Jemenkrieg-Mosaik 731 - Yemen War Mosaic 731

Yemen Press Reader 731: 30. März 2021: Wer kann Bin Salmans Stolz vergessen, als er seinen Krieg im begann? – Zivilisten im Jemen stecken zwischen den Kriegsparteien und warten auf Gerechtigkeit

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... Die GPC und Islah nach 2011 – Ansar Allahs ambivalente politische Plattform – Jemens Südlicher Übergangsrat: Ein heikler Balanceakt – Rekrutiert, verhaftet, vor Gericht: Jemenitische Spione für CIA und MI6 – Die Emiratische Lobby in den USA – Houthi-Bildungssystem verherrlicht den Dschihad – UN-Team stellt fest, dass die Houthis für den Angriff auf den Flughafen Aden mit 22 Toten verantwortlich sind – und mehr

March 30, 2021: Who can forget Bin Salman's pride at launching his war on Yemen? – Civilians in Yemen remain stuck between the warring parties and waiting for justice – The GPC and Islah after 2011 –Ansar Allah’s ambivalent political platform – Yemen’s Southern Transitional Council: A delicate balancing act – Recruited, arrested, on Trial: Yemeni Spies for CIA, MI6 – The Emirati lobby in the US – Houthi education system glorifies jihad – U.N. team finds Houthis launched Aden airport attack that killed 22 – and more

Schwerpunkte / Key aspects

Kursiv: Siehe Teil 2 / In Italics: Look in part 2: https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-731b-yemen-war-mosaic-731b

Klassifizierung / Classification

Für wen das Thema ganz neu ist / Who is new to the subject

cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important

cp1a Am wichtigsten: Coronavirus und Seuchen / Most important: Coronavirus and epidemics

cp1b Am wichtigsten: Saudis bieten Waffenstillstand an / Most important: Saudis offer ceasefire

cp2 Allgemein / General

cp2a Allgemein: Saudische Blockade / General: Saudi blockade

cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation

cp4 Flüchtlinge / Refugees

cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis

cp6 Separatisten und Hadi-Regierung im Südjemen / Separatists and Hadi government in Southern Yemen

cp7 UNO und Friedensgespräche / UN and peace talks

cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia

cp8a Jamal Khashoggi

cp9 USA

cp9a USA-Iran Krise: Spannungen am Golf / US-Iran crisis: Tensions at the Gulf

cp10 Großbritannien / Great Britain

cp11 Deutschland / Germany

cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries

cp12b Sudan

cp13a Waffenhandel / Arms trade

cp13b Wirtschaft / Economy

cp15 Propaganda

cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids

cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War

cp17a Kriegsereignisse: Schlacht um Marib / Theater of War: Marib battle

cp18 Kampf um Hodeidah / Hodeidah battle

cp19 Sonstiges / Other

Klassifizierung / Classification

***

**

*

(Kein Stern / No star)

? = Keine Einschatzung / No rating

A = Aktuell / Current news

B = Hintergrund / Background

C = Chronik / Chronicle

D = Details

E = Wirtschaft / Economy

H = Humanitäre Fragen / Humanitarian questions

K = Krieg / War

P = Politik / Politics

pH = Pro-Houthi

pS = Pro-Saudi

T = Terrorismus / Terrorism

Für wen das Thema ganz neu ist / Who is new to the subject

Ältere einführende Artikel u. Überblicke für alle, die mit den Ereignissen im Jemen noch nicht vertraut sind, hier:

Yemen War: Older introductory articles, overviews, for those who are still unfamiliar with the Yemen war here:

https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-einfuehrende-artikel-u-ueberblicke

(* B H K)

Krisenland Jemen: Alleingelassen in höchster Not

Im Jemen herrscht die größte humanitäre Krise der Welt. Seit Kürzung der Hilfsgelder ist die Lage außer Kontrolle.

Der Jemen wird nach sechs Jahren Krieg einfach ignoriert. »Es ist beschämend, dass die Welt die Hilfe kürzt, wenn Kinder Blätter essen, weil sie nicht genug zu essen haben«, sagt Muhammad Zulqarnain Abbas. Er ist im Jemen Programmdirektor der islamischen Hilfsorganisation Islamic Relief. Mütter, die selbst hungrig sind, tragen ihre Kinder kilometerweit, um auf der Suche nach Hilfe in eines der von Islamic Relief betreuten Ernährungs- und Gesundheitszentren zu gelangen. »Die Welt lässt sie allein in ihrer größten Not«, beklagt Abbas.

Auch die Hilfsorganisationen Save the Children und Handicap Internationale warnen: Neue Gewalt und damit eine Verschärfung der Hungersnot bedrohen die Kleinsten und Schwächsten im Jemen. Im Süden der Arabischen Halbinsel tobt seit sechs Jahren ein Bürgerkrieg. Er hat in dem ohnehin armen Land nach Angaben der Vereinten Nationen die größte humanitäre Krise der Welt ausgelöst. 20 Millionen Menschen, zwei Drittel der Bevölkerung, sind nach UN-Schätzung auf humanitäre Hilfe angewiesen.

Die Hilfe für den Jemen lässt unterdessen dramatisch nach. Bei der UN-Geberkonferenz kamen nur noch 1,7 Milliarden Dollar an Spenden zusammen. Diese Summe deckt weniger als die Hälfte des tatsächlichen Bedarfs, heißt es bei der Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe in Berlin. »Die humanitäre Lage im Jemen war noch nie schlimmer«, sagte UN-Generalsekretär António Guterres zu Beginn der Konferenz.

Die Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) und das UN World Food Programme (WFP) schrieben in ihrem »Hunger Hotspots-Bericht«, dass Familien in Teilen des Jemen von Hunger und Tod bedroht seien. Im Jemen werden die anhaltende Gewalt und der wirtschaftliche Niedergang sowie die schwerwiegenden Unterbrechungen der humanitären Hilfe in den kommenden Monaten wahrscheinlich anhalten.

Die Zahl der unterernährten Kinder, die in von Islamic Relief unterstützten Ernährungszentren im Jemen aufgenommen werden, hat sich in den letzten drei Monaten fast verdoppelt, weil die internationale Hilfe so drastisch gekürzt wurde. In den Hilfszentren ist die Zahl der unterernährten schwangeren Frauen und jungen Mütter, die Hilfe suchen, um 80 Prozent gestiegen.

Dr. Asmahan Albadany, der Koordinator des Ernährungsprogramms von Islamic Relief in Hodeidah, im Westen des Jemen am Roten Meer, sagt: »Die Situation ist außer Kontrolle geraten, seitdem die Nahrungsmittelhilfe halbiert wurde.« Es sei herzzerreißend zu sehen, »wie dünn die Kinder sind, sie sind nur Haut und Knochen«.

Die Folgen des massiven Bomben- und Granatbeschusses von Wohngebieten im Jemen seien verheerend. Viele Städte sind laut Handicap International mit Blindgängern und nicht explodierten Sprengkörpern verseucht. Auch Landminen liegen herum. Das Ausmaß der Zerstörung sei erschütternd und die Rückkehr der Bewohner in ihre Wohnorte extrem gefährlich.

https://www.gea.de/welt/politik_artikel,-krisenland-jemen-alleingelassen-in-h%C3%B6chster-not-_arid,6415048.html

cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important

(** B K P)

Who can forget Bin Salman's pride at launching his war on Yemen?

I cannot forget the sight of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman standing in the Ministry of Defence command room in Saudi Arabia on 25 March 2015 and, as proud as a peacock, announcing the creation of an Arab coalition led by the Kingdom to restore legitimacy in Yemen and bring down the Houthi coup. The name given to the coalition military operation in Yemen was Operation Decisive Storm. Some of the countries named within the coalition knew nothing about it until Bin Salman's announcement. The luckier ones knew about it a few hours earlier.

Nor can I forget the daily appearance of Major General Ahmad Asiri, the coalition spokesman. He simply gloated about Saudi missiles hitting deep inside Yemeni territory.

It is ironic that Saudi Arabia and its ally the UAE led the counter-revolutions in the Arab countries but support the legitimate government in Yemen and its elected President, Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, while leading the war against the coup leaders to return him to Yemen. Neither backed the legitimate, elected government of President Mohamed Morsi in Egypt, opting to back the coup instead.

The truth as everyone knows is that Saudi Arabia decided unilaterally to launch a war on Yemen, and military operations were carried out solely by Saudi troops. Then the UAE joined them, albeit behind the scenes until the time came for its planned role in the southern secession movement.

Bin Salman's ambition has gone too far. He believes that Saudi Arabia has the right to lead the Arab world, with its enormous economic power and a huge arsenal in storage. It is time, he thinks, to use these weapons beyond the Kingdom's borders in order to fulfil his dream, which is all rather delusional. Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler chose to start the military operations on the evening of the Arab Summit in Sharm El-Sheikh, so that the whole world would witnesses his power and influence, and ability to mobilise the Arab countries under his leadership. He wanted to portray himself as the mighty hero at the head of the Arab armies.

Six years of fierce war later, and legitimacy has still not been restored. Nothing has been gained but ruin and destruction in Yemen at the hands of those close to the people in land and bloodlines.

The Saudi prince has destroyed Yemen, turning its buildings and valleys and ruins and rubble. He has destroyed the heritage and civilisation of Yemen and taken it back to the Stone Age out of spite and hatred.

The malicious conspiracy state, the UAE, has a different agenda, but it is aligned completely with the regional plan to dismantle the Yemeni state. When the two allies clashed, Bin Salman felt betrayed by the UAE's back-stabbing as it went about its own projects.

The arrogant Saudi crown prince claimed on more than one occasion that the invasion of Sanaa and its liberation from the Houthis would take only a few days. His ambition blinded him to reality, and this has cost the Kingdom dear.

In the face of international pressure, Trump's election defeat — he turned a blind eye to Bin Salman's excesses in Yemen — and US President Joe Biden's determination to end the war in Yemen, the Saudi crown prince came up with an initiative to end the war. He called it the "Saudi Initiative for Peace in Yemen", and he more or less begged the Houthis to accept it.

I do not think that it is the solution to end the crisis in Yemen, but it is arguably a step towards that end. In any case, the Houthis rejected it immediately, despite it containing some major concessions by Saudi Arabia. The Houthis, though, believe that the initiative did not pledge to lift the blockade imposed by the Saudis on Sanaa International Airport and the port of Hodeidah, through which 80 per cent of Yemen's imports pass, including fuel and food.

Bin Salman's initiative was clearly the wrong time to make a miserable attempt to reduce his losses, and was an explicit admission of defeat. His mistake was that it focused on the humanitarian side of the crisis only and separated it from the political and sovereign aspects that will require negotiations that may extend for many years.

Bin Salman thought that he controlled decisions about war and peace, but he did not realise that Yemen today is different to the Yemen of six years ago, when he launched his war. And that the Houthis have today become part of a regional alliance, in which Iran is present, with all that entails. The US is using the Yemen crisis as a card to improve its regional negotiating position.

That is why it is difficult to get out of the Yemeni crisis with a political initiative, unilaterally, while the other side rejects it. There must be regional understandings between Saudi Arabia and Iran, and international approval, to stop the war in Yemen. I do not believe that it will stop until the battle in Marib has been decided, but God knows best – by Amira Abo el-Fetouh

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20210329-who-can-forget-bin-salmans-pride-at-launching-his-war-on-yemen/

(** B H K)

Civilians in Yemen remain stuck between the warring parties and waiting for justice

On the sixth anniversary of the start of Saudi/UAE-led coalition military operations in Yemen, Mwatana calls on all parties to the conflict to immediately stop their violations and abuses, and calls on the global community to end impunity, including by using existing international routes, or establishing them, to hold violators to account and provide reparations to victims.

