such as the early civilization of Sheba. Cinema The Yemeni film industry is in its early stages; only two Yemeni films have been released as of 2008. In 2005, A New Day in Old Sana'a deals with a young man struggling between whether to go ahead with a traditional marriage or go with the woman he loves. Dance in Sa'dah, northwestern Yemen. In August 2008, Yemens Interior Minister Mutahar al-Masri supported the launch of a new feature film to educate the public about the consequences of Islamist extremism. The Losing Bet was produced by Fadl al-Olfi. The plot follows two Yemeni jihadis, who return from years living abroad.

Education
Main article: Education in Yemen In the strategic vision for the next 25 years since 2000, the government has committed to bring significant changes in the education system, thereby reducing illiteracy to less than 10% by 2025. Although Yemens government provides for universal, compulsory, free education for children ages six through 15, the U.S. Department of State reports that compulsory attendance is not enforced. The government developed the National Basic Education Development Strategy in 2003 that aimed at providing education to 95%

of Yemeni children between the ages of six and 14 years and also at decreasing the gap between males and females in urban and rural areas. A seven year project to improve gender equity and the quality and efficiency of secondary education, focusing on girls in rural areas, was approved by the World Bank in March 2008. Following this, Yemen has increased its education spending from 4.5% of GDP in 1995 to 9.6% in 2005.

SPORTS
Football is the most popular sport in Yemen. The Yemen national football team competes in the FIFA and the AFC leagues. The country also hosts many football clubs that compete in the national or international leagues. Yemen's mountains provide many opportunities for outdoor sports, such as biking, rock climbing, hill climbing, skiing, hiking, mountain jumping, and more challenging mountain climbing. Mountain climbing and hiking tours to the Sarawat Mountains and the Jabal an Nabi Shu'ayb, including the 5,000 m peaks in the region, are seasonally organized by local and international alpine agencies. The coast of Yemen and Socotra island also provide many opportunities for water sports, such as surfing, bodyboarding, sailing, swimming, and scuba diving. Socotra island is home to one of the best surfing destinations in the world. Camel jumping is popular among the Zaraniq tribe on the west coast of Yemen on the desert plain by the Red Sea. Camels are rounded up and placed side to side. Athletes jump from a running start to achieve height and length in the air. The jumpers train year round for competitions. Tribesmen tuck their robes around their waists to reduce impediment while running and leaping. Yemen's biggest sports event was hosting the 2010 Gulf Cup of Nations in Aden and Abyan in the southern part of the country on 22 November 2010. Yemen was thought to

be the strongest competitor, but was defeated in the first three matches of the tournament. The Yemeni national team has never won a championship, though it includes many renowned Arab players. Among Yemens natural and cultural attractions are four World Heritage sites. The Old Walled City of Shibam in Wadi Hadhramaut, inscribed by UNESCO in 1982, two years after Yemen joined the World Heritage Committee, is nicknamed "Manhattan of the Desert" because of its "skyscrapers." Surrounded by a fortified wall made of mud and straw, the 16th-century city is one of the oldest examples of urban planning based on the principle of vertical construction. The ancient Old City of Sanaa, at an altitude of more than 7,000 feet (2,100 m), has been inhabited for over two and a half millennia and was inscribed in 1986. Sanaa became a major Islamic centre in the 7th century, and the 103 mosques, 14 hammams (traditional bath houses), and more than 6,000 houses that survive all date from before the 11th century. Close to the Red Sea Coast, the Historic Town of Zabid, inscribed in 1993, was Yemens capital from the 13th to the 15th century, and is an archaeological and historical site. It played an important role for many centuries because of its university, which was a center of learning for the whole Arab and Islamic world. Algebra is said to have been invented there in the early 9th century by the little-known scholar Al-Jazari. The latest addition to Yemens list of World Heritage Sites is the Socotra Archipelago. Mentioned by Marco Polo in the 13th century, this remote and isolated archipelago consists of four islands and two rocky islets delineating the southern limit of the Gulf of Aden. The site has a rich biodiversity. Nowhere else in the world do 37% of Socotras 825 plants, 90% of its reptiles and 95% of its snails occur. It is home to 192 bird species, 253 species of coral, 730 species of coastal fish, and 300 species of crab and lobster, as well as a range of Aloes and the Dragons Blood Tree (Dracaena cinnabari). The cultural heritage of Socotra includes the unique Soqotri language.

Yemenite Jews
Yemenite Jews

Yisrael Yeshayahu Boaz Mauda Shahar Tzuberi Amnon Yitzhak Ofra Haza Achinoam Nini Total population c.350,000[citation needed] Regions with significant populations Yemen c. 500 Israel c. 300.000 USA c. 30.000 Britania c. 500 Languages Hebrew, Arabic

Religion Judaism Related ethnic groups Mizrahi Jews, Sephardi Jews, Knanaya Part of a series on Jews and Judaism

Etymology

Who is a Jew? Jewish peoplehood Jewish identity

Religion[show] Texts[show] Communities[show] Population[show] Denominations[show] Culture[show] Languages[show] History[show] Politics[show] Category Portal WikiProject

