Was Medina a model for peaceful coexistence?

This Aish article by Eliyahu Freedman describes the Jewish kingdom of Himyar, but seems to exaggerate the importance of the Constitution of Medina as a model for  peaceful coexistence between Jews and Arabs in 7th century Arabia. The pact only existed for a short time when Muhammad was wooing the Jews of the area, hoping to convert them to his new religion. When they refused, Muhammad turned against them, killing the men and taking the women and children as slaves.  The surviving Jews were forced to pay a tribute. (With thanks: Laurence)

The origins of the Jewish roots of the Arabian Peninsula abound in legends. According to oral traditions of the Yemenite Jewish community itself, Jews first wandered from Sinai into the Arabian Peninsula while lost in the desert during the Exodus from Egypt. At a later biblical period, the Book of Kings discusses King Solomon’s trading of gifts with the Queen of Sheba, believed by some to be located in present-day Yemen. Finally, Jews descended to live in Yemen permanently amongst the exiles of the 10 lost tribes around 722 BCE.

Archaeological evidence discovered in the 20th century confirms an ongoing Jewish presence in the Arabian Peninsula since roughly the fourth century and introduces a previously unknown chapter in Arabian Jewish history: the conversion of the ancient “Kingdom of Himyar” to Judaism. The Himyarites ruled pre-modern Yemen for three centuries from their capital of Himyar, close to the dazzling stone city of Sana, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

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