Still Facing US-Backed Famine, Yemenis Want to Save Gaza From the Same Fate Millions in Yemen, where 80 percent are food insecure, protest every Friday in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. by Odeliya Matter, Truthout, April 6, 2024 https://truthout.org/articles/still-facing-us-backed-famine-yemenis-want-to-save-gaza-from-the-same-fate/
Every Friday since October 20, 2023, protesters in Yemen have hit the streets to protest the war on Gaza. This solidarity comes as no surprise given Yemenis have long experienced war and famine. In a similar show of solidarity, in November Yemen-based Houthi rebels started targeting ships in the Red Sea to put pressure on Israel to end its war on Gaza. The Houthis, initially a rebel group aligned with Shia Islam formed in the late 1980s, eventually overthrew Yemen’s government in 2014, and have since retained control over significant areas of Yemen and its population. In response to Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, in early January the U.S. and U.K. began launching airstrikes on Yemeni soil and have, over the following three months, launched hundreds more. On Thursday, April 4, Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi said some 424 U.S. and British airstrikes in Yemen have killed 37 people and wounded 30 more. The U.S. attacks in Yemen are being carried out in a country that is still trying to recover from almost a decade of civil war and devastating attacks by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — attacks that were facilitated by military aid from the U.S. That conflict led to one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters, with 80 percent of Yemenis still dependent on food assistance for survival. In this exclusive interview for Truthout, two Yemeni peace activists discuss how Yemenis are perceiving the war on Gaza, the Houthi attacks on vessels in the Red Sea, Yemen’s humanitarian crisis and U.S.-Yemen relations more broadly. Aisha Jumaan is a Yemen-born activist and founder and president of the Yemen Relief and Reconstruction Foundation. Shireen Al-Adeimi is a nonresident fellow at the Quincy Institute and assistant professor of language and literacy at Michigan State University’s College of Education. Odeliya Matter: Aisha, what have Yemenis been saying about the war on Gaza, as well as Houthi attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea and the U.S. military response? Aisha Jumaan: I would say that over 90 percent of Yemenis are supportive of the position on Gaza taken by Ansar Allah (the official name of the Houthis). The position that they took, in terms of blocking Israeli-linked and Israeli-destined ships to Gaza, has resulted in a lot of cracks in the coalition against Ansar Allah. And it’s across the board. There are a lot of other political groups in Yemen, whether it’s the Muslim Brotherhood-linked Islah Party, whether it’s the Secessionist Southern Transitional Council, all of these groups have had prominent leadership break away and go to Yemen’s capital, Sana’a, to support Ansar Allah’s leadership there. Yemenis have been experiencing war, aggression and siege for over nine years. We have almost 18 million people who are food insecure. And the number of people who go to the streets every single Friday for Gaza only increases. Matter: Every single Friday? Jumaan: Every single Friday. Matter: How many people show up? Jumaan: Probably 4 to 5 million people are out in the streets. On February 23, there were over 120 demonstrations in major cities, small cities and small towns. . . . Jumaan: ... and the Yemenis never viewed the Saudi war on Yemen as a Saudi war on Yemen, they always viewed it as an American war on Yemen. If you go to Sana’a or the Yemeni port city of Hudaydah, you’ll see a lot of graffiti on the walls that says it’s an American war. You’ll see images of missiles with the text “American made” on them beside the destruction or death of people. Many Yemenis say it’s an American war and that the Saudis are only an instrument. So, right now, with the U.S. and the U.K. directly attacking Yemen, they are saying, “OK, when their instruments fail, now they are doing it themselves.” . . . -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#29822): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/29822 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/105378573/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. #4 Do not exceed five posts a day. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/8674936/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