Yemenite Jews(Hebrew: , Standard Temanim Tiberian Tmnm ; singular , Standard Temani Tiberian Tmn) are thoseJews who live, or whose recent ancestors lived, in Yemen ( , Standard Teman Tiberian Tmn; "far south"). Between June 1949 and September 1950, the overwhelming majority of Yemen's Jewish population was transported to Israel in Operation Magic Carpet. Most Yemenite Jews now live in Israel, with some others in the United States, and fewer elsewhere. Only a handful remain in Yemen, mostly elderly. Yemenite Jews have a unique religious tradition that marks them out as separate from Ashkenazi, Sephardi and other Jewish groups. It is debatable[by whom?] whether they should be described as "Mizrahi Jews", as most other Mizrahi groups have over the last few centuries undergone a process of total or partial assimilation to Sephardic culture and liturgy. (While the Shami sub-group of Yemenite Jews did adopt a Sephardic-influenced rite, this was for theological reasons and did not reflect a demographic or cultural shift). 1 Contents 1 Early history 2 Jewish - Muslim relationship in Yemen through time o 2.1 Yemenite Jews and Maimonides o 2.2 19th-century Yemenite messianic movements 3 Religious traditions o 3.1 Weddings and marriage traditions 4 Religious groups o 4.1 Dor Daim and Iqshim dispute 5 Form of Hebrew

6 Writings 7 DNA testing 8 Emigration of communities to Israel o 8.1 First wave of emigration: 1881 to 1914 o 8.2 The second wave of emigration: 1920 to 1950 8.2.1 Missing Yemenite children in Israel 9 Present situation o 9.1 Participation in Israeli Culture o 9.2 Prayer books o 9.3 Other works 10 See also 11 External links 12 References
o

12.1 Endnotes

[edit]Early history

Portrait of Joseph Dhu Nuwas The Jewish presence in Yemen is old and it is subject to many conflicting stories. One legend suggests that King Solomon sent Jewish merchant marines to Yemen to

prospect for gold and silver with which to adorn the Temple in Jerusalem [1] In 1881, the French vice consulate in Yemen wrote to the leaders of the Alliance in France, that he read a book of the Arab historian Abu-Alfada, that the Jews of Yemen settled in the area in 1451 BC [2] Another legend says that Yemeni tribes converted to Judaism after the Queen of Sheba's visit to king Solomon [3] The Sanaite Jews have a legend that their ancestors settled in Yemen forty-two years before the destruction of the First Temple. It is said that under the prophetJeremiah some 75,000 Jews, including priests and Levites, traveled to Yemen.[4] Another legend states that when Ezra commanded the Jews to return to Jerusalem they disobeyed, whereupon he pronounced a ban upon them. According to this legend, as a punishment for this hasty action Ezra was denied burial in Israel. As a result of this local tradition, which can not be validated historically, it is said that no Jew of Yemen gives the name of Ezra to a child, although all other Biblical appellatives are used. The Yemenite Jews claim that Ezra cursed them to be a poor people for not heeding his call. This seems to have come true in the eyes of some Yemenites, as Yemen is extremely poor. However, some Yemenite sages in Israel today emphatically reject this story as myth, if not outright blasphemy.[5] These are merely legends with minimal archaeological evidence to support. Archaeological records referring to Judaism in Yemen started to appear during the rule of Himyarite Kingdom [6] Various inscription in Musnad script in the second century AD referring to constructions of synagogues approved by Himyarite Kings[7] The Jews became especially numerous and powerful in the southern part of Arabia, a rich and fertile land of incense and spices and a way station on the routes to Africa, India, and the Orient. The tribes in Yemen did not oppose Jewish presence in their country [8] By 516, tribal unrest broke out and several tribal elites fought for power, one of those elites was Joseph Dhu Nuwas or "Yousef Asa'ar" as mentioned in ancient south Arabian inscriptions. Yousef was

Jewish [9] Syriac and Byzantium sources claim that he fought his way because Christians in Yemen refused to denounce Christianity which is unlikely because Judaism in not missionary in nature, and it is believed that Syriac sources were reflecting a great deal of hatred toward Jews [10] In any case, inscriptions documented by Yousef himself shows the great pride he expressed after massacring more than 22,000 Christian in Zafarand Najran[11] Byzantium empror Justinian I sent a flee to Yemen and Joseph Dhu Nuwas was killed in battle in 525 AD [12] western coasts of Yemen became a puppet state until a himyarite nobility managed to drive out the occupiers completely and those nobles were Jews as well [13]
3

[edit]Jewish - Muslim relationship in Yemen through time The neutrality of this article is disputed. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved. (August 2012)

As Ahl al-Kitab, protected Peoples of the Scriptures, the Jews were assured freedom of religion only in exchange for the jizya, payment of a poll tax imposed on certain nonMuslim monotheists (people of the Book). Active Muslim persecution of the Jews did not gain full force until the Shiite-Zaydi clan seized power, from the more tolerant Sunni Muslims, early in the 10th century.[14] As the only visible "outsiders" (though their presence in Yemen predated the introduction and mass conversion of the population to Islam)[citation needed] the Jews of Yemen were treated as pariahs, second-class citizens who needed to be perennially reminded of their submission or conversion to the ruling Islamic faith. The Zaydi enforced a statute known as the Orphan's Decree, anchored in their own 18th century legal interpretations and enforced at the end of that century. It obligated the Zaydi state to take under its protection and to educate in Islamic ways any dhimmi (i.e. non-Muslim) child whose parents had died when he or she

