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Thursday, December 24, 2020

How Saudi Arabia and Yemen Were Part of the Ottoman Empire and How They Became Independent: Part III

 Nadene Goldfoot                                       

The history of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia begins properly on September 23, 1932, when by royal decree the dual kingdom of the Hejaz and Najd with its dependencies, administered since 1927 as two separate units, was unified under the name of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In 1933 the king announced his son, Saud was the heir apparent.  

On the Arabian Peninsula, the Arabs were able to establish a number of independent states. In 1916 Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca, established the Kingdom of Hejaz, while the Emirate of Riyadh was transformed into the Sultanate of Nejd. In 1926 the Kingdom of Nejd and Hejaz was formed, which in 1932 became the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen became independent in 1918, while the Arab States of the Persian Gulf became de facto British protectorates, with some internal autonomy.

 Although oil had been discovered in Al-Hasa near the shores of the Persian Gulf before World War II, it was not exploited until after 1941.  It was the 14th largest Muslim majority state with 100% Muslims of 27,601,038 people in 2011.  Now it has 34,220,000 and is 98.2% Muslim.  

From the date of its establishment in September 1932, Saudi Arabia enjoyed full international recognition as an independent state, although it did not join the League of Nations.  In 1934 Ibn Saud was involved in war with Yemen over a boundary dispute.  Yemen was the Arabic name of SW Arabia and today has become an independent state.  

Saudi Arabia was first called Arabia.  Information about Jews living there in biblical times comes to us from the 1st century CE.  We understand that about 3,000 Jews were in Yemen in the 1st century.  Arabs were converting to Judaism then.  Rulers such as DHU NUWAS  converted.  He was a Yemenite in 525 CE who was Jewish.  Many Jews lived in HEJAZ (The Hejaz is the most populated region in Saudi Arabia, containing 35% of the population of Saudi Arabia. Arabic is the predominant language as in the rest of Saudi Arabia, with Hejazi Arabic being most widely spoken dialect in the region. Hejazi Saudis are of ethnically diverse origins.), and particularly in MEDINA  and its vicinity.  After the rise of Islam, Jews became 2nd class citizens, paying more in taxes than others because of their religion.  Most remaining Jews of today live in Yemen.  Jews have not been allowed to live or even be in Saudi Arabia.

During the era of Ottoman rule, the territory of modern Saudi Arabia was divided between the following entities: Ottoman provinces and emirates: Sharifate of Mecca (968–1925; Ottoman control 1517–1803; 1841–1919) Egypt Eyalet (1517–1701; 1813–40).

                                               

Today, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. is active as a sub for the king, his father, who is very ill.  Making peace with Israel is still on the table.  Several politicians have high hopes that it will come to fruition.  This may be based on the old adage, :The enemy of my enemy is my friend.  All the Middle East is worried about the impulsive action that Iran may take against them.  They look upon Israel as THE fighter against Iran because Iran has threatened the tiny country so much.  Iran is working 24/7 to create nuclear  warheads for their missiles, and Israel does have nuclear power but has not ever used it.  It's a matter of principals, and Israel stands for LIFE (that all should live-L'Chaim ! ) while Iran....speaks of death for Israel.   However, Israel will defend itself, and she doesn't play around when she has to defend herself.  It's do or die.      

Not only is Saudi Arabia the richest and most influential Arab country, it is quite literally the epicenter of Islam and the focus of world Islamic pilgrimage. It would yield a lot of power in being friends with Israel.  Yet they've been the leaders against her religiously.                                          

The United States recognized the Kingdom of the Yemen, the southern part of Arabia,  as a sovereign state on March 4, 1946, in a letter from President Harry Truman to the Imam Yahya, the King of the Yemen.

                                              


When Yemenis asserted their sovereignty in 2015, Saudi Arabia expanded its savagery of bloodbath that began in 18th century under the banner of Wahhabism into Yemen. After two years subjecting Yemen to genocidal attacks, Yemen has demonstrated to the world the example of courage, determination, and resistance.

