Arabs and Jews in Aden Quarrel over Soul While Jewish Patient Dies

(Jewish Telegraphic Agency)

The fanatacism of religious zealots over the soul of a sick Jew, indulging in a quarrel instead of giving him medical aid, led to the death of Said Jacoob, a Jewish merchant who came from another part of Arabia to Aden, the principal commercial center, under British protectorate.

Jacoob who was suddenly taken ill was offered the hospitality of an Arab judge who endeavored to convert him to Mohammedanism. Members of the Jewish community who learned of this attempt, demanded that Jacoob be removed from the Arab’s home to a hospital, contending that the patient was not of a sound mind and that it was unfair to impose upon him an alien religious affiliation while he was in that state.

The Arab judge refused to surrender the patient. An Arab mob guarded the house, dmonstrating against the Jews and seeking to remove the patient to a place beyond the reach of the Jews, so that the conversion might be completed.

Leaders of the Jewish community informed the police authorities that the sick man had a contagious disease, whereupon the patient was taken to the Jewish quarantine ward, where he died.

The trouble, however, did not end with the death of the patient. When the Jews were preparing to bury Jacoob in the Jewish cemetery, an Arab mob assembled, demanding that internment be in a Moslem cemetery. Using sticks, knives and clubs they overcame the Jews. The District Magistrate issued orders that the Jews were permitted to bury Jacoob in the Jewish cemetery and sent the police to enforce the order, but the Arab mob outnumbered the police and carried off the coffin for burial in the Moslem cemetery.

The Jewish population has appealed to the government.