February 18, 2013

JERUSALEM (JTA) — The parents of a Hebrew teacher who was killed in an anti-Semitic attack in Yemen have made aliyah.

Yisrael (Yaish) and Terneja Nahari, the parents of the late Moshe Nahari, immigrated to Israel on Monday.

Moshe Nahari was a ritual slaughterer and Hebrew teacher in the town of Raydah in the Amran Governorate of northwestern Yemen. In December 2008, the 35-year-old father of 9 was shot dead by an Islamist extremist who reportedly had demanded that he convert to Islam. He was buried in Yemen.

After the murder, Moshe Nahari’s parents remained in Raydah in order to campaign for his murderer to be brought to justice. The murderer was caught, but, despite being found guilty by a court in Yemen, has not been sentenced.

Nahari’s murder was followed by a wave of aliyah to Israel and since 2009 113 Jews have immigrated to Israel, according to the Jewish Agency, which assisted them in the move.

The couple, in their 70s, was reunited in Israel with their four children and twenty grandchildren, including the children of Moshe Nahari. Five of Moshe Nahari’s children made aliyah immediately following the murder. His wife, Louza, and four of the children came to Israel in August 2012.

The remaining Jewish community of Yemen is made up of 130 people, of whom 40 live in the capital city of Sana’a in a compound secured by the government with the remainder in Raydah. The community is under threat of anti-Semitic attack which intensified after the ousting of President Ali Abdallah Saleh, according to the Jewish Agency.

Two weeks ago a Jew in Raydah was attacked and severely beaten by radical Muslims in his own house, according to the Jewish Agency. In May of last year, Aaron Zindani, one of leaders of the Jewish community was stabbed to death in the capital city Sana’a.
 

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