Praise for Yemenite virtues justified their exploitation and summary dismissal

Evidence

The personal qualifications identified as “typical” of the Yemenite Jews—diligence, humility, and naïveté—were considered their main assets in Bezalel but they also allowed for their exploitation. At a time of crisis, in 1913, when their products were no longer in demand many silversmiths of Bezalel were dismissed without notice or compensation after years of low-paid work. — Ivan Davidson Kalmar, Derek Penslar, Orientalism and the Jews, 586

Categorization

• SEED: Essay angle: the seduction of ‘good worker’ stereotypes — how ethnic virtue-narratives double as exploitation licenses.
• XREF: Echoes the ‘model minority’ dynamics in American immigration history.