The Missing Yemenite Children
Doron A. Tal
Herein
outstanding reports about the mystery of the missing Yemenite children. This directory is chronologically ordered, with
respect to the reports as made publically. In
particular, we feature here eleven outstanding articles written by a brilliant
young (18) journalist, Yechiel A. Mann.
You too are invited to contribute to find the truth.
1. Hebrew Preface by webmaster and English articles
by Yechiel A. Mann
The issue of the missing Yemenite and
other Jewish children is well-known in
January
4, 1996, Arutz 7: For the first time, the Commission
of Inquiry on the Kidnaping of Yemenite Children in
the 1950's heard specific testimony concerning a Yemenite child that had been
stolen from its parents and later identified by the them.
3. Graves of Yemenite children to
be opened in probe
4. Yemenite Children Seen Being
Removed From Hospital
February
19, 1996, Arutz 7: The members of the Public
Commission investigating the disappearance of the Yemenite Children heard the
testimony of Mrs. Livnat Tzan'ani
today. She testified that she saw children being taken out of the
hospital wrapped in sheets and placed in ambulances. She further said that she
remembers her sister being brought to the hospital in good health, and her
parents being informed shortly afterwards that their daughter had died.
5. Yemenite Children: The Truth?
October
15, 1996 - Minister of Health, Tzachi Hanegbi, has stated the government will order the opening
of graves that are officially listed as graves of children of Yemenite
backgrounds who died in the 1950's.
6. Graves of `dead' Yemenite
Jewish children found empty
ASSOCIATED
PRESS JERUSALEM, Aug 17 1997: Investigators reportedly opened several graves of
Yemenite Jewish babies and found them to be empty -- a discovery that might
support claims that Yemenite children were taken from their parents for
adoption decades ago.
7. Secrets and Lies The Missing Children of Yemen
Aug
26, 1997 - A California resident, Tsila Levine, is
the daughter of Petah Tikvah
resident Margalit Omessi,
an Israeli of Yemenite descent. Levine was apparently snatched from a
Hadassah facility at a Yemenite transit camp in
Jerusalem
Post © Aug 28, 1997: In the case of Margalit Omessi and Tsila Levine, it was
not the Nazis that were to blame for their separation, but still-mysterious
events that left dozens of Yemenite Jews, believing that their missing children
were taken from them for adoption.
© Ha`aretz,
Sep 7, 1997: As controversy rages over the fate of the Yemenite babies who went
missing in the 1950s, Yigal Mashiach
asks why the investigating committee has ignored the startling case of Rabbi
Bernard Bergman.
by Naomi Segal of JTA: A scandal involving missing Yemenite children
has erupted in
11. The Hearing
by Yechiel
A. Mann: Yechiel Mann reports from the Oct 13, 1997,
hearing of Official Government Committee that investigated the disappearance of
children in the years 1948-1954.
12. How can there be two answers?
© Ha`aretz,
Oct 13, 1997: Is Margalit Omessi
- the Yemenite woman whose daughter disappeared back in the early 1950s -
really Tsilla Levine's mother?
Marit Slavin looks at
forensic testing.
13. The ABCs of DNA
© Ha`aretz, Oct 15, 1997: The process of DNA
testing is very complex and would benefit from regulation. But as Dalia Shehori reports, the
efforts of one doctor to help the Health and Justice Ministries establish guidlelines were left languishing.
14. Funding secured for DNA tests
© Ha`aretz,
Nov 27, 1997: Following a petition to Israeli High Court of Justice, the State
of Israel will allocate
15. Hebrew Univ. admits Yemenite
testing goof
JUDY SIEGEL - Jerusalem Post
Service, Dec 12, 1997: The DNA test that certified Margalit
Omessi was the mother of
© Ha`aretz,
Dec 16, 1997: The issue of missing Yemenite babies was supposed to get a boost
from a new kind of DNA testing. But as Sarah Tsifroni
reports, the tests only led to more suspicions and distrust - and now the bones
of babies dug from Israeli graves are in
17. The Empty Graves
by Yechiel A. Mann: Most of
the parents were told that their children died, although these children were
likely kidnapped by hospital staff and infant care workers. . . There was
neither a death certificate, nor any proof of a death given. . . . there were no known graves.
by Yechiel A. Mann: Where are
the bones?
Who is the liar - Sonia Millstein or Roza Kotzinski?
Was there a contradiction in Dr. Hiss testimony?
by Yechiel A. Mann: Herein an
outstanding excerpt from The NY Times as of December 1974, alleging about
corruption in the Israeli National Religious party, Mafdal.
The shocking testimony of Rabbi Avidor Ha`Cohen may show that Children from Israel were likely
"exported" to the United States for adoption and sold for about
$5,000 each.
by Yechiel A. Mann: Ami Chovav was interviewed with respect to medical experiments
allegedly conducted on Yemenite children hospitalized during the 50s. He had began investigating this case in 1966 at the time when
families with children who were reported dead, began receiving military summons
for drafting into the IDF.
by Yechiel A. Mann: And there
is a need to lend them a hand in finding their children - and the stealers of
their children. Read the outstanding story of Yosef Aharon Hammami and his two wives,
Kadia and Mazal. Rabbi Shlomo Korach searched his
missing sister and niece, who were likely kidnapped. How had Yona Hovera lost her daughter?
by Yechiel A. Mann:
*
Her brother's body was never found.
* Although adopted at three months the court order referring to her adoption
was issued only when she was eight years!
* Immediately after the birth, the doctor asked to buy one of her twins saying
"but you have other children. . ."
by Yechiel A. Mann: In
addition to outstanding excerpts from the book "Hitvaaduyot"
of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Yechiel Mann refers to the very fact that even after the Shalgi committee finished its job, none of the documents
were catalogued. . . No way was found in
24. Swept Under the Magic Carpet
by Yechiel A. Mann: Operation
"Magic Carpet" was initiated in 1949. It brought approximately
fifty thousand Yemenite Jews to
25. Margalit Omessi and Tzila
Levine
by Yechiel A. Mann: Margalit Omessi and Tzila Levine are convinced they are mother and daughter, as
is the rest of their family.
26. About The Yemenite Jewish Disapora
Demography, History, Communal and Religious Life, Aliya, etc.
27.
BMJ 315 (1997), 626;
28.
Nature 389 (1997), 322.
CONCLUSION
It is reasonable to believe that none of
the Israeli governments was directly involved in the kidnapping of Yemenite
children. Some of the children really died, others were adopted with the
apparent consent of their families, but many others were kidnapped by independent
criminals. Moreover most of these criminals were holding high
ranked positions, and this enabled them to evade punishment. Accordingly
it makes the establishment quite liable (according to Israeli law). Needless to say that had the babies been Ashkenazi, the
investigation of their disappearance would have been held long ago, and without
court orders.