Since March 26, 2015, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have led a military coalition against the Ansar Allah (Houthi) armed group, which took over the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, by force on September 21, 2014. In early 2021, the Ansar Allah (Houthi) group escalated its attacks on Marib governorate. Escalations in fighting quickly followed in other parts of the country.

“After years of war in Yemen, instead of the conflict ending as civilians desperately need, the conflict is evolving and escalating, and the warring parties continue to grievously harm civilians,” Radhya Al-Mutawakel, Chairperson of Mwatana for Human Rights. “States must make clear to perpetrators that they will be held accountable for their crimes.”

Six years after the conflict in Yemen escalated, Mwatana for Human Rights continues to document violations and abuses by all parties to the conflict, including Saudi/UAE-led coalition forces, UAE-backed armed groups, Ansar Allah (Houthi) forces, and forces of the internationally recognized government of Yemen. Since late March 2015, Mwatana has documented immense civilian harm from the Coalition air campaign, including indiscriminate and disproportionate airstrikes that have killed and wounded civilians, including women and children, and damaged and destroyed civilian objects. Mwatana has also documented immense civilian harm during ground fighting in Yemen, including Ansar Allah, Coalition and Yemeni government forces indiscriminately shelling densely populated civilian areas.

The conflict has cast a shadow over civilians and has had a devastating impact on vital civilian infrastructure across the country. Throughout the war, civilians have suffered displacement, fuel shortages, and the interruption of salaries and basic services. The restrictions imposed by the Saudi/UAE-led coalition, the armed groups it backs, the Ansar Allah (Houthi) group and the Yemeni government on humanitarian supplies and humanitarian access have increased the risk of famine, severely impacted Yemenis’ right to health, and contributed to pushing Yemen, which the UN calls the worst humanitarian crisis in the world, further into humanitarian catastrophe. Uninterrupted warring party abuse continues to threaten the lives of millions of Yemenis, already grappling with widespread hunger and the spread of diseases, including COVID-19. There are growing concerns that the continuation of the conflict will lead to the collapse of what remains of the fragile structure of state institutions.

“The fact that warring party abuses have continued for so many years shows why it is so important for states to activate independent, international routes towards accountability,” Al-Mutawakel said. “The most obvious path is for the UN Security Council to refer the Yemen file to the International Criminal Court, which means the US, UK and France need to finally move from fueling the conflict by arming warring parties and move towards helping end the conflict by supporting justice efforts.”

Air Strikes

The Saudi/UAE-led coalition has carried out hundreds of airstrikes that have killed and wounded thousands of civilians, and hit vital infrastructure, including hospitals and health centers. Mwatana has documented repeated indiscriminate and disproportionate Coalition airstrikes, many of which may amount to war crimes.

Between March 2015 and March 2021, Mwatana documented at least 577 airstrikes impacting civilians or civilian objects, which killed about 3,820 civilians, including 966 women and 405 children, and wounded about 3,000 civilians, including 764 women and 356 children. The airstrikes hit residential neighborhoods, villages, markets, bridges, schools, and service and commercial facilities.

Among Coalition airstrikes impacting civilians documented by Mwatana, Mwatana documented the use of US weapons in (25) airstrikes, UK weapons in (5) air strikes, and an Italian weapon in one airstrike.

Despite this, a number of states, such as the US, UK, and France, have continued to provide weapons and/or other forms of support to members of the Saudi/UAE-led coalition. Throughout the war, these states have also impeded efforts aimed at ensuring international investigations and accountability efforts are sufficient to respond to the gravity, severity and volume of violations being committed in Yemen.

On December 11, 2019, Mwatana, the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights and other partners filed a petition of more than 300 pages, containing detailed investigations into 26 airstrikes that may amount to war crimes, supported by evidence collected by Mwatana. The petition called on the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to investigate the role of corporate and political actors in Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the UK for their potential involvement in Saudi/UAE-led coalition war crimes.

On 11 August 2019, Mwatana and the Global Legal Action Network submitted a letter and substantial body of information to the Secretary of State for International Trade in the United Kingdom, explaining the importance of an immediate suspension of arms sales to Saudi Arabia. The information included detailed witness evidence, comprehensive photographic documentation of attack sites and munition remnants. It also addressed specific patterns of coalition attacks, and the failures of the coalition’s Joint Incident Assessment Team.

In March 2016, Mwatana submitted a written evidence to the Arms Export Control Committee in the UK Parliament about the coalition’s use of UK-made weapons against civilian objects in Yemen.

International humanitarian law obliges warring parties to distinguish between civilian and military objectives, to take all feasible precautions to minimize harm to civilians and civilian objects, and to refrain from carrying out indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks.

“The Biden Administration took an important step by announcing it would end some military support to the Coalition and invest in diplomatic efforts to end the war,” al-Mutawakel said, “But this doesn’t erase the last six years, and the US must commit to supporting justice for Yemen, including investigating and providing remedies for its own role in civilian harm.”

Ground Attacks

During ground fighting, Mwatana has repeatedly documented the warring parties firing artillery indiscriminately at densely populated civilian areas. Ansar Allah has repeatedly carried out shelling attacks on densely populated Yemeni areas across the country, with a particularly severe impact on Taiz. While Ansar Allah “Houthis” also carried out 10 incidents of ground shelling on the densely populated city of Marib since the escalation of violence in the governorate in 2020.

Saudi forces have shelled Yemeni cities, villages and markets near the land border between Saudi Arabia and Yemen, and Coalition-backed ground forces, such as UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council forces and UAE-backed Joint Forces on the Western coast, have also caried out ground attacks that killed and wounded civilians and destroyed civilian objects.

Between March 2015 to March 2021, Mwatana documented at least 418 ground attacks that killed 219 civilians, including 116 children and 39 women, and wounded at least 575 others, including 273 children and 96 women. Ansar Allah (Houthi) was responsible for 285 of ground attacks. Coalition forces and Coalition-backed armed groups were responsible for 76, respectively, while Hadi government forces were responsible for 57 of the documented ground attacks.

International humanitarian law prohibits indiscriminate attacks, including those using mortars, artillery projectiles and unguided rockets where the weapons cannot be directed at a specific military target.

Child Recruitment and Use

Since the conflict escalated in March 2015, Mwatana has documented warring parties recruiting and using children during the conflict, including using children as fighters, as well as in security and logistical roles. Between March 2015 and March 2021, Mwatana documented at least 359 incidents of children recruited and used by armed groups backed by the Saudi/UAE-led coalition. During the same period, Mwatana documented 1324 incidents of child recruitment and use by the Ansar Allah (Houthi) armed group, and 294 incidents of child recruitment and use by the internationally recognized government.

https://mwatana.org/en/civilians-in-yemen-remain-stuck/

(** B P)

Yemen: The GPC and Islah After 2011

Ten years after the 2011 uprising and six years since the civil war outbreak in 2015, Yemen’s main, “old” political parties, the General People’s Congress (GPC) and Islah, are coping with a fragmented and deeply transformed country. On identity and alliance-making, Yemen’s political structure is traditionally marked by fluidity and pragmatism. Nevertheless, the weakening of old, Yemeni “national” parties deeply affects their current organisation and leadership as well as their relations with social, tribal bases and with parties’ armed wings- Meanwhile, newcoming actors from geographical peripheries are strengthening in post-uprising Yemen.

Especially during the 2011-2021 decade, violence has largely replaced politics: armed groups, which are often extensions of political parties themselves, have monopolized the country’s contemporary landscape. However, political parties will likely return to prominence. The GPC (or rather, what remains of it) and Islah are expected to play a pivotal role in the event of a comprehensive political settlement, as both have nationwide reach and political expertise. The two parties were at the forefront of the 2011 uprising (albeit on opposite sides); how have the GPC and Islah changed since then? How are their structure, leadership, local and tribal relations? What kind of relationships do they currently have with armed groups and regional powers?

The Trajectory of Yemen’s Multiparty Structure

Since 1994, the GPC and Islah have dominated the dysfunctional system of power which controlled Yemen through over-centralization and patronage: since 2002, the GPC has acted as the governing party and Islah as the opposition. Both the GPC and, to a lesser extent, Islah are composite formations: they were built as large umbrellas to outreach tribesmen as well as religious and local leaders, connecting resources and interests to central institutions.

The GPC has been divided into at least three major branches after the killing of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh in 2017; in central and eastern governorates the GPC has lost support among tribes, who increasingly favour Islah (formally the Yemeni Congregation for Reform). Islah, which is ideologically linked to the Muslim Brotherhood, but also includes part of the Salafis and the conservative-business-tribal milieu, has increased its power among post-2011, internationally-recognized institutions. However, on the ground, the party lacks leadership and faces strong opposition from both Ansar Allah (the Houthis) and the Southern Transitional Council (STC).

Political parties are widely perceived to be responsible for Yemen’s political and economic fragility.

Political Parties in the 2010s: Even Fewer National Players Than Before?

For main and “old” political parties, Yemen’s fragmentation has generated new challenges. Although supportive of national unity and present in most of the governorates, the GPC and Islah have never really been national parties, since they each retained specific geographical areas of influence; with the GPC gathering support mostly in Sanaa and the north while Islah grew throughout mostly Sunni Shafe’i-inhabited provinces, although also rallying Shia Zaydis. However, since 2011 , local leaders and alliances have begun to matter more than the (would-be) national partiesin terms of leadership, political mobilization, and decision-making.

The GPC and Islah Ater 2011. Evolution and Regional Backers

As the former ruling party, the GPC was able to gain consensus and support beyond its base of Sanaa. However, the GPC’s robust membership was never meant to develop into a party that adheres to its principles, but rather it served as a network that protected former President Saleh’s personal interests and his circle. Islah, on the other hand, has historically maintained an organized hierarchy with strict membership requirements within Yemen. It also has an internationalized dimension and older roots than the GPC, with ties to the transnational Muslim Brotherhood.

Before the killing of Saleh in late 2017, a significant part of the GPC had been already amalgamated into the political structure of the de facto Ansar Allah’s authority in Sanaa, given the alliance of convenience between Saleh and the Houthis (2014-2017). As of 2021, three other main GPC components can be identified outside of Yemen

Islah, instead, was strengthened by the 2012-2014 political transition: it gained remarkable power in ministries and post-uprising institutions, and it remains the dominant force within internationally recognized institutions (although President Hadi belongs to the GPC). The Islah party has its origins dating back to the 1940s, when Yemeni university students in Egypt were exposed to the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood. Despite the group being founded in Yemen in the 1960s, it was only formally legalized in 1990. Islah is vocal about supporting a unified Yemen.

Yemen’s Political Parties. Stratified Identities and Loyalties

At first glance, political parties appear to be marginalized from everyday politics during the 2011-2021 decade.

GPC, Islah, and tribes. Long-Standing and Fluid Relations

After 2011, the GPC party lost its once-significant influence over tribes. As during the Saleh era, tribes continue to be paid to act as patrons of the party. Most of the tribes that were pro-Saleh, such as the Shaif family, now live in Saudi Arabia, where they receive large sums of money from the Kingdom

This dynamic contrasts with Islah, whose members tend not to pocket money meant for the party. The party continues to be active in society and education, establishing women networks, engaging with Salafis and Sufis, and funding charities and community projects. Islah maintains strong support in tribal areas across Yemen, particularly amongst Sunni tribes.

Which Kind of State? Balancing National Unity and Local Powers

The crisis of state institutions has slightly impacted the universal attitude of Yemeni political parties on centre-periphery relations. Both the GPC and Islah were, and remain, officially supportive of national unity

Weakened Political Parties, Bourgeoning Armed Groups. Which Prospects for Demilitarization?

