Yemenite Jews flee their homes following threats by extremists

[Watser?]

Yemenite Jews flee their homes following threats by extremists
By Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondent

Some 45 Jews of Sa'ada county in Yemen left their homes after being threatened by radical Muslims, the Saudi daily Al Wattan reported on Monday.

According to the report, the extremists told the Jews to leave their homes within ten days, after which time they will be exposed to abductions and looting.

The Jews moved into a hotel in the town of Sa'ada, north of the Yemenite capital Sana. A formal complaint was submitted to the Yemenite President Abdullah Salah, the report said.

The threat message - attributed to disciples of Shiite-inclined religious leader Hossein Bader a-Din al-Khouty - said that the Jews are acting in a manner that "primarily serves global Zionism, which is acting persistently to disseminate decay amongst the people and to cut them off from their principles, values, their morals and religion."

Yemenis are almost equally divided between Sunnis and a particular variation of Shi'ites (that split from the rest of the Shi'ites over the legitimacy of the 5th Imam and is therefore known as Fivers). They are closer to Sunnis than to other Shi'ites in law and rituals though AFAIK.

the members of the Jewish community are not interested in immigrating to Israel, and wish to keep living in Yemen.

They blame their strife on the oblivious Yemenite government, which refuses to offer them assistance. The Jewish community, say its members, does not have efficient communication channels with the regime that would allow it to influence its actions.

Haaretz