ANTI-SEMITISM IN YEMEN

UNCLAS SANAA 002941

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM KIRF YM HUMAN RIGHTS
SUBJECT: ANTI-SEMITISM IN YEMEN

REF: A. STATE 239533


B. SANAA 1663


1. There have been no reports incidents of anti-Semitic acts
against Jews or Jewish property in Yemen since July 1, 2003.


2. There are between two and three hundred Jews remaining in
Yemen. The ROYG issued a press release in June accusing Jews
living in northern Yemen of backing the rebellion in Sa'da
(ref B). The statement, carried by the local media, was
retracted by the government shortly thereafter. The Yemeni
media is prone to conspiracy stories involving Jews and
Israel. For example, articles this month claimed that Israel
was poisoning Yemenis through pesticides used on qat, a
widely used narcotic.


3. All non-Muslims are banned from running for Parliament.
This policy of the General Election Committee was reached
after the ruling GPC party tried to run a Jewish candidate.
KRAJESKI