Both the GPC and Islah have unofficial military wings, often tribal militias, within the army and the security sector.

As the power and cohesion of Yemen’s main political parties decline, the prospect for parties’ demilitarization is reduced.

Outlook. The GPC and Islah: Uncertainties and Adaptability

Historically dominant in the north, the GPC will likely continue to fail to extend its presence into the south, where it remains unable to counter the stigma of its northern origins and attendants’ association with oppression and corruption. However, despite its limited appeal in the south, the GPC is growing along the western coast of Taiz, where Tareq Saleh’s armed wing retains significant military power (albeit completely subservient to the Coalition’s commands). For the time being, the GPC will continue to draw on the relationships established by its former leader, President Saleh, and the recruitment efforts of his nephew. The divide between GPC leadership could potentially be fixed if the Coalition decides to re-build the GPC’s brand in order to confront the Houthis (for example, they could choose to further empower Tareq Saleh to continue and intensify his ongoing fight against the Houthis in Tihama).

President Hadi has been in exile since 2015 and rarely appears in public. Rumours about his health abound as speculations that he might even be under house arrest in Saudi Arabia. Representing a weakened and contested leadership, Hadi is not able to stably return to Yemen since he would be targeted by the Houthis, the STC, and others. However, in case of a succession at the Presidency, Vice President General Ali Mohsin Al-Ahmar would likely take over according to the Constitution. From a political perspective, he could rely on a strong connection with Islah, a party which currently appears to be the pivot of Yemen’s political balance.

Islah stands as the only pre-Saleh Yemeni party that has relatively maintained its ideological and political identity in the post-Saleh era. Viewing Islah exclusively as an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood is reductionist: the party has worked with former foes, like the GPC, both prior and during the conflict, and seeks to politically expand throughout the whole country. Despite its success and ongoing survival, Islah has many strong opponents on the ground: the Houthis, various pro-UAE Salafi groups in southern and western areas, such as the Giants Brigades. Tribal and political groups in southern and eastern Yemen (such the Hadhramaut Inclusive Conference and the Sons of Al-Mahrah), also challenge Islah and its influence away from its central strongholds. If Islah ultimately becomes the dominant party in Yemen, it is likely to continue to change and adapt its ideology over time, as evolution and pragmatism are constant features in Yemeni politics – by Eleonora Ardemagni

https://www.ispionline.it/en/pubblicazione/yemen-gpc-and-islah-after-2011-29772

(** B P)

Yemen: Ansar Allah’s Ambivalent Political Platform

The Houthi Movement, known officially as Ansar Allah, is a Zaydi revivalist movement that takes its name from its eponymous founder, Hussein al-Houthi. Leadership of the movement remains in the hands of the al-Houthi family and especially Abd al-Malik al-Houthi.

Ansar Allah does not see itself as a political party, seeking to avoid the negative connotations of hizbiyya (factionalism/partisanship), while also aiming to be a social and cultural movement outside politics. At the same time, the Movement’s de-facto control of central and local institutions and the programme laid-out in its ‘National Vision’ suggests not only that it will likely continue to play an important role in most post-conflict scenarios, but that the rejection of the party label is a bid for hegemony—part of a programme for setting the parameters of the ‘political’ without participating in it directly.

Can Ansar Allah survive an end to war?

The idea that the Houthi Movement flourishes in war and will collapse in peace is something of a commonplace among the movement’s opponents, but it remains an untested proposition.

There is little doubt that the movement has emerged strengthened through successive conflicts, growing significantly in size, organisational sophistication, and military capacity throughout the Saada wars and the current war. External intervention and the ongoing Saudi-led blockade legitimise the movement’s narrative of resistance, provide justification for its heavy-handed crackdowns on dissent, and obfuscate any local failures of governance—it is always the war, never Ansar Allah’s policies that are to blame for famine, fuel shortages, and collapsing educational attainment. Conflict with an external enemy is also keeping internal contradictions and competition between different power centres in the Movement in check.

Yet, to conclude from these observations that Ansar Allah would collapse in peace is unwarranted. While different power centres in the movement exist, they share a willingness to accept decisions made by the senior leadership as final. Moreover, the way that the movement has taken control of central and local institutions across the regions of Yemen it controls, the way it has implanted itself in formal institutions and built parallel networks of control centred on its core leadership in Saada, and its serious attempts to collect revenues and govern, not least at the local level, gives lie to the belief that Ansar Allah has little staying power without open conflict.

Ansar Allah has taken control of the formal and informal institutions of governance in the areas under its control.

Ansar Allah’s political platform: the ´National Vision`

The combined statements, judgements, and interpretations of successive leaders of the Houthi Movement function asspiritual and religious guidance. They are ambivalent, at best, about parties, elections, and other trappings of democratic politics, but have little to say about specific policies and do not lay out a political programme. This has contributed to the charge that the Movement advocates different agendas depending on the context and audience: a ‘civil state’ at the National Dialogue, good governance to Western diplomats, and holy war, sectarian division, and the illegitimacy of political rivals to its supporters.[8]

Politicians and technocrats close to the movement have tried to allay this charge and lay out a political agenda in the form of the ‘National Vision.’ While the continuation of the war and the absence of a political process has broadly ensured that those within the movement tasked with prosecuting the war and in favour of its continuation have maintained their ascendancy, the energy invested in developing and implementing the National Vision is testament to the continued influence of the movement’s ‘political wing’. Indeed, it may be gaining influence, with some indications of a greater willingness of Mahdi al Mashat, the president of the Supreme Political Council, and Abd al-Malik al-Houthi to listen to their arguments.

The Ansar Allah’s role in future Yemeni politics

All of this suggests that Ansar Allah is likely to continue to play a key role in Yemeni politics for the next ten years and beyond. Peace might make some of the fissures in the Movement visible. Yet, a shared willingness within it to accept decisions made by the senior leadership would likely keep centripetal forces at bay. Likewise, its penetration of political institutions, security forces, and business make it unlikely that the Movement’s influence would collapse if the war ends. This embeddedness, coupled with the Movement’s views on politics and its insistence that it is not a political party, may make it a difficult partner for other political actors. On its present trajectory, it is hard to see Ansar Allah becoming part of a unity government it does not dominate. Whether it can deliver on its vision, and whether its policies will resonate with the wider Yemeni public, remains to be seen – by Robert Simmons

https://www.ispionline.it/it/pubblicazione/yemen-ansar-allahs-ambivalent-political-platform-29777

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Yemen’s Southern Transitional Council: A Delicate Balancing Act

The past decade has witnessed the gradual destruction of Yemen’s pre-war power structures and the rise of new political forces. Perhaps no faction, not even the Huthis who control much of the northern highlands, better exemplifies these new networks than the pro-independence Southern Transitional Council (STC). Formed in April 2017, this self-styled southern government-in-waiting and its allies now hold most of Yemen’s four southern governorates, including the temporary capital, Aden, and almost a fifth of the cabinet seats in President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi’s internationally recognised government. As part of the Saudi-brokered deal that brought it into government, the STC should also have a seat at the table if and when the UN convenes talks over a political settlement to end the war.

The STC’s precipitous rise is not guaranteed to continue and could come to a sudden halt. The group’s leadership is engaged in a delicate balancing act, attempting to sustain local support amid economic turbulence, build its regional and international profile, and judge the trajectory of the wider war, in particular with respect to Marib governorate, the government’s last major stronghold in the north.

Hiding in Plain Sight

The STC has its roots in Yemen’s southern independence movement. Before 2015, the secessionist al-Hirak al-Janoubi (the Southern Movement) was a loose coalition of groups that sought to restore the southern Yemeni state, the pre-1990 People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen (PDRY). Many Hirakis argued that they had seceded during a 1994 north-south civil war in which southerners sought to undo a 1990 unification pact; everything that followed, they said, was northern occupation of the south. H

From mid-2015 onward, a powerful network of military/security leaders emerged, closely tied to the UAE. Factions led by two Hirak-aligned commanders from al-Dhale governorate, Aydrous al-Zubaidi and Shelal Shayea, the Salafist leader Hani bin Breik, and a group of pro-independence fighters from the Yafa tribe, which spans several southern governorates, rose to particular prominence. At first, President Hadi sought to co-opt these leaders by appointing them to important local security and government positions. But as they accumulated clout, the relationship became more complicated.

Foreseen Ruptures

Two issues drove conflict between the emergent STC leadership and its Emirati sponsors, on one hand, and Hadi and his allies, on the other. The first was ideology. UAE officials argue that during the war’s early days they focused on supporting local groups that demonstrated the greatest ability to coordinate the south’s defence and, later, provide security. But UAE officials see one constituent group of the anti-Huthi bloc, Islah, Yemen’s main Sunni Islamist party, as affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, a movement they consider a major threat to their political system and national security, and a “gateway drug” to jihadism. As such, the UAE avoided contact where possible with Islah-affiliated groups, incl

The second faultline was an intra-south rivalry that predated the 1990 north-south unity agreement. Southerners often characterise a 1986 bloody intra-PDRY civil war as a fight between forces from Abyan and neighbouring Shebwa province, on one hand, and adversaries from al-Dhale and Lahj provinces to Aden’s north west, on the other. Hadi is from Abyan, and was part of the losing Abyan-Shebwa side in the 1986 war. He later played a leading role in the northern campaign in 1994. From the beginning of Yemen’s civil war in 2015, locals in the south predicted a split between “Bedouin” from Abyan and Shebwa, such as Hadi and his allies, and “tribesmen” from Lahj and al-Dhale, such as Zubaidi and Shayea.

The rupture came in several phases.

After Riyadh: A Waiting Game

The Riyadh Agreement bears all the hallmarks, and limitations, of recent international efforts to broker deals between Yemen’s rival armed and political factions, which sign accords but use the aftermath to gain new advantages. The STC heralded the international legitimacy they believe the agreement bestowed on their group, and their inclusion in UN-led talks, as a major success and a step forward for their independence cause. They have focused on implementing the agreement’s political aspects – the formation of a new government and the STC’s inclusion in national-level UN-led peace talks. The government touted the agreement as a victory over the UAE, without whose support they argue the STC would have no power whatsoever, including in moving toward southern autonomy or more. The UAE has been downsizing its footprint in Yemen since 2018,

Today, the STC and the Hadi government are both playing a waiting game, each gambling that they can outlast the other.

Future Scenarios

A government capitulation in Marib would bring political benefits to the STC, but it could leave the group exposed as the next target of the Huthis’ military campaign to take full control of the country. If, on the other hand, the government can hold off the Huthis at Marib, stabilise the economy and improve service delivery in the south, the STC may lose popular support. For now, the delicate balancing act will continue, with the STC’s quest for independence undimmed – by Peter Salisbury

https://www.ispionline.it/en/pubblicazione/yemens-southern-transitional-council-delicate-balancing-act-29793 = https://www.almendron.com/tribuna/yemens-southern-transitional-council-a-delicate-balancing-act/

(** B K P)

Recruited, Arrested, On Trial: Yemeni Spies Tell of Their Reluctant Work for CIA, MI6

The CIA and MI6 have recruited hundreds of Yemenis to work as mercenaries and spies gathering intelligence and coordinates of Yemeni military positions, promising them money and even passports for the dangerous work.

But according to the confessions of six men arrested last month amid the ongoing battle over Yemen’s strategic Marib province, Western support for the Saudi-led Coalition goes much farther than conventional military support.

Arrested Yemeni spies speak to MintPress

The CIA and MI6, its British counterpart, have recruited hundreds of Yemenis to work as mercenaries and spies gathering intelligence and coordinates of Yemeni military positions in Marib, al-Mahrah, Sana’a and Sadaa, and providing that information to their handlers, according to confessions given to the Yemeni Security Intelligence Service (YSIS) by at least six Yemeni nationals currently on trial in Sana’a for violating Article 130 of Yemen’s Penal Code.