was a minor. The Orphan's Decree was ignored during the Ottoman rule (18721918), but was renewed during the period of Imam Yahya (19181948).[15] Under the Zaydi rule, the Jews were considered to be impure, and therefore forbidden to touch a Muslim or a Muslim's food. They were obligated to humble themselves before a Muslim, to walk to the left side, and greet him first. They could not build houses higher than a Muslim's or ride a camel or horse, and when riding on a mule or a donkey, they had to sit sideways. Upon entering the Muslim quarter a Jew had to take off his foot-gear and walk barefoot. If attacked with stones or fists by Islamic youth, a Jew was not allowed to defend himself. In such situations he had the option of fleeing or seeking intervention by a merciful Muslim passerby.[16] The Jews of Yemen had expertise in a wide range of trades normally avoided by Zaydi Muslims. Trades such as silversmithing, blacksmiths, repairing weapons and tools, weaving, pottery, masonry, carpentry, shoe making, and tailoring were occupations that were exclusively taken by Jews. The division of labor created a sort of covenant, based on mutual economic and social dependency, between the Zaydi Muslim population and the Jews of Yemen. The Muslims produced and supplied food, and the Jews supplied all manufactured products and services that the Yemeni farmers needed.[citation needed]
4

[edit]Yemenite Jews and Maimonides

Yemenite Jews have lived principally in Aden (200), Sana (10,000), Sada (1,000), Dhamar (1,000), and the desert of Beda (2,000). Other significant Jewish communities in Yemen were based in the south central highlands in the cities of: Taiz (the birthplace of one of the most famous of Yemenite Jewish spiritual leaders, Mori Salem Al-Shabazzi Mashtaw), Ba'dan, and other cities and towns in the Shar'ab region. Yemenite Jews were chiefly artisans, including gold-, silver- and blacksmiths in the

San'a area, and coffee merchants in the south central highland areas.
5

[edit]19th-century Yemenite messianic movements

During this period messianic expectations were very intense among the Jews of Yemen (and among many Arabs as well). The three pseudo-messiahs of this period, and their years of activity, are:

Shukr Kuhayl I (186165) Shukr Kuhayl II (186875) Joseph Abdallah (188893)

According to the Jewish traveler Jacob Saphir, the majority of Yemenite Jews during his visit of 1862 entertained belief in the messianic proclamations of Shukr Kuhayl I. Earlier Yemenite messiah claimants included the anonymous 12thcentury messiah who was the subject of Maimonides' famous Iggeret Teman, the messiah of Bayhan (c.1495), and Suleiman Jamal (c.1667), in what Lenowitz[17] regards as a unified messiah history spanning 600 years.
6

[edit]Religious traditions

1914 photograph of a Yemenite Jew in traditional vestments.

Yemenite Jews and the Aramaic speaking Kurdish Jews[18] are the only communities who maintain the tradition of reading the Torah in the synagogue in both Hebrew and the Aramaic Targum ("translation"). Some non-Yemenite synagogues have a specified person called a Baal Koreh, who reads from the Torah scroll when congregants are called to the Torah scroll for an aliyah. In the Yemenite tradition each person called to the Torah scroll for an aliyah reads for himself. Children under the age of Bar Mitzvah are often given the sixth aliyah. Each verse of the Torah read in Hebrew is followed by the Aramaic translation, usually chanted by a child. Both the sixth aliyah and the Targum have a simplified melody, distinct from the general Torah melody used for the other aliyot. Like most other Jewish communities, Yemenite Jews chant different melodies for Torah, Prophets (Haftara), Megillat Aicha (Book of Lamentations), Kohelet (Ecclesiastes, read during Sukkot), and Megillat Esther (the Scroll of Esther read on Purim). Unlike in Ashkenazic communities, there are melodies for Mishle (Proverbs) and Psalms.[19] Every Yemenite Jew knew how to read from the Torah Scroll with the correct pronunciation and tune, exactly right in every detail. Each man who was called up to the Torah read his section by himself. All this was possible because children right from the start learned to read without any vowels. have a specified person called a Baal Koreh, who reads from the Torah scroll when congregants are called to the Torah scroll for an aliyah. In the Yemenite tradition each person called to the Torah scroll for an aliyah reads for himself. Children under the age of Bar Mitzvah are often given the sixth aliyah. Each verse of the Torah read in Hebrew is followed by the Aramaic translation, usually chanted by a child. Both the sixth aliyah and the Targum have a simplified melody, distinct from the general Torah melody used for the other aliyot. Their diction is much more correct than the Sephardic and Ashkenazic dialect. The results of their education

are outstanding, for example if someone is speaking with his neighbor and needs to quote a verse from the Bible, he speaks it out by heart, without pause or effort, with its melody.[20] In larger Jewish communities, such as Sana'a and Sad'a, boys were sent to the Ma'lamed at the age of three to begin their religious learning. They attended the Ma'lamed from early dawn to sunset Sunday through Thursday and until noon on Friday. Jewish women were required to have a thorough knowledge of the laws pertaining to Kashrut and Taharat Mishpachah (family purity) i.e. Niddah. Some women even mastered the laws of Shechita, thereby acting as ritual slaughterers. People also sat on the floors of synagogues instead of chairs, similar to the way many other non-Ashkenazi Jews sat in synagogues. This is in accordance with what Rambam (Maimonides) wrote in his Mishneh Torah: "We are to practise respect in synagogues... and all of the People of Israel in Spain, and in the West, and in the area of Iraq, and in the Land of Israel, are accustomed to light lanterns in the synagogues, and to lay out mats on the ground, in order to sit upon them. But in the cities of Edom (portions of Europe), there they sit on chairs." - Hilchot Tefila 11:5 In larger Jewish communities, such as Sana'a and Sad'a, boys were sent to the Ma'lamed at the age of three to begin their religious learning. They attended the Ma'lamed from early dawn to sunset Sunday through Thursday and until noon on Friday. Jewish women were required to have a thorough knowledge of the laws pertaining to Kashrut and Taharat Mishpachah (family purity) i.e. Niddah. Some women even mastered the laws "..and because of this (prostration) all of Israel is accustomed to lay mats in their synagogues on the stone floors, or types of straw and hay, to separate between their faces and the stones."

