Yemen was one of the first Arab countries to recognize the State of Palestine in 1988, and has since maintained a strong stance in support of Palestinian rights.
Since the 1970s, Yemen has experienced the influx of Palestinian groups in the education sector supported by scholarships. This happened during a period when Yemen was trying to establish stability following approximately ten years of conflict after the 1962 revolution.[1] The influx of individuals occurred in a series of successive phases the most considerable of which were those who arrived subsequent to the Beirut siege of 1982. This particular contingent was primarily composed of individuals, along with their families, who joined the Palestinian militants. The arrival of further groups continued until the final group arrived in 2003 shortly after the American incursion into Iraq.[1]
In 1990, Yemen officially unified into a single state, and the newly formed government continued to support Palestine. Yemen has consistently voted in favor of resolutions supporting Palestinian statehood at the United Nations, and has provided financial and political support to the Palestinians.
Despite the lack of a specific geographical reference within the Quran, the encounter between Solomon and the Queen of Sheba is recorded in this religious text. Nonetheless, as per the insights of a subset of historians and experts, situated in contemporary Yemen, southern Arabia is conceivably the location of Sheba, governed under the authority of the Queen of Sheba. Likewise, it is commonly held that King Solomon presided over the governance of the ancient Israelite people in the land that currently occupies the territory of Palestine.[2]