3 Jewish Immigration to East Africa

Abstract

Remarkable emigration from Yemen became another manifestation of the profound transformation that the Yemeni Jewish community underwent during the nineteenth century and until the middle of the twentieth century. The world powers' involvement in the Red Sea region in the nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth century brought about new activity in the area and strengthened relations between its two coasts. Foreign troops and administrators stationed in Aden, Yemen, and East Africa encouraged economic undertakings. Foreign merchants were joined by local merchants, Jews and non-Jews, and these were followed by labor migrants. This chapter examines the nature and causes of this Jewish migration to Ethiopia, mainly to Eritrea. It presents the complex relations between Adeni Jews and Yemeni Jews in Eritrea and argues that this resulted from the colonial situation and the role that each group played in the Italian colonial order.Keywords: Adeni Jews; Italian colonial order; Jewish immigration; Yemeni Jewish community