- Hilchot Avodah Zarah 6:7 The lack of chairs may also have been to provide more space for prostration, another ancient Jewish observance that the Jews of Yemen continued to practise until very recent times.[21] There are still a few Yemenite Jews who prostrate themselves during the part of every-day Jewish prayer called Tachanun (Supplication), though such individuals usually do so in privacy. In the small Jewish community that exists today in Bet Harash Prostration is still done during the tachnun prayer. Jews of European origin generally prostrate only during certain portions of special prayers during Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year) and Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement). Prostration was a common practise amongst all Jews until some point during the late Middle Ages or Renaissance period. Like Yemenite Jewish homes, the synagogues in Yemen had to be lower in height than the lowest mosque in the area. In order to accommodate this, synagogues were built into the ground to give them more space without looking large from the outside. In some parts of Yemen, minyanim would often just meet in homes of Jews instead of the community having a separate building for a synagogue. Beauty and artwork were saved for the ritual objects in the synagogue and in the home. Yemenite Jews also wore a distinctive tallit often found to this day. The Yemenite tallit features a wide atara and large corner patches, embellished with silver or gold thread, and the fringes along the sides of the tallit are netted. According to the Baladi

custom, the tzitzits are tied with chulyot, based on the Rambam.
7 [edit]Weddings and marriage traditions

A bride in traditional Yemenite Jewish bridal vestment, in Israel 1958. During a Yemenite Jewish wedding, the bride is bedecked with jewelry and wears the traditional wedding costume of Yemenite Jews. Her elaborate headdress is decorated with flowers and rue leaves, which are believed to ward off evil. Gold threads are woven into the fabric of her clothing. Songs are sung as a central part of a seven-day wedding celebration and their lyrics often tell of friendship and love in alternating verses of Hebrew and Arabic.[22] Yemenite and other Eastern Jewish communities also perform a henna ceremony, an ancient ritual with Bronze Age origins,[23] a few weeks or days before the wedding. In the ceremony the bride and her guests hands and feet are decorated in intricate designs with a cosmetic paste derived from the henna plant. [24] After the paste has remained on the skin for up to two hours it is removed and leaves

behind a deep orange stain that fades after two to three weeks. Yemenites, like other Middle Eastern and North African Jewish communities, had a special affinity for Henna due to biblical and Talmudic references. Henna, in the Bible, is Camphire, and is mentioned in the Song of Solomon, as well as in the Talmud. "My Beloved is unto me as a cluster of Camphire in the vineyards of En-Gedi" Song of Solomon, 1:14 Rashi, a Jewish scholar from 11th c France, interpreted this passage that the clusters of henna flowers were a metaphor for forgiveness and absolution, showing that God forgave those who tested Him (the Beloved) in the desert. Henna was grown as a hedgerow around vineyards to hold soil against wind erosion in Israel as it was in other countries. A henna hedge with dense thorny branches protected a vulnerable, valuable crop such as a vineyard from hungry animals. The hedge, which protected and defended the vineyard, also had clusters of fragrant flowers. This would imply a metaphor for henna of a "beloved", who defends, shelters, and delights his lover. In the first millennium BCE, in Canaanite Israel, henna was closely associated with human sexuality and love, and the divine coupling of goddess and consort.[25] A Yemenite Jewish wedding custom specific only to the community of Aden is the Talbis, revolving around the groom. A number of special songs are sung by the men while holding candles, and the groom is dressed in a golden garment.[26]

[edit]Religious groups

Elderly Yemenite Jew, between 1898 and 1914.

Yemenite Jew in Jerusalem, late 19th century.

Yemenite Jew sounding the Shofar in a photograph from the 1930s. The three main groups of Yemenite Jews are the Baladi, Shami, and the Maimonideans or "Rambamists".

The differences between these groups largely concern the respective influence of the original Yemenite tradition, which was largely based on the works ofMaimonides, and of the Kabbalistic tradition embodied in the Zohar and the school of Isaac Luria, which was increasingly influential from the 17th century on.
The

Baladi Jews (from Arabic balad, country) generally follow the legal rulings of the Rambam (Maimonides) as codified in his work the Mishneh Torah. Their liturgy was developed by a rabbi known as the Maharitz (Mori Ha-Rav Yihye Tzalahh), in an attempt to break the deadlock between the pre-existing followers of Maimonides and the new followers of the mystic, Isaac Luria. It substantially follows the older Yemenite tradition, with only a few concessions to the usages of the Ari. A Baladi Jew may or may not accept the Kabbalah theologically: if he does, he regards himself as following Luria's own advice that every Jew should follow his ancestral tradition.
The

