Children of deceased Masha Nahari, playing in their front yard. Because of hostility against them and fear of harm they remain indoors as must as possible. (YT Photo by Amira Al-Sharif)

While Gaza crisis causes more hostility against Yemeni Jews,
murdered Jewish family demands transferring trail to Sana’a

by Mohammed bin Sallam, Yemen Times, January 4, 2009

SANA’A. During the second court session of the trial of Abdul Aziz Al-Abdi, who is accused of murdering Jewish citizen Masha Al-Nahari this past December 31, journalists and lawyers said that “the court session was full of chaos and quarrels. A soldier was attacked by one of the family members of the accused. In addition, the Jewish family received death threats from the murderer’s relatives.”

Advocates of Al-Nahari demanded to transfer the case and trial to Sana’a due to lack of proper security at the Amran Court and dominance of Al-Abdi’s relatives who �control the events of the session and create chaos inside the court hall,” said Abdul Rahman Barman, a lawyer from Allaw Law Foundation which volunteered to defend Al-Nahari’s case in the court.

“Amid lack of security and the chaos that Al-Abdi’s relatives create, the trial will not be safe,” Barman said.

Today, the Yemeni Jews in Amran, some 70 kilometers northwest of Sana’a, are living in a state of horror after receiving threats from some Salafia supporters. The threats are increasing with the ongoing aggression in Gaza by the Israeli occupants.

Although the government took security precautions to protect relatives of Al-Nahari from any potential aggression particularly since the situation in Palestine has escalated, the Jewish community expressed their apprehensions that Al-Nahari’s case may not be taken seriously by the court. They also refuted Al-Abdi’s family’s assumption that he is mentally sick by saying that he had threatened to kill them if they don’t embrace Islam or leave the country, which a mentally ill man cannot do or plan. During the recent court session, head of the court ordered to imprison three of Al-Abdi’s relatives and transferred two others to the General Prosecution for investigation. The session was adjourned until January 12.

Crazy or fanatic?

Al-Abdi confirmed during the previous hearings that he killed Al-Nahari to be closer to God. He maintained that he had warned the Jews a month before he carried out his threats. He further said that he had warned the Raida district security six months before he murdered Al-Nahari demanding that the Jewish community in Raida be relocated from the area as they arouse concerns and have relations with Israel.

While relatives of Al-Abdi say that he suffers from mental and psychological problems, he confirms that he killed Al-Nahari because he rejected to embrace Islam. Al-Abdi’s tribe had threatened to avenge from the other Jews if the court issues a death penalty against him.

The judge had ordered a mental check to identify whether the killer is truly crazy or not. However, the mental health check has not taken place so far.

“Someone who carries weapons in public, who follows the news, and who knows who is who, is certainly not crazy,” commented Khaled Al-Anisi executive director of HOOD, the National Organization for Defending Rights and Freedoms who had volunteered to represent Nahari’s family.

Five lawyers on the other hand volunteered to defend Al-Abdi, accusing Al-Anisi of not being a good Muslim and of defending a Jew.

“They told me that Muslims should stick together and not do as we are doing in HOOD by defending a Jew, and recited a verse from the Quran saying the same. I answered by another verse from the Quran which means that a murder is a murder and killers must be punished whatever they are,” explained Al-Anisi remembering a verse exchange debate happening in court between him and his opponents. Al-Anisi explained that the lawyers demand to refer Al-Abdi to mental check is not valid since he, Al-Abdi, refused their attorney, and hence they should not be allowed to defend him. Acoording to the law, only those who are absolutely insane are exempt from legal liability. In Al-Abdi’s case, he is a normal man who acts based on his fanatic beliefs, explained the lawyer.

“There are so many complications and mishaps in this trial, this is why we want to transfer it to Sana’a,” explained Al-Anisi.

Regional events turn local

The Jewish community is intimidated in the neighborhoods where they live and the markets where they have been working many years. They also say that some conservative Muslims enter the Jewish synagogue and chew qat inside in an attempt to provoke them. They say that some people intimidate Jewish women on the streets and demand them to embrace Islam so that they can marry them. In addition, anonymous groups close the houses of the Jews from outside, throw stones at them and threaten them to kill them.

With the aggravation of the Israeli aggression in Gaza, the Yemeni security apparatuses caught a man late last week after he entered to the Tourist City, with the aim of reaching the area where around 40 Jewish citizens live since they were transferred from Sa’ada two years ago.

Many Jews who earn their living as carpenters or silversmiths question how they can continue to do so without leaving their homes. Barman maintains that they are no longer able to practice their life normally and most of them have stopped work after they received death threats.

The Jewish citizens in Raida expressed their eagerness to be moved into secure areas such as Ibb, Taiz and Sana’a. “People in those areas are educated and don’t bear grudges against the Yemeni Jews,” they said. But they maintained that they don’t want to leave their villages quickly as they are afraid that they may lose their property as happened to the Sa’ada Jews in 2007. They said that they cannot leave their houses and lands unless they are given guarantees and decent compensations.

Malikah Ya’ish Al-Nahari, one of Masha’s sisters who have come from Israel as soon as they learned their brother’s death, said that going to court without protection endangers the life of the family as “Al-Abdi’s relatives carry weapons”. “We had to reach the court through alleys. We received threats from Al-Abdi’s relatives who told us that they will claim the lives of every Jew and kidnap the Jewish women,” said Malikah. “They say that if Al-Abdi is killed by the court, they will kill 20 Jews, instead.”

The Jewish minority live in Amran and Sa’ada governorates. Thousands of them traveled to Israel in 1948 and the years after. Around one thousand Jews currently live in Amran. Some of them travel to Israel, the US and Britain to visit their relatives and come back.

Some efforts have been exerted during the last few days to accommodate the Jews of Amran after the recent threats. The sources said that Yahya bin Ya’ish, son of the ex-rabbi of the Jewish community in Yemen, received death threats through text messages to his phone. The rabbi demanded the government provide them with proper security.

President Ali Abdullah Saleh promised to grant a piece of land and YR one million to every family of the Jewish community. However, the government may prepare private apartments to accommodate them until the situation becomes clearer in the future with regard to the devastating situation in the occupied lands.

Al-Nahari, who had two sisters who live with their husbands in Israel, was an only son. He left behind nine children and his father suffers from a stroke.