The six men, who are being held in a detention facility in Sana’a, agreed to speak to MintPress about their experiences. They insist that abject poverty as a result of the ongoing war drove them to participate in the operation, which they said came with the promise of a $300 payout.

According to the men, the operation was carried out primarily at the Ghaydah Airport in eastern al-Mahrah. There, they joined dozens of young Yemenis recruited by the CIA for training by American and British officers on how to properly identify and describe; the use of cameras, sophisticated software programs and devices used to share coordinates; information gathering; and how to find and identify military leaders and headquarters, workshops, factories, laboratories, warehouses, checkpoints and launching sites for missiles and drones. Even the locations of the personal homes and vehicles of Ansar Allah members and other vocal opponents of the Saudi intervention were sought, according to the men.

A careful recruitment process

Their recruitment process was long and delicate, beginning when the men were approached by Yemeni officers working for the Aden-based National Security Agency. After agreeing to travel to al-Mahrah to learn more, the men were housed in hotels before being brought to special cottages at the Ghaydah Airport where they were interviewed by American and British intelligence officers. Muhammad Har, one of the six charged, told MintPress that he was initially approached by Fayez Muhammad Ismail Al-Muntaser, a former officer of the National Security Agency and commander of the Saudi-led Coalition’s Special Missions Battalion.

According to the men, there were two separate camps at the airport, one American and the other Saudi. “After we were accepted, we were trained on how to describe people, cars, and homes and how to share data and photos through WhatsApp,” recalled Basem Ali Ahmed al-Kharouga, a 29-year-old detainee from Sana’a. “The training included field exercises inside and outside of the airport.” Al-Kharouga had long dreamed of traveling abroad and thought that he had finally found his way to flee the violence when he was promised a foreign passport in exchange for the work.

“When it was my turn, I entered the [unintelligible] and was surprised that members of the committee were Americans. One was asking the questions, the second was writing data, the third was taking fingerprints, while the fourth black-skinned one was translating,” Ali Mohammed Abdullah al-Jomani, a 34-year-old detainee from Haddah recalled. Al-Jomani, who says he used to earn the equivalent of about $10 per day, was put up in the Taj Al-Arab Hotel for three months during the initiation process. “When we went back to conduct the second interview, we did not find the Americans, but rather British officers. They repeated the previous questions about our ability to use maps, drive cars, and use computers.” This tracks with allegations by the Yemeni Security Intelligence Service that the CIA was recruiting young Yemenis and handing them over to British officers for training and further handling.

Few options for young Yemenis

In addition to poverty and unemployment, there are other reasons that Yemen’s youth would risk life and freedom to work with foreign intelligence services, perhaps the most prominent being the blockade levied against the country by the Saudi Coalition since 2015 – by Ahmed Abdulkareem

https://www.mintpressnews.com/recruited-arrested-on-trial-yemen-spies-tell-of-reluctant-work-for-cia-mi6/276289/ = https://english.almasirah.net/post/18545/-Yemeni-Spies-Tell-of-Their-Reluctant-Work-for-CIA%2C-MI6

(** B P)

The Emirati lobby: The biggest spender and the largest Arab one

The history of the Emirati lobby in Washington throughout the decade of the Arab Spring

This report is part of the "Hajj (Pilgrimage) to Washington" Project published by Sasapost; it covers the activities of Middle East lobbies in the United States between 2010-2020. Most of the information in the report is based on documents from a database belonging to the US Department of Justice, operating under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). This legislation requires lobbyists to disclose their activities and funds; all documents are accessible for browsing on the Internet.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has risen to fame in the Middle East. It has relentlessly stood against Arab revolutions and the Arab Spring of 2011, placing it at the forefront of Arab kingdoms and states. The UAE has not only led the "counter-revolution" efforts within the region, but has also moved the battle abroad to the world's most important political capital – Washington.

However, the "Emirati Hajj" to Washington is different from the others. The Emirati lobby is one of the most important in the Middle East in terms of size, and one of the biggest spenders, despite being among Washington's newest lobbies. Its establishment began only a few years before the advent of the Arab Spring.

Sasa Post has read and reviewed more than 766 documents relating to the UAE from the US Department of Justice's database, operating under FARA. The documents reveal the lobby's movements and the UAE's alliances with various parties such as the extremist and anti-Islamist US right-wing and pro-Israeli groups.

According to the documents, since 2011, the Emirati lobby's disclosed payments in Washington have amounted to $132,716,000. According to records from the US Department of Justice, this sum was paid out in return for lobbying services and public relations campaigns to secure Emirati interests in Washington.

This report covers the Emirati lobby's establishment in 2008, moving onto the most prominent figures of the lobby, those working for it, the major firms it has instructed, and their agendas and methods. This report provides a brief overview of the Emirati lobby's activities in Washington during the first decade of the Arab Spring.

Notice: The term "Emirati lobby" in this report covers individuals, firms, Emirati governmental and private parties, and all those representing the UAE's interests in the US.

The establishment of the Emirati lobby

An influential Emirati lobby did not exist before the appointment of Yousef Al-Otaiba as UAE ambassador to the US, whose nomination took place in July 2008. Prior to that, most UAE contracts in the US were channelled through the Emirate of Dubai and its financial and tourism institutions, either to conclude investment agreements or to promote tourism services in Dubai.

As the world's economy plunged into the 2008 crisis, Dubai became concerned with its own crisis and debts, while the influence of Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Zayed grew. The UAE launched a plan to reposition itself in the region and thereby in Washington.

At this very time, Al-Otaiba is appointed ambassador to Washington to implement the new vision and launch a recruitment campaign to attract talent and key figures knowledgeable about Washington's doorways and working approaches. Upon his arrival, he hired many major lobbying firms, some of which are now still working for Abu Dhabi.

The following is a brief account of the firms and key figures that have worked alongside Al-Otaiba:

How does the UAE lobby work?

After his arrival in Washington as ambassador, Al-Otaiba very carefully selected the staff that would work with him in the years to come, forming a team of experts to manage the UAE's political agenda in Washington. Al-Otaiba nominated Amy Little Thomas, a former State Department official in the Bush administration, to be in charge of protocol at the UAE Embassy.

Regarding legislative and military affairs, Al-Otaiba heavily relied on Elawad. Her tasks included communication with Congress and coordination with the US authorities. From outside the embassy, Al-Otaiba counted on Mintz, the driving force behind the Emirati lobby, the managing director of The Harbour Group and a public relations expert.

When establishing the lobby in 2008, Al-Otaiba strongly depended on two firms. The first was a global law firm that focused on bilateral agreements such as the peaceful nuclear programme. The second was The Harbour Group, which established contacts between UAE government officials and US think tanks, the media and pro-Israeli organisations.

In 2017, Elawad left the embassy to set up her own firm working for the UAE lobby. She worked there for three years, only to return in 2020 to work for Akin Gump for the UAE's benefit.

However, the UAE lobby was not limited to only recruiting lobbying firms. The Emirati interests were represented by other parties, such as The US-UAE Business Council, which played an instrumental role in implementing bilateral agreements between the two countries. The council was created in 2007, ensuing a meeting between Bush and Bin Zayed to put an end to the Dubai Ports World controversy. The council is chaired by Danny Sebright, who previously worked for the Pentagon's Defence Intelligence Agency. Sebright boasts a long track record of work in the Middle East coordinating Israeli-US arms deals.

The council usually coordinates meetings with members of Congress or US government officials, such as the dinner hosting Republican Senator Roy Blunt on the occasion of the Special Olympics World Games in Abu Dhabi in 2019, attended by Sebright and Elawad.

Another method used by the UAE lobby, distinguishing it from the rest of the Gulf and Arab lobbies, involves the preparation of research data and figures on the economic and investment relations between the UAE and the state represented by the politician with whom the lobby wishes to liaise. These reports become a tool to focus on the direct common interests between the two sides and an opening to lobby these politicians to support the UAE in Congress.

Simply put, the figures speak for themselves – the more investment there is, the more job opportunities there will be. The politician may then boast a new achievement in their career to win new voters.

Among the lobby's most essential activities are the intensive and vigorous contacts it establishes with the various think tanks in Washington, regardless of political orientation, and the work carried out in coordinating trips for the think tank's researchers to visit the UAE.

Lobbying money dedicated to the continuation of the Yemen War

The UAE was one of the first countries to join the Saudi coalition in the Yemen War in 2015. As it partook in the war, the UAE focused on coastal areas and ports. However, the war kept coming under threat of being blocked with every piece of legislation presented by Congress to stop US support for the Yemen War, but what would stopping this support entail?

If Congress prohibited support for the coalition in its war in Yemen, it would have to decide on banning the use of US weapons in the war, such as US aircraft, missiles and ammunition, as well preventing the various US intelligence services from cooperating in Yemen with the Gulf states involved in the war. This is besides the greater embargo – stopping arms deals altogether with these countries.

If Congress were to issue a resolution preventing the US from participating in the war, it would have deprived the war of US cover. Because this would be highly detrimental to the UAE's interests, the Emirati lobby launched its own battle in Washington to ensure continued US support for the war.

At the beginning of 2016, Al-Otaiba established a division for political and military affairs at the Emirati Embassy. He appointed Elawad as his assistant and as head of division of the Emirati lobby in Congress. After leaving the embassy to set up her firm, Elawad worked to burnish the UAE's image and role in Yemen, to block any bill introduced in Congress against the war and on legislations submitted to hinder Saudi Arabia and the UAE's arms deals. Elawad's firm hired American Defence International to lobby Congress and communicate with US defence agencies to ensure that the arms deals were passed.

The following is a summary of the most prominent efforts of the Emirati lobby for the continuation of the war in Yemen:

The UAE Embassy oversaw an offensive defamation campaign against Yemeni human rights groups that submitted reports to the UN on Yemen's human rights situation and the UAE's role in the war. Greenwich Media Strategies launched the campaign. Its plan consisted of having one of the UAE's allies in a research centre write a report on these human rights groups accusing them of working for the Houthis. Greenwich Media Strategies would then distribute this report to diplomats at the UN and to US media.

Elawad thoroughly worked on the Yemeni file with the help of American Defence International. She promoted the UAE's role in the war and contacted US defence agencies to conclude arms deals, followed by lobbying in Congress to ensure that these deals were passed.

In September 2017, Democratic Representative Ro Khanna submitted a bill requiring the US president to withdraw US forces from unauthorised "hostilities" in Yemen. Elawad coordinated a meeting for Al-Otaiba with Khanna to lobby him to withdraw his bill. Eventually, the bill was not passed.

By continuously communicating with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Elawad worked on polishing the UAE's image in the war in Yemen and highlighting the UAE's "philanthropic" activities there.

At the beginning of 2019, prominent Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders proposed another bill to withdraw "United States Armed Forces from hostilities" in Yemen. This legislation worried the Emirati lobby, so the lobby's figures held meetings with several representatives and senators to persuade them to stop the bill. However, the tide was greater than the UAE's pressure this time, and the bill was passed in the US Senate. However, Trump came to rescue the UAE and the Saudi coalition in Yemen, using the presidential veto power to block the bill.

In the second half of 2019, Democratic Senator Menendez introduced a bill opposing an arms deal with Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The Emirati lobby stepped up its efforts to hinder the bill, while Elawad conducted a promotional campaign that positively portrayed the UAE's role in the Yemen War. Trump emerged once again to block the proposed bill using the presidential veto.