Shami Jews (from Arabic ash-Sham, the north, referring to Palestine or Damascus) represent those who accepted the Zohar in the 17th century and modified their siddur (prayer book) to accommodate the usages of the Ari to the maximum extent. The text of their siddur largely follows theSephardic tradition, though the pronunciation, chant and customs are still Yemenite in flavour. They generally

base their legal rulings both on the Rambam (Maimonides) and on the Shulchan Aruch (Code of Jewish Law). In their interpretation of Jewish law Shami Yemenite Jews were strongly influenced by Syrian Sephardi Jews, though on some issues they rejected the later European codes of Jewish law, and instead followed the earlier decisions of Maimonides. Most Yemenite Jews living today follow the Shami customs. The Shami rite was always more prevalent, even 50 years ago.[27] "Rambamists" are followers of, or to some extent influenced by, the Dor Daim movement, and are strict followers of Talmudic law as compiled byMaimonides, aka "Rambam". They are regarded as a subdivision of the Baladi Jews, and claim to preserve the Baladi tradition in its pure form. They generally reject the Zohar and Lurianic Kabbalah altogether. Many of them object to terms like "Rambamist". In their eyes, they are simply following the most ancient preservation of Torah, which (according to their research) was recorded in the Mishneh Torah. 9 [edit]Dor Daim and Iqshim dispute Towards the end of the 19th century new ideas began to reach Yemenite Jews from abroad. Hebrew newspapers began to arrive, and relations developed with Sephardic Jews, who came to Yemen from various Ottoman provinces to trade with the army and government officials.
The

Two Jewish travelers, Joseph Halvy, a French-trained Jewish Orientalist, and Edward Glaser, an Austrian-Jewish astronomer, in particular had a strong influence on a group of young Yemenite Jews, the most outstanding of whom was Rabbi Yiyah Qafi. As a result of his contact with Halvy and Glaser, Qafi introduced modern content into the educational system. Qafi opened a new school and, in addition to traditional subjects, introduced arithmetic, Hebrew and Arabic, with the grammar of both languages. The curriculum also included subjects such as natural science, history, geography, astronomy, sports and Turkish.
[28]

The Dor Daim and Iqshim dispute about the Zohar literature broke out in 1913, inflamed Sana'a's Jewish community, and split into two rival groups, that maintained separate communal institutions until the late 1940s. Rabbi Qafi and his friends were the leaders of a group of Maimonideans called Dor Daim(the "generation of knowledge"). Their goal was to bring Yemenite Jews back to the original Maimonidean method of understanding Judaism that existed in pre-17th century Yemen. Similar to certain Spanish and Portuguese Jews (Western Sephardi Jews), the Dor Daim rejected the Zohar, a book of esoteric mysticism. They felt that the Kabbalah based on the Zohar was irrational, alien, and inconsistent with the true reasonable nature of Judaism. In 1913, when it seemed that Rabbi Qafi, then headmaster of the

new Jewish school and working closely with the Ottoman authorities, enjoyed sufficient political support, the Dor Daim made its views public and tried to convince the entire community to accept them. Many of the non-Dor Dai elements of the community rejected the Dor Dai concepts. The opposition, the Iqshim, headed by Rabbi Yaya Yiaq, the Hakham Bashi, refused to deviate from the accepted customs and the study of Zohar. One of the Iqshim's targets in the fight against Rabbi Qafi was his modern Turkish-Jewish school.[28] Due to the Dor Daim and Iqshim dispute, the school closed 5 years after it was opened, before the educational system could develop a reserve of young people who had been exposed to its ideas.[29]
10

[edit]Form of Hebrew

Main article: Yemenite Hebrew There are two main pronunciations of Yemenite Hebrew, considered by many scholars to be the most accurate modern day form of Biblical Hebrew, although there are technically a total of five that relate to the regions of Yemen. In the Yemenite dialect, all Hebrew letters have a distinct sound, except for the letters smekh and n. The Sanaani Hebrewpronunciation (used by the majority) has been indirectly critiqued by Saadia Gaon since it contains the Hebrew letters jimmel and guf, which he rules is incorrect. There are Yemenite scholars, such as Rabbi Ratzon Arusi, who say that such a perspective is a misunderstanding of Saadia Gaon's words.

Chart 1[30] [31] Pronunciation Chart 2

Pronunciation

Rabbi Mazuz postulates this hypothesis through the Jerban (Tunisia) Jewish dialect's use of gimmel and quf, switching to jimmel and guf when talking with Gentiles in the Arabic dialect of Jerba. Some feel that the Shar'abi pronunciation of Yemen is more accurate and similar to the Babylonian dialect since they both use a gimmel and quf instead of thejimmel and guf.[32] While Jewish boys learned Hebrew since the age of 3, it was used primarily as a liturgical and scholarly language. In daily life, Yemenite Jews spoke in regional Judeo-Arabic.
11

[edit]Writings

Manuscript page from Yemenite Midrash ha-Gadol on Genesis. The oldest Yemenite manuscripts are those of the Hebrew Bible, which the Yemenite Jews call "Taj" ("crown"). The oldest texts dating from the 9th century, and each of them has a short Masoretic introduction, while many contain Arabic commentaries.
[33]

Yemenite Jews were acquainted with the works of Saadia Gaon, Rashi, Kimhi, Nahmanides, Yehudah ha Levy and

