Yemeni Jews under attack – security authorities ‘indifferent’
From HOOD Online:
SANA’A, Jan. 6 — The Yemen Human Rights Observatory (YHRO) criticizes attacks and offenses launched by irresponsible men and teenagers against Jews in the Raida district of Amran governorate.
In a statement distributed Tuesday, YHRO said that tens of students at Al-Zahra School in Raida assaulted members of the Jewish minority during a random demonstration in protest against the ongoing Israeli attacks in Gaza.
The human rights organization added that it reported many violations that were committed by students of the above mentioned school and citizens against Jews in Raida. They verbally assaulted Jews, threw stones at their houses, and intimidated their women and children.
According to the statement, Jew Zaher Gafri sustained critical injuries, his face swelled up, and his appearance was stained with blood. Other Jewish citizens were subject to various injuries while on the street. The protestors hurled stones at houses of Jews Haim Yaeesh, Shakr Sulaiman, Salem Shaghdari, and Yahya Jaradi, and the houses’ occupants were intimidated.
YHRO said it observed the violations experienced by members of the Jewish minority, adding that the security authority’s intervention came late. The security personnel arrested some of the assailants and detained them but did not announce the results of their investigation.
The observatory went on to say that the Jewish citizens were subjected to several forms of harassment over the past time period while local and official authorities did not take any actions to protect Jews and refer perpetrators to court.
The human rights organization held the security authorities responsible for what happened to the Jewish citizens in Raida, accusing them of being indifferent toward Jewish minorities. It continued that the authorities only asked Jews to move to Sana’a, which is another violation against their right to settle wherever they want.
The observatory condemned all the violations committed against the Jewish citizens that make the human rights culture deteriorate and breach values of forgiveness and intellectual and religious freedoms. It also held the government accountable for protecting its citizens and ensuring their freedoms, as stipulated in Article (18) of Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which is ratified by the Yemeni Constitution.
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YHRO called on all civil society organizations and human rights groups in and outside Yemen to stand in solidarity with the Jewish minority and to press the official agencies to protect them, respect their rights, and spread the human rights culture countrywide.
