December 1948 Jewish Refugees From Arab Countries – Yemen

THE ENTIRE JEWISH POPULATION OF YEMEN, NUMBERING 45,009, WAS EVACUATED FROM THAT COUNTRY FOLLOWING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF ISRAEL.  The Jews of Yemen were flown to Israel in an operation which became known as “Magic Carpet,” after the ruler of Yemen had granted permission for their exit in December 1948.

The transport of the Yemenite Jews is the result of the unspeakable conditions under which they lived.  They were either homeless wanderers in the desert, exposed to robbery and torture, or they lived in ghettos locked at night and were burdened with all kinds of taxes, and on the verge of death by starvation.

Source: The Arab Refugee Problem, How it can be Solved.  Proposals—submitted to the General Assembly of the United Nations, December 1951