Isaac Arama, besides producing a number of exegetes from among themselves. In the 14th century Nathanael ben Isaiah wrote an Arabic commentary on the Bible; in the second half of the 15th century Saadia ben David al-Adani was the author of a commentary on Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Abraham ben Solomon wrote on the Prophets. Among the midrash collections from Yemen mention should be made of the Midrash haGadol of David bar Amram al-'Adani. Between 1413 and 1430 the physician Yaya Zechariah b. Solomon wrote a compilation entitled "Midrash ha-efe," which included the Pentateuch, Lamentations, Book of Esther, and other sections of the Hebrew Bible. Between 1484 and 1493 David alLawani composed his "Midrash al-Wajiz alMughni."[34] Among the Yemenite poets who wrote Hebrew and Arabic hymns modeled after the Spanish school, mention may be made of Yaya al-Dhahri and the members of the Al-Shabbezi family. A single non-religious work, inspired by ariri, was written in 1573 by Zechariah ben Saadia (identical with the Yaya al-Dhahri mentioned above), under the title "Sefer ha-Musar." The philosophical writers include: Saadia b. Jabe and Saadia b. Mas'ud, both at the beginning of the 14th century; Ibn al-awas, the author of a treatise in the form of a dialogue written in rimed prose, and termed by its author the "Flower of Yemen"; asan al-Dhamari; and Joseph ha-Levi b. Jefes, who wrote the

philosophical treatises "Ner Yisrael" (1420) and "Kitab al-Masaah."[35]

12

[edit]DNA testing

DNA testing between Yemenite Jews and various other of the world's Jewish communities shows a common link, with most communities sharing similar paternal genetic profiles. Furthermore, the Ychromosome signatures of the Yemenite Jews are also similar to those of other Middle Eastern populations.[36] Despite their long-term residence in different countries and isolation from one another, most Jewish populations were not significantly different from one another at the genetic level. The results support the hypothesis that the paternal gene pools of Jewish communities from Europe, North Africa and the Middle East descended from a common Middle Eastern ancestral population, and suggest that most Jewish communities have remained relatively isolated from neighboring non-Jewish communities during and after the Diaspora.[37] It can be said that the Jewish communities of southern Arabia in terms of their origin are not homogeneous. Locals, that Jewish Yemenis, . Immigrants came from the same areasLand of Israel, Babylon, Iran, Egypt, Syria and Sp ain and North Africa. They completed the community manager and the Jewish customs in the country. Information on the circumstances and the context of time let the settlements of Jews in the South Arabian space not is dependent on the interpretation of oral traditions.Yemenite Jews descend from

Israelites. North African Jewish and Kurdish Jewish paternal lineages come from Israelites. Jewish Y-DNA tends to come from the Middle East, and that studies that take into account mtDNA show that many Jewish populations are related to neighboring non-Jewish groups maternally. All existing studies fail to compare modern Jewish populations' DNA to ancient Judean DNA and medieval Khazarian DNA, but in the absence of old DNA, comparisons with living populations appear to be adequate to trace geographic roots [38]
13

[edit]Emigration of communities to

Israel There were two major centers of population for Jews in southern Arabia besides the Jews of Northern Yemen, one in Aden and the other in Hadramaut. The Jews of Aden lived in and around the city, and flourished during the British protectorate. The Jews of Hadramaut lived a much more isolated life, and the community was not known to the outside world until the early 20th century. In the early 20th century they had numbered about 50,000; they currently number only a few hundred individuals and reside largely in Sa'dah and Rada'a. [edit]First wave of emigration: 1881 to 1914
14

Emigration from Yemen to Palestine began in 1881 and continued almost without interruption until 1914. It was during this time that about 10% of the

Yemenite Jews left. Due to the changes in the Ottoman Empire citizens could move more freely and in 1869 travel was improved with the opening of the Suez Canal, which reduced the travel time from Yemen to Palestine. Certain Yemenite Jews interpreted these changes and the new developments in the "Holy Land" as heavenly signs that the time of redemption was near. By settling in Israel they would be a part in what they believed could precipitate the anticipated messianic era. From 1881 to 1882 a few hundred Jews left Sanaa and several nearby settlements. This wave was followed by other Jews from central Yemen who continued to move into Palestine until 1914. The majority of these groups moved into Jerusalem and Jaffa. Before World War I there was another wave that began in 1906 and continued until 1914. Hundreds of Yemenite Jews made their way to Palestine and chose to settle in the agricultural settlements. It was after these movements that the World Zionist Organization sent Shmuel Yavne'eli to Yemen to encourage Jews to emigrate to Palestine. Yavne'eli reached Yemen at the beginning of 1911 and returned to Palestine in April 1912. Due to Yavne'eli's efforts about 1,000 Jews left central and southern Yemen with several hundred more arriving before 1914.[39] [edit]The second wave of emigration: 1920 to 1950
15

