Yemeni Jewish girl married Muslim, sister married Israeli

By Nasser Arrabyee/16/07/2009

A Yemeni Jewish girl was wed to an Israeli citizen after her older sister converted to Islam and got married to a Muslim without the consent of her parents, sources close to the family said Thursday.

Saeed bin Saeed Al Naeti married off his 18-year old daughter Barakha to Mousa Shaghdari, a Yemeni Jewish who left Yemen for Israel in 1994. The condition of the father was that the Shaghdari should leave Yemen with his bride as soon as possible, the sources said.

The couple Mousa and Barakha is expected to leave Yemen for Israel next week, the sources said.

The older daughter of Saeed, Leyah, 20, was wed on the same day, Thursday July 16th, to her Muslim bridegroom, Abdul Rahman Al Huthaifi in Kharef, Amran province.

On June 29th, 2009, Leyah was wed from Kharef to her Jewish bridegroom Haron Salem, one of about 66 Jews who have been living in a luxurious compound in the capital Sana'a since they were expelled from Sa'ada by Al Houthi rebels in 2005.

About five days after the wedding, the Jewish bride escaped from her bridegroom's house in the compound, called the tourist city, to a chief of the tribesmen of Arhab in the northern outskirt of the Sana'a.

She was in love with her Muslim neighbor, but her parents did not like him to marry their daughter, a relative said.

On Wednesday July 15, the Jewish bride announced her conversion to Islam in Arhab district in front of a number tribal Shiekhs who took "the required" procedures for the new marriage and "cancellation" of the first marriage.

The first marriage was nullified by a court verdict after she converted to Islam.

"The new wedding was distinguished in terms of the number of cars accompanying the bride and the number of bullets that were fired to air," said Abdullah Nasser who attended the wedding.

The rabbi Yahya Mousa, who arranged the first marriage to one of his relatives, said the new marriage violated the rules of Islam, Judaism, and Christianity and all religions.

Commenting on her conversion to Islam, the rabbi said her Islam is not Islam; this is the Islam of love. "The real Islam is the love of the religion," He said.

"We are wronged, we are underdogs. But we hope President Ali Abdullah Saleh will stand with us and do justice to us," He said in a telephone call with Yemen Observer.


The father of the bride, Saeed Bin Saeed Al Naeti, said," We are tens of Jews among millions of tribesmen, if they want even to kill us, they will do that easily, no State will protect us and no one will stand with us,"


He said he does not know if his daughter was in love with Al Huthaifi whose house is only 2 km far. But he does not agree that Jews marry Muslims or vice versa.

The rabbi Mousa said the Jews are preparing to stage a sit-in in front of the Presidential Palace next Sunday to demand protection of the Jews. Only about 320 Jews are left in Yemen and more specifically in the capital Sana'a and Amran province.