The impact of lobbying dollars on US policy is evident – Arab funds paid to secure US support for a war that has plunged Yemen into tragic humanitarian conditions. Some details are outlined below:

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20210326-the-emirati-lobby-the-biggest-spender-and-the-largest-arab-one/

(** B P)

Wie Huthis in Lehrbüchern zu Gewalt aufrufen

Juden, Israel und die USA – sie gelten als Hauptfeinde in jemenitischen Schulbüchern. Außerdem rechnen Schüler, deren Lehrer das Material der Huthis benutzen, mit Gewehren.

Lehrbücher der Huthi im Jemen hetzen Schüler zu Gewalt auf. Sie dämonisieren die USA und Israel. Zudem verunglimpfen sie Länder, die eine Normalisierung mit dem „zionistischen Gebilde“ anstreben. Das geht aus einer Studie des „Instituts zur Überwachung von Frieden und kultureller Toleranz in der Schulbildung“ (IMPACT-SE) mit Sitz in Ramat Gan hervor. Sie bezieht sich auf Material der Jahre 2015 bis 2019.

Demnach stellen die Schulbücher Juden als Feinde des Islam und der Jemeniten dar. Sie seien „diejenigen, von denen uns Allah gebot, ihre Feinde zu sein“. Dabei gibt es nur noch ein paar Dutzend Juden in dem arabischen Staat, wie IMPACT-SE anmerkt. Das Unterrichtsmaterial überträgt die feindselige Haltung sowohl auf die Gruppe als auch auf Einzelpersonen. Kinder werden ermutigt, „die Tyrannei der Juden“ zu bekämpfen.

Auch die von Saudi-Arabien unterstützte Koalition, die im Bürgerkriegsland kämpft, ist Thema. Lehrbücher verunglimpften sie als „Verbündete von Juden und Christen“. Dabei finden sich Koranverse, die solche Verbindungen verurteilen. Zudem gibt es Lektionen dazu, wie sich Jemeniten allen Formen der „zionistisch-amerikanischen Hegemonie“ widersetzen können.

In einer Rätselfrage heißt es: „Wer sind sie?“ Unter anderem folgen diese beschreibenden Sätze: „Sie zogen sich Allahs Zorn zu und er verfluchte sie. Mörder des Propheten. Allah wies uns an, uns nicht mit ihnen anzufreunden.“ Die Antwort auf die Frage „Wer sind sie?“ lautet dann: „Die Juden“.

In einer arabischen Zahlenübung kommt dieser Slogan vor: „Allah ist am größten – Tod Amerika – Tod Israel – Fluch über die Juden – Sieg für den Islam“. Die USA werden oft als „größerer Satan“ bezeichnet. Zudem gelten sie als Puppenspieler hinter allen Gräueln, von denen die Region betroffen ist. Auch die Rolle „Feind aller Araber und Muslime“ nehmen die Vereinigten Staaten ein. Lehrbücher rufen Schüler zur Teilnahme am Dschihad gegen die Amerikaner auf. Wer sich für eine friedliche Lösung ausspricht, ist als Feigling, Idiot oder Verräter dargestellt.

Auch die Dämonisierung von Israel ist kein Einzelfall.

Im Lehrmaterial kommen auch Gewaltdarstellungen vor. So zeigen Bilder etwa Kinder, die bei Kampfhandlungen ums Leben kamen. In einer Rubrik „Das Bild spricht“ ist ein totes Mädchen zu sehen, das auf dem Boden liegt. Das Schulbuch beschreibt es als „Märtyrerin“ auf dem Weg zur Schule. Den Kindern wird eingeredet, auf „Märtyrer“ warte Glückseligkeit, und Angehörige empfänden keine Trauer.

Gewalt ist auch in Mathematik-Büchern zu finden.

https://www.israelnetz.com/gesellschaft-kultur/gesellschaft/2021/03/30/wie-huthis-in-lehrbuechern-zu-gewalt-aufrufen/

Mein Kommentar: Die Studie (s. weiter unten) gibt einen interessanten Einblick in die Schulbücher (und das Weltbild) der Huthis. Sie kommt aus Israel und ist damit völlig beeinflusst vom israelischen Iranbild, das mehr mit verschwörungstheorie als mit der Realität des nahen Ostens zu tun hat. Und, was die Autoren offenbar nicht ansatzweise nachvollziehen können: Für sie ist es Realität wie Schwerkraft und Wetter: Die US und Irael sind doch die „Guten“ in dieser Welt, und sie sind fassungslos, wenn sie etwas Gegensätzliches zu sehen bekommen. Auch wenn es wioe in diesem Fall sehr extrem daherkommt. Wobei der Jemen immerhin mehrere Jahre Krieg hinter sich hat…

(** B P)

Iran using Yemen's education system to glorify jihad - IMPACT-se

The report "constitutes one of the most concerning of IMPACT-se’s assessments of Middle Eastern curricula"

Yemen's Houthi movement, considered a proxy of Iran, is using the country's education system to spread its influence and the "glorification of jihad" among children, a new study has found.

The report "constitutes one of the most concerning of IMPACT-se’s assessments of Middle Eastern curricula," according to the institute, which monitors school textbooks and curriculums around the world.

IMPACT-se's review refers to the situation in Yemen that began in 2015, when Houthi rebels took control of the capital of Sanaa.

However, things took an unexpected turn, when Iran, recognizing the opportunity to expand its influence, implemented its militia doctrine in Yemen. According to this doctrine, Iran aims to create loyal militias wherever possible in the region.

In that regard, the Houthis stood out, having established ties with Teheran decades earlier. Noting the opportunity of becoming an independent governing force in Yemen, the Houthis jumped on the opportunity and became Iran's loyal proxy in the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula.

This is where education comes in. Recognizing the need to bestow Iranian values and culture among its distant proxies, "education became a focal point for Tehran’s empire builders," according to IMPACT-se.

Today, IMPACT-se estimates that Iran is involved - through the Houthi movement - in both primary and higher education institutes in Yemen. On the other side of the coin, hundreds of Houthi students are currently studying in Iran.

The IMPACT-se report explains that the Iranian curriculum, spread among its proxies, teaches children the importance of "uniting the Muslims against Western

enemies."

Examples include textbooks that describe the US as the “Greater Satan” and use the American flag as a symbol of oppression, which children must defend themselves from.

This blind hatred toward "Western forces" includes Israel as well, with textbooks openly calling for the destruction of Israel and describing it a "cancerous growth."

Jews specifically are also a main focus of Houthi education, according to IMPACT-se, with learning materials accusing Jews for "nefarious conspiracies," and presenting them as a "unique enemy of Islam and the people of Yemen."

In math lessons, students are often instructed to "add rifles to solve problems."

But perhaps the most disturbing of all, are the "educational Images" used in textbooks and visible to young children on a daily basis. These include, according to the report, images of graphic violence, such as dead children, which is part of the curriculum for pre-teens. Other images often used in classes are taken from the Holocaust and are used to teach students how to oppose the “Zionist-American hegemony.”

Alarming as it may be, this report by IMPACT-se may serve as a case-study into the Iranian threat as a whole.

Considering the fact that Teheran maintains part of its regional influence through education, the education model used by the Houthis in Yemen may offer further insights into "a problem that looms large in the Middle East and beyond," the report noted.

These findings "are a worrying insight into the violent Houthi mindset and an extreme example of how education can be weaponized to perpetuate conflict," concluded IMPACT-se CEO Marcus Sheff.

IMPACT-se stands for Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education, and is a "world leader in researching, translating and exposing intolerance in school textbooks from the Middle East and beyond, while advocating for positive change," according to its website – by Tobias Siegal

https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-using-yemens-education-system-to-glorify-jihad-impact-se-663547

and full report: https://www.impact-se.org/wp-content/uploads/Review-of-Houthi-Educational-Materials-in-Yemen_2015-19.pdf

My comment: A very interesting insight into Northern Yemeni schoolbooks. By an Israeli organization (look at https://www.impact-se.org/ and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institute_for_Monitoring_Peace_and_Cultural_Tolerance_in_School_Education) – thus biased and full of the Israeli anti-Iranian propaganda narrative. These schoolbooks show how broken Yemeni society and mind must be after several years of war.

(** A K P)

Huthis laut UN für Angriff im Jemen im Dezember verantwortlich

Huthi-Rebellen sollen laut Insidern einen Flughafen im Jemen angegriffen haben. Mindestens 50 Menschen wurden damals verletzt, 22 getötet

Eine Untersuchung der Vereinten Nationen (UN) zeichnet laut Insiderinformationen Huthi-Rebellen für den Anschlag Ende Dezember auf einem Flughafen im Jemen verantwortlich. Dies gehe aus einem Bericht eines Untersuchungsausschusses der UN hervor, die derzeit Sanktionen hinter verschlossenen Türen diskutiere, sagten zwei mit der Angelegenheit vertraute Diplomaten am Montag der Nachrichtenagentur Reuters unter Wahrung der Anonymität.

Russland blockiere die Veröffentlichung des Papiers, erklärten die Insider ohne Angabe von Gründen. Die russische Vertretung bei der UN reagierte zunächst nicht auf eine Anfrage zur Stellungnahme.

Bei dem Angriff kurz nach der Ankunft der neuen saudiarabischen Regierung auf den Flughafen Aden am 30. Dezember waren mehr als 22 Menschen getötet und mindestens 50 verletzt worden. Die mit dem Iran verbündeten Huthis bestritten zu der Zeit die Verantwortung für den Angriff.

https://www.derstandard.de/story/2000125457842/huthis-laut-un-fuer-angriff-im-jemen-im-dezember-verantwortlich

(**A K P)

Exclusive: U.N. team finds Houthis launched Aden airport attack that killed 22 - diplomats

An investigation by a U.N. team of experts found Yemen’s Houthis were responsible for a Dec. 30 attack on Aden airport that killed at least 22 people as members of the country’s internationally recognized government arrived, two diplomats familiar with the matter said on Monday.

The experts presented their report to the U.N committee that oversees Yemen-related sanctions during closed consultations on Friday, but Russia blocked its wider release, the diplomats said. They asked for anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

The Iran-aligned Houthis denied responsibility for the attack when it took place.

The diplomats did not elaborate on why Russia blocked the release of the findings. The Russian mission to the United Nations did not respond immediately to a request for comment.

The U.N. expert panel determined that the Houthis launched missiles at Aden airport from two locations that were under the movement’s control at the time, the airport in Taiz and a police station in Dhamar, the diplomats said.

The experts found that the missiles were the same kind as those used previously by the Houthis, they said.

The missiles landed as members of Hadi’s government arrived at the airport to join separatists who control the southern port city in a new cabinet as part of a Saudi effort to end feuding between its Yemeni allies.

At least 22 people died and dozens more were injured in the attack.

No Cabinet minister was killed, but the dead included government officials and three International Committee of the Red Cross staff members.

During Friday’s briefing to the sanctions committee, the diplomats said, the experts said the missile launches from the two Houthi-controlled locations were coordinated.

When asked if any other party could have been responsible, they replied that all evidence indicated that no other Yemeni faction had the ability or the technology to stage such an attack, the diplomats said.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security-attack-exclusive/exclusive-u-n-team-finds-houthis-launched-aden-airport-attack-that-killed-22-diplomats-idUSKBN2BL315?rpc=401&

and also https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/yemen-houthis-aden-airport-attack-un

cp1a Am wichtigsten: Coronavirus und Seuchen / Most important: Coronavirus and epidemics

(A H P)

Yemen to receive 360,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccine

http://en.adenpress.news/news/32592

(* A H)

82 new cases of coronavirus reported, 4,115 in total

The committee also reported the death of 12 coronavirus patients, in addition to the recovery of 51 others.

http://en.adenpress.news/news/32588

(* A H)

Film: Yemen: A Distress Call To Encounter The Alarming Spread of Coronavirus The Director-General of the Public Health and Population Office in Taiz Governorate, Dr. Rajeh Al-Maliki made a distress call to address the alarming reality of the covid-19 pandemic. Al-Maliki illustrated that isolation wards are fully occupied. General Director of the Republican Hospital, Dr. Nashwan Al-Husami confirmed that with a soaring number of patients, the hospitals ran out of ventilators and medications

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NdgN-C58FI

(B H)

Yemen: 74 doctors have died of Covid-19

Yemen's Syndicate of Doctors and Pharmacists announced on Sunday that another doctor has died from Covid-19. An internal medicine specialist in Taiz, Dr Abdul-Raqeeb Al-Amri, is the 74th doctor to have died of the virus, said the syndicate.