Yemenite Jews en route from Aden to Israel. In 1922, the government of Yemen, under Imam Yahya reintroduced an ancient Islamic law entitled the "orphans decree". The law dictated that, if a Jewish boy or girl under the age of twelve was orphaned, they were to be forcibly converted to Islam, their connection to their family and community was to be severed and they had to be handed over to a Muslim foster family. The rule was based on the law that the prophet Mohammed is "the father of the orphans," and on the fact that the Jews in Yemen were considered "under protection" and the ruler was obligated to care for them.[40] A prominent example is Abdul Rahman al-Iryani, the President of the Yemen Arab Republic who was alleged to be of Jewish descent by Dorit Mizrahi, a writer in the Israeli ultra-Orthodox weekly Mishpaha. She claimed to be his niece due to his being her mother's brother. According to her recollection of events, he was born Zekharia Hadad in 1910 to a Yemenite Jewish family in Ibb. He lost his parents in a major disease epidemic at the age of eight and together with his 5-

year-old sister, was forcibly converted to Islam and put under the care of separate foster families. He was raised in the powerful al-Iryani family and adopted an Islamic name. al-Iryani would later serve as minister of religious endowments under northern Yemen's first national government and became the only civilian to have led northern Yemen.[40][41] However, yemenionline, an online newspaper claimed to have conducted several interviews with several members of the al-Iryani family and residents of Iryan, and allege that this claim of Jewish descent is merely a "fantasy" started in 1967 by Haolam Hazeh, an Israeli tabloid. It states that Zekharia Haddad is in fact, Abdul Raheem al-Haddad, AlIryani's foster brother and bodyguard who died in 1980.Abdul Raheem is survived by tens of sons and grandsons.
[42]

The most part of both communities emigrated to Israel after the declaration of the state. The State of Israel in beginning of 1948 initiated Operation Magic Carpet and airlifted most of Yemen's Jews to Israel. In 1947, after the partition vote of the British Mandate of Palestine, Arab Muslim rioters, assisted by the local police force, engaged in a bloody pogrom in Aden that killed 82 Jews and destroyed hundreds of Jewish homes. Aden's Jewish community was economically paralyzed, as most of the Jewish stores and businesses were

destroyed. Early in 1948, the unfounded rumour of the ritual murder of two girls led to looting.[43] This increasingly perilous situation led to the emigration of virtually the entire Yemenite Jewish community between June 1949 and September 1950 in Operation Magic Carpet. During this period, over 50,000 Jews emigrated to Israel. Operation Magic Carpet (Yemen) began in June 1949 and ended in September 1950.[44] Part of the operation happened during the Israeli war of independence (30 November 1947 20 July 1949) and the 1948 Arab-Israeli War (15 May 1948 10 March 1949). The operation was planned by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. The plan was for the Jews from all over Yemen to make their way to the Aden area. Specifically, the Jews were to arrive in Hashed Camp and live there until they could be airlifted to Israel. Hashed was an old British military camp in the desert, about a mile away from the city of Sheikh Othman. The operation took longer than was originally planned. Over the course of the operation, hundreds of migrants died in Hashed Camp, as well as on the plane rides to Israel. By September 1950, almost 50,000 Jews had been successfully airlifted to newly formed state of Israel.[47] A smaller, continuous migration was allowed to continue into 1962, when a

civil war put an abrupt halt to any further Jewish exodus. According to an official statement by Alaska Airlines: When Alaska Airlines sent them on "Operation Magic Carpet" 50 years ago, Warren and Marian Metzger didn't realize they were embarking on an adventure of a lifetime. Warren Metzger, a DC-4 captain, and Marian Metzger, a flight attendant, were part of what turned out to be one of the greatest feats in Alaska Airlines 67-year history: airlifting thousands of Yemenite Jews to the newly created nation of Israel. The logistics of it all made the task daunting. Fuel was hard to come by. Flight and maintenance crews had to be positioned through the Middle East. And the desert sand wreaked havoc on engines. It took a whole lot of resourcefulness the better part of 1949 to do it. But in the end, despite being shot at and even bombed upon, the mission was accomplished and without a single loss of life. "One of the things that really got to me was when we were unloading a plane at Tel Aviv," said Marian, who assisted Israeli nurses on a number of flights. "A little old lady came up to me and took the hem of my jacket and kissed it. She was giving me a blessing for getting them home. We were the wings of eagles." For both Marian and Warren, the assignment came on the heels of flying the airlines other great adventure of the late 1940s: the Berlin Airlift. "I had no idea what I was getting into, absolutely none," remembered Warren, who retired in 1979 as Alaskas chief pilot and vice president of flight operations. "It was pretty much seat-of-the-pants flying in those days. Navigation was by dead reckoning and eyesight. Planes were getting shot at. The airport in Tel Aviv was getting bombed all the time. We had to put extra fuel tanks in the planes so we had the range to avoid landing in Arab territory."[48]

There was a story that, between 194951, up to 1,033 children of Yemenite immigrant families may have disappeared from the immigrant camps. It was said that the parents were told their children were ill and required hospitalization. Upon later visiting the hospital, it is claimed that the parents were told that their children had died though no bodies were presented or graves which have later proven to be empty in many cases were shown to the parents. Those who believed the theory contended that the Israeli government as well as other organizations in Israel kidnapped the children and gave them for adoption to other, non-Yemenite, families.[49] In 2001 a seven-year public inquiry commission concluded that the accusations that Yemenite children were kidnapped are not true. The commission has unequivocally rejected claims of a plot to take children away from Yemenite immigrants. The report determined that documentation exists for 972 of the 1,033 missing children. Five additional missing babies were found to be alive. The commission was

unable to discover what happened in another 56 cases. With regard to these unresolved 56 cases, the commission deemed it "possible" that the children were handed over for adoption following decisions made by individual local social workers, but not as part of an official policy.[49]
16 [edit]Present situation

