<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: 294.75pt" class=MsoNormal>Reexamining the heroic myth that has developed around Operation Magic Carpet, during which the majority of Yemeni Jews—through the cooperation among the imam of Yemen, the British colonial rulers of Aden, the Israeli government, and the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee—were resettled in Israel in 1949 and 1950, this study uses archival documents to reveal the enormous personal cost of the operation. The author argues that the abandonment of immigrants to death in the desert during their trek to Aden, and the substantive loss of personal property in leaving their homes at such short notice, calls into question the personal benefit of such a brutal upheaval and demands a reassessment of the aims of the immigration operation and its prime movers. Of particular importance is a discussion of the interests of the various states and organizations that were involved in the exodus, which it is posited can be seen in retrospect as the first stage in the evacuation of ancient Jewish communities throughout the Middle East and their transfer to Israel. On a more broadly political level, this book also explores whether the Jews in Muslim countries paid the price for the establishment of the state of Israel and the creation of the Palestinian refugee problem.