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20210329-yemen-74-doctors-have-died-of-covid-19/

(* A H)

64 new cases of coronavirus reported, 4,033 in total

The committee also reported the death of 19 coronavirus patients, in addition to the recovery of 16 others.

http://en.adenpress.news/news/32580

(* B H)

#Yemen: Covid-19 cases & deaths are far higher than reported. In Sanaa, where Houthis are covering up pandemic spread, many are dying but no one dares to tell truth. In Gov't-run regions, locals say deaths & infections are at least 3 times higher than number of those reported

https://twitter.com/FuadRajeh/status/1376320722172264450

(A H P)

Coronavirus kills Houthi high-rank officer

Advisor to the Houthi Supreme Political Council died of Covid-19 on Sunday in the Yemeni capital.
General Yahiya Mohamed al-Shami died after ten days of struggle with the virus at hospital in Sana'a City, an official said in remarks carried by the Sputnik International.

https://debriefer.net/en/news-24107.html

(* A H)

69 new cases of coronavirus reported, 3,969 in total

The committee also reported the death of 12 coronavirus patients, in addition to the recovery of 2 others.

http://en.adenpress.news/news/32572

(* B H)

One artificial respirator for every 60,000 Yemenis: Oxfam

Covid-19 infections have dreadfully increased in Yemen, Oxfam warned on Saturday, with healthcare systems suffering deterioration and many patients unable to get access to health centers or afford medication costs.
As the war-torn country came under the yoke of pandemic's new wave, number of cases doubled 22 times, the London-based charity said in a statement.
With its 30-million population, Yemen has only 500 respirators (i.e. one artificial respirator for every 60,000 on average) and only 700 sets in intensive care units, according to the statement.
Recent Covid-19 figures indicate dire spike in the number of people admitted to healthcare centers with critical symptoms, it added.
Since Covid-19 tests are only run by those admitted to healthcare centers, positivity rate proves that many Yemenis suffer from the virus at home and have no accessibility to or affordability of lifesaving medication, the statement read.

https://debriefer.net/en/news-24090.html

(B H)

WHO Yemen Update Situation report - Issue no.2 (February 2021)

Oral Cholera Vaccination Campaign: WHO and UNICEF implemented the second round of the oral cholera vaccination campaign in AlDhalea and Al-Azraq districts in Al Dhalea governorate and Hajr district in Hadramout governorate.

https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/who-yemen-update-situation-report-issue-no2-february-2021

cp1b Am wichtigsten: Saudis bieten Waffenstillstand an / Most important: Saudis offer ceasefire

(* B K P)

As Tide Turns, Houthis Reject US, Saudi “Peace” Deals for the Recycled Trash They Are

The Houthis — empowered by six years of perseverance amid one of the most violent wars against some of the world’s most powerful military forces, not to mention the ability to reject the proposals set forth by those same powers — have little incentive to accept Riyadh or Washington’s “peace” offers.

Having bombed for six years, Saudis now talk peace

Sour wine in new bottles

On March 12, U.S. Special Envoy for Yemen Tim Lenderking announced an initiative to end the war during a webinar with the Atlantic Council. The plan is essentially a recycled version of a previous proposal presented by Mohammed Bin Salman and the Trump administration one year ago in Oman, dubbed “The Joint Declaration.” It contains a matrix of Saudi principles and conditions aimed at the surrender of the Yemen Army, the Houthis, and their allies, in exchange for an end to the war. Lenderking’s initiative gives no guarantee that the Coalition will take any measures to lift its blockade and end the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

On March 22, Saudi Arabia announced its own “ceasefire initiative” to end the war it announced from Washington D.C. six years ago. Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan revealed the initiative, which would include a nationwide ceasefire under the supervision of the UN and a partial re-opening of the Sana’a International Airport to certain destinations. It also included a revenue-sharing plan that would guarantee the Saudi government access to a portion of the wealth generated by Yemen’s oil and gas deposits in Marib.

Come back when you’re serious

Both initiatives were rejected by Sana’a. “We reject the American and Saudi peace initiatives because they do not meet the demands of the Yemeni people,” Khaled Al-Sharif, chairman of the Supreme Elections Committee, said of the proposals during a meeting held in Sana’a on Monday. According to many Yemenis, including decision-makers in Sana’a, the U.S. and Saudi plans are not intended to achieve peace, but to advance their political goals in the face of an imminent military failure following six costly years of war. The measures, according to officials in Sana’a, are also about saving face and presenting an untenable plan, so that when it is inevitably rejected the tide of public opinion will turn in favor of the Saudi-led Coalition.

In a live televised speech commemorating the sixth anniversary of the war on Thursday afternoon, ِAbdulMalik al Houthi, the leader of the Houthis, refused Washington and Riyadh’s initiatives, explaining:

The Americans, the Saudis, and some countries have tried to persuade us to barter the humanitarian file for military and political agreements. We refuse that.

Access to oil products, food, medical and basic materials is a human and legal right that cannot be bartered in return for military and political extortion.

We are, [however], ready for an honorable peace in which there is no trade-off for our people’s right to freedom and independence or to Yemen’s legitimate entitlements.”

The Houthi leadership views the policies of the Biden administration as not far removed from those of his predecessor, Donald Trump. “Biden’s administration is following the same policies as those of former President Donald Trump. [They] have not offered a new plan for peace in Yemen. Washington has rather presented an old plan for the resolution of the conflict,” Ansar Allah spokesman Mohammed Abdul-Salam said, adding that the U.S. plan does not offer anything new. ”The plan has placed conditions for the opening of the Hodeida port and Sana’a International Airport, which are unacceptable,” he concluded.

No retreat, no surrender

The Houthis — empowered by six years of perseverance amid one of the most violent wars against some of the world’s most powerful military forces, not to mention the ability to reject the proposals set forth by those same powers — have little incentive to accept Riyadh’s offer. They see the end to the conflict coming from Washington in the form of an announcement of an immediate ceasefire, a departure of all foreign forces from the country, and lifting of the air and sea blockade as a pre-condition for any deal. “They should have demonstrated their seriousness for the establishment of peace by allowing food and fuel to dock at the port of Hodeida rather than put forth proposals,” Mohammed Ali al-Houthi said.

Over two thousand consecutive days of war have proven that Saudi Arabia is not ready to bring peace to war-torn Yemen. With the exception of a fragile ceasefire in Hodeida and a small number of prisoner releases, negotiations between the two sides generally reach a dead end, as Bin Salman looks for total surrender and nothing else. Numerous negotiations between Saudi Arabia and Yemen have failed, including UN-brokered peace talks in Switzerland in 2018.

Despite recent peace initiatives, the Saudi-led Coalition has only intensified military maneuvers in Yemen this week – by Ahmed Abdulkareem

https://www.mintpressnews.com/tide-turns-yemen-houthis-reject-us-saudi-peace-deal/276455/

My remark: A pro-Houthi viewpoint.

(* A P)

Houthis ‘provisionally’ accept Saudi peace plan

Iran-backed Houthis have “provisionally” accepted a Saudi initiative to end the war in Yemen, but are demanding unchecked flights from Sanaa airport to unlimited destinations before giving the peace plan their final approval, a Yemeni news agency reported.
Yemen Press Network (Yazaan) said on Friday that Houthi spokesmen had told Omani mediators they had reservations about the initiative regarding the inspection of flights from Sanaa and their destinations.

The Houthis sought to arrange unchecked flights to all destinations, including Iran.
The internationally recognized government has always demanded flights at Sanaa airport be inspected to prevent the rebels from smuggling in weapons and fighters.
UN Yemen envoy Martin Griffiths said on Saturday that he had a “constructive discussions” on ending the war with Omani Foreign Minister Badr Al-Busaidi in Muscat.
“The special envoy thanked him for the critical support of the Sultanate to the UN efforts aiming to bring sustainable peace to Yemen through an inclusive political process,” the UN office’s said in a statement.
Oman’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the meeting discussed developments in Yemen, as well as efforts to stop the war and revive negotiations between all parties to achieve security and stability in the region.
On Friday, the UN envoy held talks with Houthi negotiator Mohammed Abdul Sallam on the establishment of a nationwide truce and the other points of the Saudi initiative along with the UN’s peace proposal known as the Joint Declaration.

https://www.arabnews.com/node/1832836/middle-east

(A P)

UK: Alternative to Saudi initiative is continuation of war in Yemen

British Ambassador to Yemen Michael Aron has conveyed that the alternative to the Saudi initiative to end the conflict in Yemen is the retention of war for several years in the future, Aram Media reported on Friday.

In an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat, Aron called for the Houthis, who rejected the initiative, to rethink their position and take steps towards peace.

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20210327-uk-alternative-to-saudi-initiative-is-continuation-of-war-in-yemen/

(B P)

Yemen war; Biden forgets his promises

But now that Yemenis have emerged strong in terms of military power and hold the initiative on the ground, Saudi Arabia and other invading forces along with their Western sponsors are scrambling to get out of the quagmire.

Ned Price is now echoing the lies invented by Saudi Regime which has crippled ceasefire and peace initiatives for several times and has always turned its back to the negotiating table.

The Saudi peace initiative is solely a tactic, since it has no will to end the war; the Regime is doing so to attract new US administration's attention and evade failure.

If the Saudi Regime is willing to end war, suffice it to extinguish the fire.

https://en.irna.ir/news/84275624/Yemen-war-Biden-forgets-his-promises

cp2 Allgemein / General

(* A E K P)

Interactive Map of Yemen War

https://yemen.liveuamap.com/

(* A K)

Yemen War Map Updates

March 30: https://southfront.org/military-situation-in-yemen-on-march-30-2021-map-update/

March 29: https://southfront.org/military-situation-in-yemen-on-march-29-2021-map-update/

March 28: https://southfront.org/military-situation-in-yemen-on-march-28-2021-map-update/

March 27: https://southfront.org/military-situation-in-yemen-on-march-26-2021-map-update/

(B H K P)

No Man’s Land: The Civil War in Yemen

The civil war in Yemen has caused immeasurable suffering and death since it began in 2015. Spurred by the fervor of the Arab Spring in 2011, the war has evolved into a monstrous display of human callousness. Amidst the Arab Spring revolutions, mass discontent was directed toward the authoritarian president of Yemen, Ali Abdullah Saleh. As Saleh’s grip on power weakened, the jihadist Houthi movement — a group composed mostly of the Shia minority of northwest Yemen — took advantage of the situation and seized the capitol of Sanaa in 2015. As the Houthis gained power, Yemen became the Middle East’s newest proxy war between Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shia Iran.

The United Nations reported that over 15million Yemeni civilians will suffer from serious food shortage by the middle of this year. This has caused human rights groups to label the situation in Yemen as the worst humanitarian crisis in the world right now [overview article]

https://dailycampus.com/2021/03/30/no-mans-land-the-civil-war-in-yemen/

(A P)

Al-Houthi Holds UN Responsible for Any Disaster Caused by FSO Safer

Member of the Political Council Mohammad Ali Al-Houthi called on the United Nations to implement the agreement to maintain the floating oil storage and offloading vessel that is moored in the Red Sea north of the Yemeni city of Hodeidah, FSO Safer, blaming it for any environmental disaster.