The Kerem HaTeimanim district of Tel Aviv, home to the largest Yemenite Jewishcommunity in the world. Today the overwhelming majority of Yemenite Jews lives in Israel. In Yemen itself, there exists today a small Jewish community in the town of Bayt Harash (2 km away from Raydah). They have a rabbi, a functioning synagogue and a mikvah. They also have a boys yeshiva and a girls seminary, funded by a Satmarer affiliated Hasidicorga

nization of Monsey, New York, USA. A small Jewish enclave also exists in the town of Raydah, which lies approximately 45 mile north of Sana'a. The town hosts a yeshiva, also funded by a Satmar affiliated organization. Yemeni security forces have gone to great lengths to try to convince the Jews to stay in their towns. These attempts, however, failed and the authorities were forced to provide financial aid for the Jews so they would be able to rent accommodation in safer areas. In December 2008, 30 year old Rabbi Moshe Ya'ish alNahari of Raydah was shot and killed by Abed el-Aziz el-Abadi, a former MiG-29pilot in the Yemeni Air Force. Abadi confronted Nahari in the Raydah market and shouted out "Jew, accept the message of Islam", and opened fire with an AK-47. Nahari was shot five times, and died. During interrogation, he proudly confessed his crime, and stated that "these Jews must convert to Islam". Abadi had murdered his wife two years before, but had avoided prison by paying her family compensation. The court found Abadi mentally unstable and ordered him to pay only a

fine, but an appeals court sentenced him to death. Following al-Nahari's murder, the Jewish community expressed their feelings of insecurity, claiming to have receive hate mail and threats by phone from extremists. Dozens of Jews reported receiving death threats and claimed they had been subjected to violent "these Jews must convert to Islam". Abadi had murdered his wife two years before, but had avoided prison by paying her family compensation. The court found Abadi mentally unstable and ordered him to pay only a fine, but an appeals court sentenced him to death. Following alNahari's murder, the Jewish community expressed their feelings of insecurity, claiming to have receive hate mail and threats by phone from extremists. Dozens of Jews reported receiving death threats and claimed they had been subjected to violent harassment. Nahari's killing and continual antisemitic harassment prompted approximately 20 other Jewish residents of Raydah to emigrate to Israel. In 2009, five of Nahari's children moved to Israel, and in 2012, his wife and four other children followed, having initially stayed in Yemen

so she could serve as a witness for Abadi's trial. In February 2009, 10 Yemeni Jews immigrated to Israel, and in July 2009, three families, or 16 people total, followed suit. On November 1, 2009 the Wall Street Journal[57]reported that in June 2009, an estimated 350 Jews were left in Yemen, and by October 2009, 60 had immigrated to the United States and 100 were considering following suit. BBC estimated the community at 370 and dwindling. In 2010, it was reported that 200 Yemeni Jews would be allowed to immigrate to the United Kingdom.
17 [edit]Participation in Israeli

Culture

Gila Gamliel, member of the Knesset for the Likud Party and Minister in the Prime Minister's Office

At the Eurovision Song Contest, 1998, 1979 and 1978 winners Dana International, Gali Atari and Izhar Cohen, 1983 runner-up Ofra Haza, and 2008 top 10 finalist Boaz Mauda, are Yemenite Jews. Harel Skaat, who competed at Oslo in 2010, is of a Yemenite Jewish father. Other Yemenite Jewish figures include Zohar Argov, Daklon, Gali Atari, Inbar Bakal, Mosh Ben-Ari, Yosefa Dahari, Gila Gamliel, Eyal Golan, Becky Griffin, Meir Yitzhak Halevi (the Mayor of Eilat), Saadia Kobashi, Sandy Bar, Yishai Levi, Sara LeviTanai, Bo'az Ma'uda,Avihu Medina, Achinoam Nini, Avraham Taviv, Shimi Tavori, Margalit Tzan'ani, Tomer Yosef of Balkan Beat Box and Shahar Tzuberi.
18 [edit]Prayer books

Sia Yerushalayim, Baladi prayer book in 4 vols, ed. Yosef Qafih Tefillat Avot, Baladi prayer book (6 vols.) Torat Avot, Baladi prayer book (7 vols.) Tiklal Ha-Mefoar (Maharitz) Nusa Baladi, Meyusad Al Pi Ha-Tiklal Im Etz ayim Ha-Shalem Arukh Ke

Minhag Yahaduth Teiman: Bene Berak: Or Neriyah ben Mosheh Ozeri: 2001 or 2002 Siddur Tefillat Haodesh Beit Yaakov (Nusa Shami), Nusa Sepharadim, Teiman, and the Edoth Mizra Rabbi Shalom Sharabi, Siddur Kavanot HaRashash: Yeshivat HaChaim Ve'Hashalom 19 [edit]Other works Halikhot Teiman The Life of Jews of Sana'a, by Rabbi Yosef Qafahh, Machon Ben-Tzi Publishing The Jews of the Middle East and North Africa In Modern Times, by Reeva Simon, Michael Laskier, and Sara Reguer (Editors), Columbia University Press, 2002, Chapters 8 and 21 Lenowitz, Harris (1998). The Jewish Messiahs: From the Galilee to Crown Heights. New York: Oxford University Press Parfitt, Tudor (1996) The Road to Redemption: The Jews of the Yemen 19001950. Brill's Series in Jewish Studies vol. XVII. Leiden: Brill