Amnesty International has written to a government official in Yemen urging the country to protect its Jews.
The human rights organization said in a statement last week that it is “deeply concerned for the safety of members of the Jewish community in northwestern Yemen following the killing of one member of the community and anonymous serious threats to others to leave Yemen or face death.” A few hundred Jews live in the country.
A former Yemeni Air Force officer confessed in court last week to the Sept. 11 murder of Masha Ya’ish Al-Nahari, the brother of the chief rabbi of Yemen, according to the Yemen Times.
In its letter to the Yemeni interior minister, Amnesty International was trying to find out what measures the country’s authorities are taking to protect its Jewish citizens. It called on the Yemeni authorities to identify and bring to justice anyone responsible for Al-Nahari’s murder, as well as for other attacks and threats against members of the Jewish community.
Yemeni Jews have received threats warning them that they will be killed if they do not convert to Islam or leave the country. Others have reported that Molotov cocktails have been thrown at their homes at night, according to Amnesty International.
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