"We call on the United Nations to implement the Safer Agreement. If an environmental catastrophe occurred with the explosion of the Safer ship, the world will stop, not only for a week as it happened in Suez, but everything will stop for a not short time," he added,

"Military barges and other navigations will stop with navigation. We hold the UN responsible."

https://english.almasirah.net/post/18612/Al-Houthi-Holds-UN-Responsible-for-Any-Disaster-Caused-by-FSO-Safer

(B K P)

6 Jahre Krieg gegen Jemen

Das 6. Jahr des Jemenkrieges ist, begleitet von mehreren wichtigen Entwicklungen, zu Ende gegangen. Die erste wichtige Entwicklung ist die Überlegenheit der Armee und der Volkskomitees Jemens. Im Kriegsjahr haben die jemenitischen Kräfte zwei Präventivschläge auf saudi- arabischem Territorium durchgeführt.

Wenn Saudi-Arabien den Krieg gegen Jemen fortsetzt, wird es nicht nur noch schwerere militärische Schläge einstecken müssen, sondern die menschliche Katastrophe in Jemen wird noch mehr verschärft werden und dies wird als Niederlage der UNO bewertet werden, welche praktisch nichts zur Beendigung dieser Tragödie unternehmen konnte Trotz dieser Situation hat die UNO nicht versucht, Schritte zur Beendigung des Krieges zu unternehmen, sondern ist bestrebt die Angriffe der jemenitischen Volkskomitees und Armeekräfte gegen Saudi Arabien zu stoppen Mohammad Ali al-Huthi, Mitglied des Obersten politischen Rates Jemens gab bekannt, ein wahrer Frieden in Jemen hänge von der Aufhebung der Blockade gegen dieses Land und der Einstellung der Angriffe auf Jemen ab Angesichts dieser Bedingungen hängt die Beendigung des Krieges gegen Jemen vor allen Dingen von dem Willen der Saudis, der Weltmächte und den Vereinten Nationen ab. Die jemenitische Nationalregierung verfolgt ja lediglich eine Verteidigungs- und keine Angriffsstrategie. Was im Moment besonders auffällt, sind die Ratlosigkeit der saudischen Herrscher und das Zögern der US-Regierung hinsichtlich ihrer Jemen-Politik. Und so sind leider noch keine Zeichen für die Beendigung der Jemen-Offensive sichtbar geworden. https://parstoday.com/de/news/world-i57178-6_jahre_krieg_gegen_jemen

(* B P)

Yemen’s Political Activists Find New Spaces for Mobilization

The 2011 Yemeni uprising opened up new political spaces of contention against the existing structures of power. A main driving force behind the uprising was the “Independent Youth”, a movement that consisted initially of students and unemployed graduates under the age of 30, but who were later joined by older activists not affiliated with any political party.[1] The progressive demands of the Independent Youth – which included good governance, civic state, and socio-economic rights – and their detachment from the political elites helped label them as agents of democratic change and lent the group some legitimacy as a political movement.

However, the youth movement did not possess the power to transform the entrenched political system, as members of the old regime remained in power and the status quo was maintained. The high hopes awakened by the protests soon vanished after traditional political elites hijacked the uprising and excluded Yemeni youth from participation in politics. Prior to the conflict, the National Dialogue Conference (NDC) provided the youth and other politically marginalized groups, such as women, with opportunities to represent themselves and push for reforms. Yet, these opportunities have now diminished during the conflict. The high level of insecurity, political fragmentation and the de facto authorities[2] crackdown on political opposition was followed by a complete closing off of the political space. Against this backdrop, the question arises of whether there is still a room for bottom-up politics in Yemen.

Is there still room for bottom-up politics?

Decentralised mobilization

Faced with these challenges, activists turned towards alternative, and more innovative, forms of decentralized mobilization. The activism that emerged during, and in response to, the 2015 conflict might not reflect a clear form of political mobilization, rather it is best understood as “a creative engagement reflecting imagined connections, practices and communities.

Seen in Taiz: Humanitarian relief reshapes revolutionary activism

The Taiz-based Qafilat al-Tahadi (Resilience Caravan) is one of these humanitarian initiatives. At first, founders of this initiative organized themselves around the political objective of spreading awareness of the NDC outcomes. However, soon after the war started, the team of 65 young women and men shifted its focus towards humanitarian relief

The role of the Yemeni diaspora

Humanitarian relief activists are only one part of a plethora of diverse social actors who play a role in shaping Yemeni communities during the conflict. Members of the Yemeni diaspora have contributed significantly to social aid networks at home.

https://www.ispionline.it/it/pubblicazione/yemens-political-activists-find-new-spaces-mobilization-29776

(B K P)

Audio: Saudis müssen Krieg und Blockade gegen Jemen beenden

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8G_rtv3nd8

(B H K P)

Jemen, das Armenhaus am Golf

Der Krieg hat den Jemen Jahrzehnte in die Vergangenheit katapultiert. Millionen Menschen ­hungern, obwohl es etwas zu essen gibt. Immerhin scheint der Frieden einen kleinen Schritt näher gerückt (nur im Abo)

https://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/ausland/warum-der-frieden-im-jemen-ein-stueck-naeher-gerueckt-ist-17264838.html

(B K P)

Where Are Six Years of War in Yemen Going? (subscribers only)

https://www.thecipherbrief.com/article/middle-east/where-are-six-years-of-war-in-yemen-going

(* B H K)

Audio: Der Jemen – Armut, Krieg und keine Hoffnung?

Millionen Menschen im Jemen brauchen Hilfe. Nach fast sechs Jahren Bürgerkrieg versinke das Land auf der arabischen Halbinsel zunehmend im Chaos, sagt der in Essen lebende Arzt und Schriftsteller Marwan Al-Ghafory. Es drohe die größte Hungersnot der Welt, jeder zweite der knapp 30 Millionen Einwohner habe keinen Zugang zu medizinischer Versorgung, während die Corona-Pandemie sich weiter ausbreite.

https://podcasts.apple.com/kz/podcast/der-jemen-armut-krieg-und-keine-hoffnung/id285227207?i=1000514098818

(? B H K P)

Audio: The Big Q: Can peace come to Yemen? March 29, 2021

What are the causes of the war? What has been the impact of foreign intervention? What is the pathway for peace? Doug Becker speaks with Hamoud Salhi and Charles Schmitz.

https://95bfm.com/bcast/the-big-q-can-peace-come-to-yemen-march-29-2021

Charles Schmitz is member of a Saudi-funded US think tank: https://www.mei.edu/profile/charles-schmitz

(B E K)

UN Must Meet Responsibility for US-Saudi Targeting of Telecommunication Facilities

The National Defense of Telecommunications and Postal Services condemned the US-Saudi continued crimes against the communications and postal infrastructure.

In a statement coinciding with the National Day of Steadfastness, the organization holds the US-Saudi aggression responsible for all the bombing and destruction of the infrastructure, including the bombing and destruction of communications and postal facilities, and their service offices.

https://english.almasirah.net/post/18558/UN-Must-Meet-Responsibility-for-US-Saudi-Targeting-of-Telecommunication-Facilities

(B P)

Houthis: We prevented US from destroying Yemeni missiles

The Houthi military spokesperson Brig. Gen. Yahya Sarea on Saturday said his group's capture of the capital Sanaa on 21 September 2014 prevented the United States of America from destroying the remaining ballistic missiles of Yemen.

https://debriefer.net/en/news-24101.html

(* B H K)

Yemen, the war that they are hiding from us

The reporters Véronique de Viguerie and Manon Querouil-Bruneel went to Yemen to investigate this war. (photos)

https://loeildelaphotographie.com/en/yemen-the-war-we-are-hiding/

(* B K)

Film: Zerstörung, Hunger, Vertreibung: Sechs Jahre Krieg im Jemen

Vor sechs Jahren beschossen saudi-arabische Kampfflugzeuge Stellungen der vom Iran unterstützten aufständischen Huthi-Miliz. Ein Krieg hatte begonnen, der den Jemen buchstäblich in Schutt und Asche legte. Zehntausende Zivilisten verloren ihr Leben, vier Millionen wurden innerhalb ihres Landes durch die Gewalt vertrieben. Und mehr als die Hälfte der Bevölkerung leidet Hunger. Ein Junge aus der Hauptstadt Sanaa versucht dennoch, seine Hoffnung zu bewahren.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIImZvo23ZI = https://www.tagesschau.de/multimedia/video/ts24/schwerpunkt/video-842181.html = https://www.ardmediathek.de/video/schwerpunkt-sechs-jahre-krieg-im-jemen/tagesschau24/Y3JpZDovL2Rhc2Vyc3RlLmRlL3RhZ2Vzc2NoYXUyNC8yZGY2ODQwYS04MTA5LTRlNGUtYmFlMS0zZTc2MDAzNDVmNWYvMQ/

(* B K P)

Audio: What an end to the Yemen war might look like

The World's Stephen Snyder tells the backstory of the war in Yemen, and American security expert Bruce Riedel tells host Marco Werman what the end of the Yemen war might look like and what role the US could play in achieving it.

https://www.pri.org/file/2021-03-26/what-end-yemen-war-might-look

(* B K pH)

Losses of electricity sector in Yemen over 6 years exceed $ 10 billion

The losses of the Yemeni electricity sector over six years of the Saudi-led coalition aggression on Yemen have amounted to 10,600,000,000 dollars.

According to a report issued by the Ministry of Electricity and Energy, the direct losses of the electricity sector due to the war and the blockade reached four billion dollars, while the indirect losses were estimated at 2,300,000,000 dollars due to the stoppage.

The report indicated that the losses of the generation sector in the Electricity Corporation amounted to 31,541,000 dollars.

The initial losses in the transport sector and transforming stations as a result of the aggression amounted to 61,757,000 dollars.

In the distribution sector, the report indicated that the primary losses amounted to 295,023,000 dollars, while the losses of the secondary cities sector in the ministry and the electricity corporation amounted to 30,351,000 dollars.

The foreign-funded projects sector (generation, transmission and distribution) has suffered initial damages estimated at 308,978,000 dollars, while the losses resulting from the targeting of the buildings and facilities sector and the rest of the electricity sector areas were estimated at $ 600 million.

The estimated initial direct and indirect losses at the General Authority for Rural Electricity during the six years of the aggression amounted to 1,600,000,000 dollars.

https://www.saba.ye/en/news3134321.htm

(* B P)

FSO Safer: A ticking time bomb for Yemen,‘a bargaining tool’ for Houthis

Experts estimate a major leak could severely damage Red Sea ecosystems, upon which some 30 million people depend

To avoid catastrophic oil spill, UN officials want Iran-backed militia to allow access to stricken vessel

It is an impending disaster that looms large over any talk of peace in Yemen, humanitarian efforts and ecological concerns.

The Safer oil tanker has been moored in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen, near the Ras Isa oil terminal, for more than five years.

The vessel is a floating storage and offloading (FSO) terminal that was used as an offshore platform for ships loading crude oil from the Marib-Ras Isa pipeline.

With 48 million gallons of oil on board, the UN warns a potential leak would be four times bigger than the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster off the coast of Alaska, considered the world’s worst oil spill in terms of environmental damage.

Experts estimate a major leak could severely damage Red Sea ecosystems, upon which some 30 million people depend, including 1.6 million Yemenis, according to the UN.

UN talks with the Houthis to resolve “logistical and security” arrangements are continuing, according to Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for the UN chief.

