Letters to the Editor [Archives:2000/15/Letters to the Editor]

A Gesture from a Yemeni Jew
Firstly, let me state who I am. I am the son of an Yemenite Jewish man and an American Woman. I was born and raised in New York City. I consider myself both Yemenite and American. Both Jewish and Arab. I don’t believe this is contradictory in any way. Just as we accept that there are Christian Arabs, we should realize that there are Arab Jews, if not for the political situation which developed after the establishment of Israel. This would be clear to everyone.

Secondly, I have a few comments I’d like to make regarding the recent trip of Yemenite Jews from Israel to Yemen. I believe that this was a great humanitarian step taken by the Yemeni government. The Yemenite Jews are very nostalgic about their homeland. I have never heard any Yemeni Jew in Israel or America say a single negative thing about the country or people of Yemen. I have always heard only praise.
I do believe that to some degree the Yemeni Jews on the recent trip were trouble makers. They attempted to be treated as an official delegation and not as tourists. A tourist does not show up at the Speaker of Parliment’s house uninvited.

This is partly an issues of cultural difference. The Yemeni Jews have been in Israel for a long time now and have naturally absorbed many cultural attributes from that society. Israeli society teaches its members to be very aggressive in getting what they want. Otherwise they are regarded as “suckers.” This aggressiveness is very problematic for Israelis traveling throughout the world and explains why Israelis have such a bad reputation as tourists.
The Yemeni government should continue to allow these Yemeni Jews from Israel to visit Yemen. Not only is it a kind, humanitarian move, but it will prepare the way for normalization of relations between the two countries which will become possible ONLY after a just and comprehensive settlement is reached between Israel and Palestine. The number of these “Israeli” Yemenis permitted to visit should be limited to a small number in order to prevent these visits from affecting politics in any way. These visits should have NO political content. They should be away to promote human relationship and to continue the long history of good relations between Muslim and Jewish Yemenis.
Ari Ariel
[email protected]
155 West 71 Street, New York, NY 10023 – USA
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Dear editor,
I am very fond of the Yemen Times which is my favorite. I cannot record in words my pleasure and happiness for the success and the development that the newspaper has achieved in a short period of time.
Even after the great loss of its founder, the late Dr. Abdul Aziz Al-Saqqaf, Yemen Times is still going strong as it has always been. Dr. Al-Saqqaf hasn’t died. He is still alive as he left a good heritage, that is the establishment of Yemen Times and the courageous team headed by Mr. Walid Al-Saqqaf, the young rising editor.
Mr. Walid has proven to be the worthy successor of his illustrious predecessor. He follows the same path that his father followed. Therefore, this huge establishment will go on achieving its goals that it was set for.
We request you to work towards a brighter future, without being affected by any difficulties and obstacles that you might be exposed to.
___________
Amin Ali Saeed Abdullah
The key to success in the eyes
of a 14-year old girl
Yemeni children are brought up in a very close loving atmosphere, which to most people is very important. Of course love is very important, but there are many other things which are just as important that an average Yemeni family lacks-which is attention. A typical child in Yemen would go to school, where he/she would be in a class that consists of around 70-90 students. So the teacher probably doesn’t notice if he/she is there at all, comes home, has dinner then goes out to play while his father goes out to chew qat and his mother would go out to a wedding, funeral, etc
If some parents spare some minutes to go through their child’s studies they would probably see what their child’s weaknesses are and would also realize if the child was receiving good or bad education. They should also encourage their child to achieve better work in the subjects in which they are weak.
Many children in Yemen grow up in a way in which they are always been as part of a group and not as individuals.
The key to a better future for Yemen is obviously better education. Teaching in Yemen is very poor, let alone this, classrooms are packed full of children about seventy to a hundred per classroom. At times they run out of chairs, and so some children end up sitting on tables or on the floor. Many teachers hardly have any experience and some only carry a high school degree. Teaching in Yemen provides a very low amount of activity work and so children don’t have an opportunity to test out what they have understood; So usually the information goes in one way and goes out the other.
Public schools in Yemen also lack learning facilities such as computers, books, etc. These facilities are very important for a thorough education.
I believe that if the ministry of education provided better education, Yemen could look forward to a brighter future full of success.
Manal al-Maghafi, 14 years old
[email protected]
USA

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