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Satmar Chasidim: Was the project to settle Yemenite families in Stamford Hill a 'failed experiment'?

Between the early 1990s and 2010, an estimated 20 Yemenite families were brought to London by the Charedi sect - but issues with integration quickly became apparent

October 3, 2019 12:19
While figures are hard to come by, an estimated 20 families emigrated to Britain to live among the Satmar Chasidic community

ByBen Weich, Ben weich

9 min read

Sixteen years ago, Avi Karni, then an infant, was brought to the UK by his Jewish Yemenite family, who settled in the Charedi neighbourhood of Stamford Hill, in east London.

They had come from Monsey, New York, where his family had lived among the Chasidic community after being lured from Yemen’s largest city, Sana’a, by Satmar missionaries in 1993.

The Karnis were one of dozens, perhaps hundreds, of Yemenite families who were convinced by Satmar Chasidim to eschew emigration to Israel, where they would have received support from the state as new olim, to instead live among Ashkenazi Charedim in New York and London.

Now 21, Karni — who sometimes goes by his birth name, Abraham Ibrahim — has been sentenced to seven and a half years in jail after being convicted of nine counts of sexual offences against young girls he met through social media.