Protest Planned Over Alleged ‘Kidnapping’ of Yemeni Jewish Children By Israel

Former Amram leader Uzi Meshulam’s obituary. Image by Wikimedia Commons

By Jesse Bernstein June 20, 2017

Amram, a group dedicated to uncovering what they believe to be a massive conspiracy by the Israeli government to kidnap the children of Jews from Yemen, Iraq, and other Arab nations, are planning a “mass demonstration” in Jerusalem for the fourth straight year.

According to a press release from the group, their demands include: an official apology from the government to the families of the kidnapped children, material support for reunification efforts, and a posthumous pardon and exoneration of the group’s founder, Rabbi Uzi Meshulam.

It’s another chapter in the long, strange history of Amram. In 1994, Meshulam led members of Amram in a weeks-long stand-off with Israeli police that left one dead, wherein he and other members demanded the creation of a national committee of inquiry regarding the disappearance of children from Israel’s community of Yemenite immigrants, among other requests. The stand-off ended with an establishment of the committee, and a long prison sentence for Meshulam.

Meshulam, who died in 2013, alleged that the Israeli government kidnapped the children of Mizrahi children in order to either give or sell them to Ashkenazi parents.

Contact Jesse Bernstein at [email protected] or on Twitter @__jbernstein

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO