Operation Magic Carpet, Yemenite Jews await airlift to Israel

Yemenite Jews patiently wait to board a plane that will transport them to Israel. In a dramatic rescue effort, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) planned, organized, and financed the historic airlift of 48,000 Yemenite Jews-nearly the entire community-from the British Protectorate of Aden to Israel. These Jews had trekked across 200 miles of desert to reach Aden, where food, clothing, shelter, and some medical aid were provided for the malnourished and often ill refugees. The mass exodus, which began in December 1948 and ended on September 19, 1950, required the charter of close to 450 flights flown by Alaska Airlines.