Testimony from Dvora Bashari, Mousa-Moshe's niece:

My grandparents, Shlomo and Simcha Mualem, immigrated to Israel from Yemen, together with their children, on September 29, 1949, and arrived at Rosh Ha’ayin immigrant camp (Ma’abara).

All the children, including my late mother Gomesh (Rachel), were born in Yemen, except for the youngest sister who was born in Israel.

It was not easy for my grandparents and the other immigrants. My grandfather was a jeweler in Yemen, and in Israel he worked in drugery at the JNF, and my grandmother cleaned houses here.

When they arrived in Israel, all the jewelry that my grandfather had made was taken away from them, as well as ancient Torah scrolls, on the side of one of which were written all the birth dates of their boys and girls. Everything was taken away from them. They had no ability to resist. The didn't have the language or understanding of how things are going on here.

My grandfather and my grandmother, both passed away in 1961, 4 months apart from one other.

When they arrived at the Rosh Ha’ayin immigrant camp in 1949, my mother was 10 years old and her brother Musa-Moshe was 3 years old. This is the age at which he was kidnapped.

The moment my mom told us about it, was amazing. We were sitting at home and watching TV. There was a program about giraffes, when in one of the segments, they showed a giraffe being injected and put to sleep, and then my mother told us: "This is exactly what they did to my brother Musa in the immigrant camp (ma'abara)" and told us the story of his disappearance. How people came into the tent in the camp, maybe claiming they came to check on the children, and they just gave Musa an injection, put him to sleep and took him away. They said he wasn't feeling well and that they were taking him for an examination, and they didn’t bring him back.

My grandparents were told that the child had passed away, and that he was buried in Sgula cemetery. Years later, I looked into the subject and didn't found any grave with his name in Sgula cemetery. I checked together with my late aunt, who was my mother's and Musa's sister. We checked against the lists of Chevra Kadisha on their website, it was about twenty years ago, we found a grave of an aunt who passed away (not related to the case), and we did not find a grave for Musa. Now I want to go back and search in more depth.

I would like to point out, that my mother and Musa were both very fair skinned, unlike the other brothers and sisters, who were dark skinned.

I am very frustrated with this matter. Frustrated with the state's attitude to the affair and cannot ignore the discrimination that exists here. I work as a librarian at a school, I know the history books very closely, and see how little is written about the Mizrachi jews, compared to the others. I see how immigrants were treated when they arrived in Israel, the kidnappings, the ringworm affair. It is outrageous.

I believe with all my heart that my uncle Musa-Moshe has not passed away and that he is still alive.