Yemen spreads false reports on Jews to harm enemies

False reports about Jews being abused in Yemen by Houthi forces were used on Thursday by the Yemen Embassy in Washington to attack their Iranian-backed adversary.

The controversy erupted after Egyptian reports circulated on social media earlier this week, claiming the Houthis had arrested Jews in the Kharif District of the Amran Governorate northwest of Sana’a as part of ethnic cleansing efforts. The report, published in a number of Yemeni media outlets and then the Egyptian newspaper Al-Mesryoon, said local sources from Kharif had reported that the Houthis had rounded up the Jews and imprisoned them due to their religion and were pressuring them to leave Yemen.

When asked by The Jerusalem Post about the matter, Israel’s Foreign Ministry said that the report appeared to be false. Another international organization with ties to Yemen’s Jewish community said it found the reports to be far from true and that there were no Jews in that part of the country.

But the Yemeni Embassy still quoted the reports.

“Alarmed by reports of Houthis arresting and assaulting Jewish residents, forcing them to sell their homes, expropriating their properties and transferring ownership to Houthi leaders,” the tweet said. “Shocking if Yemenite Jews are unjustly being pressured to leave Yemen.”

The Yemeni Embassy said the Houthis espouse virulent antisemitism and impose systematic discrimination, human rights violations and mistreatment.

“It is repugnant enough that the Houthis have exacted vicious crimes against their fellow Yemeni Muslim citizens,” the embassy tweeted. “To hear that Houthis are also victimizing Yemenite Jews is similarly reprehensible. Nazism was a horrible stain on Europe. It cannot have another hateful strain now in Arabia. The Houthis must be compelled to make peace in Yemen and to end their intolerance antisemitic rhetoric and conduct.”

The embassy wrote that as an immediate step, Yemen demands that the Houthis immediately clarify the situation and declare they will respect the rights of minorities in all territories under their control.

“Jews and all minorities have a place in Yemen and for a better future we hope to build,” the embassy tweeted.