The Saudi-led coalition, supported by the United States and Israel, continues its devastating aerial attacks on the impoverished Yemen. The unprovoked assault is in clear violation of the UN Charter. According to the UN Yemen envoy Jamal Benomar.  Yemeni factions were close to a negotiation before the Saudi-led intervention.

                                                  

Houthi rebel fighters entered Sanaa in September 2014 and took full control in January 2015

The conflict has its roots in the failure of a political transition supposed to bring stability to Yemen following an Arab Spring uprising that forced its longtime authoritarian president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, to hand over power to his deputy, Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, in 2011, according to the BBC.  It appears that the Houthi rebels have everything to do with it.  

The Houthi movement (known formally as Ansar Allah), which champions Yemen's Zaidi Shia Muslim minority and fought a series of rebellions against Saleh during the previous decade, took advantage of the new president's weakness by taking control of their northern heartland of Saada province and neighbouring areas.

The history of Jews living there goes back to the time of the 1st Temple of King Solomon(961-920 BCE).  Christianity gained ground in this country, especially among former converts to Judaism.  

                      Opra Haza was a famous Jewish  singer from Yemen.  Here she is singing a Yemenite song.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkr1V9RZpi8. 

All these countries were created out of the Ottoman Empire by the allies through the League of Nations and the United Nations before Israel had been created on May 14, 1948.  The Jewish leaders, needing their lost country of Israel and then Judah (Judea) and seeing it turn into the name of Palestine, seem to be last to be considered, and then they kept being offered a smaller piece of the original.  Yemenite Jews, who had a great reputation of being excellent silversmiths,  had a history of being persecuted.  Jews there numbered 30,000 with 1/3 living in Sanaa.  They began immigrating to Palestine  in 1910.  In 1948, the whole Jewish community of about 46,000 were transferred to Israel in 1949 -1950 in OPERATION MAGIC CARPET.  About 1,400 Jews still remained after that.  Today in 2020 about 58 remain if COVID 19 hasn't reached them.  

Yemenite Jews or Yemeni Jews or Teimanim are those Jews who live, or once lived, in Yemen. The term may also be used in reference to the descendants of the Yemenite Jewish community. Wikipedia
Israel435,000
United Arab Emirates42 (est. in September 2020)
United States80,000
Bahrain5-7 (est. in July 2020)

Yemen58 (est. in August 2020)

Yemen has a population today of 28,036, 829 of which 27,784,498 are Muslims.  That is a 99.2% of a Muslim population.  In 2011 they were listed as the 16th largest Muslim country.  It is an Islamic state.

The Arab League, a political organization, was created in 1945 by Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Transjordan, Saudi Arabia and Yemen.  The main issue uniting theses countries is their enmity toward Israel.  They united in their joint war against Israel in 1948-1949.  It became a tool of Egypt's President Nasser, but their position in the Arab world has been nominal.  

Neither Saudi Arabia or Yemen has made any peace treaty with Israel as yet.  They have participated in a war against Israel in the past.  They should make peace with each other first.  

Resource:

The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia

https://www.britannica.com/place/Saudi-Arabia/The-Kingdom-of-Saudi-Arabia

https://www.jpost.com/opinion/saudi-arabia-should-make-peace-with-israel-now-opinion-651428

http://www.peaceworldwide.org/2017/06/what-should-united-states-role-be-in.html?gclid=Cj0KCQiAlZH_BRCgARIsAAZHSBmjbBJz5PfrSNvSawaN3WpPr_PjFplsn8PUiWm6u3SBaVl9GZLZXT8aAiNIEALw_wcB

https://www.worldjewishcongress.org/en/focus-areas/jews-from-arab-lands

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-29319423#:~:text=The%20conflict%20has%20its%20roots,Abdrabbuh%20Mansour%20Hadi%2C%20in%202011.

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