“We hope these discussions will come to a conclusion soon so we can get a timeline for deployment.

“There is also a technical meeting with the government of Yemen to brief them on the efforts to deploy the mission at the earliest opportunity.”

https://www.arabnews.com/node/1832991/middle-east

(A K P)

Mountain Battles Signal Path to Yemen Peace Runs Via More War

The Biden administration wants to bring it to an end, an accomplishment that would help ease its wider dispute with Iran. So does Saudi Arabia as it faces escalating Houthi attacks on oil facilities for its heavily criticized military role propping up Yemen’s internationally recognized government. The Houthis sense a different kind of breakthrough. [overview article]

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/mountain-battles-signal-path-to-yemen-peace-runs-via-more-war-1.1583216

(B K P)

6 JAHRE KRIEG UND KEIN FRIEDEN IN SICHT

Längst handelt es sich nicht mehr um regionale Auseinandersetzungen zwischen dem schiitisch dominierten Norden und dem sunnitischen Süden, sondern um einen Mehrfrontenkrieg mit zahlreichen Akteuren, die gewaltsam ihre Interessen durchsetzen.

Die Konsequenzen für die Zivilbevölkerung im Jemen könnten katastrophaler nicht sein

Längst hat sich eine fatale Kriegsökonomie breitgemacht, während die Zivilbevölkerung zu Grunde gerichtet wird.

Die Krise im Jemen stellt die größte humanitäre Katastrophe weltweit dar und doch gerät sie immer wieder in Vergessenheit.

So gerät eine ganze Generation von Kindern und Jugendlichen im Jemen in Vergessenheit. Millionen von Kindern haben keinen Zugang zu Bildung, weil viele Schulen im Jemen zerstört wurden und geschlossen sind.

Auch wenn im Jemen vorerst kein Frieden in Sicht ist, können wir uns mit den Menschen vor Ort solidarisch zeigen.

https://www.blog-der-republik.de/6-jahre-krieg-und-kein-frieden-in-sicht/

(B K P)

Failure in Yemen a heavy blow to Saudi Arabia: Yemeni expert

Yemeni political analyst Abdur-Rahman al-Houthi said on Saturday that failure in Yemen war would have severe implications for the Saudi Regime, as Yemeni people have gained power during the six-year war.

"This would be a failure for all members of the invasion coalition and all the world community who confirmed the invasion by closing eyes to the crimes committed by the Saudi Regime," Al-Houthi said.

https://en.irna.ir/news/84275804/Failure-in-Yemen-a-heavy-blow-to-Saudi-Arabia-Yemeni-expert

cp2a Saudische Blockade / Saudi blockade

(* B E K)

YPC: Quantities Released of Oil 8% of Actual Need

Yemen Petroleum Company held a press conference at Berth 1 of Hodeidah Port to inform the public opinion of the latest developments related to piracy of fuel tankers.

During the conference, the Executive Director of the company, Eng. Ammar Al-Adra'i, said that the quantities released for public consumption during the first quarter of 2021 is only 8% of the actual need.

The statement emphasized that the aggression forces are still holding 10 fuel tankers loaded with 273,695 tons of petrol, diesel and gas, indicating that the fines as a result of the seizure of these ships are close to 30 million dollars, and the number can be increased.

The statement pointed out that the fines for detaining the four released ships amounted to five million and 300 thousand dollars, three times equals the cost of the UN fuel aid shipment that arrived at Hodeidah port a few days ago.

It added that the US-Saudi aggression did not allow fuel tankers to enter Hodeidah port during the first quarter of this year, except for only four ships that were released, including three belonging to the private sector factories, in addition to the ship "Thuraya" loaded with 29,604 Tons of diesel.

https://english.almasirah.net/post/18584/YPC-Quantities-Released-of-Oil-8%25-of-Actual-Need

cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation

Siehe / Look at cp1

(* B H)

Devastating Humanitarian Crisis in Yemen Reveals the Impact of War

The civil war in Yemen is far from over and years of armed conflict have turned the country into a humanitarian catastrophe. As the state faces health, food, and environmental crises, many wonder if Yemen will ever recover.

After six years of civil war, the situation in Yemen is worse than ever. Since the conflict escalated in 2015, after the Saudi-led military intervention against the Iran-aligned Houthi militia, around 233,000 people have died as a result of fighting and war-related problems such as food shortages and damaged infrastructure. UNICEF reports that around 24 million people living in Yemen are in need of humanitarian assistance, which accounts for 80 percent of the country’s population.

Despite the efforts of the international community to restore peace in the state, the living conditions as well as security of the Yemenis have been deteriorating each year. Yemen has been progressively turning into a humanitarian disaster, and without the assistance of foreign aid, the country would quickly collapse entirely. The complexity of the problem and the far-reaching consequences of the war make it questionable whether Yemen will ever experience peace and stability again.

Over the last six years, around 4 million Yemenis have been forced to flee their homes because of frequent bombings

As a result of the economic turmoil, the vast majority of families in Yemen cannot afford to buy adequate food, and the things they eat do not provide them with adequate nutrients and vitamins. Indeed, the problem of food scarcity in Yemen is so widespread that the state is close to famine.

Many Yemenis, malnourished and living in inhumane conditions, have weakened immune systems and many die of treatable diseases. For example, while in developed countries there have been almost no cholera cases for over a century, Yemen has been trying to fight the disease since the outbreak in 2016.

https://insidearabia.com/devastating-humanitarian-crisis-in-yemen-reveals-the-impact-of-war/

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Film: Miliband: Yemeni people have been forgotten

David Miliband, CEO of the International Rescue Committee and former British Foreign Secretary, speaks to Becky Anderson about the catastrophic situation in Yemen and how cuts in aid have pushed millions into starvation.

https://edition.cnn.com/videos/world/2021/03/29/david-miliband-ctw-yemen-conflict.cnn

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A Somali court has confiscated boats of 31 Yemeni fishermen & fined each $700 for alleged fishing in Somalia's waters. Eritrea & Somalia are detaining & harassing Yemeni fishermen as Saudi-led coalition is preventing fishing under pretext of fight on smuggling arms to Houthis.

https://twitter.com/FuadRajeh/status/1376681970474872832

(B H)

WHO Yemen Update Situation report - Issue no.2 (February 2021)

Projected health needs in 2021 have increased by 11.9 per cent compared with 2020 levels, with approximately 20.1 million people in need of health assistance, including 11.6 million people who are in acute need.

WHO and partners continue their fight against child malnutrition as nearly 2.3 million children under the age of five in Yemen are projected to suffer from acute malnutrition in 2021.

https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/who-yemen-update-situation-report-issue-no2-february-2021

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Doctors on the Front Lines of the World’s Worst Humanitarian Crisis

Director Skye Fitzgerald’s Oscar-nominated documentary “Hunger Ward” chronicles Yemeni health care workers as they wrestle with famine and violence.

The United Nations has referred to the war in Yemen, which turned six years old last week, as “the largest humanitarian crisis in the world,” and director Skye Fitzgerald has seen it firsthand—just as he has previously chronicled suffering in the Syrian war and the plight of migrants off the Libyan coast. His latest project capping a humanitarian trilogy is Hunger Ward, which has garnered an Oscar nomination for documentary short subject. The film follows doctors and nurses in war-torn Yemen as they grapple with the devastation from hunger, violence, and American-made bombs and munitions that have ripped through the country.

Foreign Policy: What made you want to make this film?

Skye Fitzgerald: There’s so many answers to that. One of the things that I have been concerned about for quite some time has been compassion fatigue surrounding the global refugee crisis.

And so when I started to examine what was happening in Yemen and learned through due diligence just how deeply complicit the U.S. government is in the human-caused famine there, it was an issue that I felt called upon to bring to a Western audience. Because generally speaking, U.S. citizens know so little about the conflict in Yemen. Despite the fact that we’re so deeply integrated into the conflict and have been for the last six years. So really, it was for me a sense that the fourth estate can really intervene in this conflict in a significant way, and I wanted to be a part of that.

The U.S. has been a partner in the Saudi coalition from the outset.

FP: The film follows Dr. Aida al-Sadeeq and nurse Mekkia Mahdi. What keeps them going despite the struggles they face?

SF: We wanted to make sure that we were reaching out to health care workers in both the south and north of the country, because we really wanted to demonstrate how the effects of the war on civilians, and particularly on children, is playing out in very similar fashions in both the Hadi [government]-held areas as well as the Houthi-held areas.

So I sought out Mekkia and Dr. al-Sadeeq intentionally.

Despite all these challenges, they’ve dedicated their lives, both of them, to ensuring they save every child they can. And this is sort of constant, invisible work against the backdrop of an invisible war. It was part of the tension that we dealt with in the filmmaking process—to choose a conflict that is killing so many children, and yet there’s this inspiring work going on within that context.

I think the reason that so many doctors and nurses and families were willing for us to document and bear witness to such hard moments was because they want people to know what’s happening. Despite the fact that foreign powers that have intervened in Yemen, primarily Saudi Arabia and the Emirates, have done a very successful job of preventing journalists from accessing these stories, the people themselves want them to get out. They want the rest of the world to know that children are dying from famine in the country, by human-caused famine, famine that’s bigger than locusts, droughts, or anything else. That sort of desire for the Western world to know in the hope that the geopolitics can be changed was very real and very consistent.

https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/03/29/yemen-doctors-front-line-humanitarian-crisis-hunger-ward/

(B H)

Film: “I want the world to alleviate the suffering of the children in Taiz. I wonder why a shell should kill a child who is just playing. This is the biggest crime; it destroys the lives of mothers and children. Omar keeps telling me he hopes there will be another explosion so he can play again with his brother [in heaven].” Says Omar’s mother. Omar is a 8 year-old child who got injured and lost his brother in a shelling explosion while going back to their house. He is not recovering from his injuries.

https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/posts/3903695436350124

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Stolen limbs: Yemenis disabled by war see little hope for the future

Yemen's conflict has stolen many things from its people, but for the country's disabled it has taken away their future, freedom and independence

Hope is the only thing that many Yemenis still cling on to, often having lost everything during the past six years of war.

Those who lost their homes, hope to rebuild them, the unemployed hope to return to work, but people who have lost all or parts of their legs during the conflict cannot hope to walk again normally.

Below, Middle East Eye speaks to a farmer who can no longer look after his farm, a woman who was about to marry and cannot now leave her home, and the mother of a child who lost her leg.

While they were victims of different weapons - landmines, shelling, or air strikes - they all share the same suffering.

'I stepped on a landmine'

Abdu Saeed, 65, is a father of 13 children, some of whom have already married and opened their own houses while others still live with him in the same home.

Saeed lives in the Thaabat area of Taiz city, which has been a front line in the war.

Although there are no clashes in the area now, landmines are still killing and maiming civilians.

Saeed used to work as a farmer, but in 2019 he stepped on a landmine and lost his leg.

"I'm a resident of a mountainous area, and I used to work in farming, collecting firewood and grazing livestock. On 4 April 2019, I was grazing the livestock in the mountain, and before sunset I went to bring the livestock back home," he said to Middle East Eye.

Remote explosive devices have caused at least 5,500 casualties in Yemen since 2015.

Eighty percent of those casualties have occurred since 2017, according to a 2019 report by ACLED, a non-profit organisation that collects and collates data on conflicts around the world.

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/yemen-war-disabled-hope-future

cp4 Flüchtlinge / Refugees

(A H)

Film: In collaboration with @YemenCrescent , the ICRC distributed food and other essential items to more than 9000 people from families who have been displaced and otherwise severely affected by the ongoing conflict in #Marib Governorate.

https://twitter.com/ICRC_ye/status/1376579916318187524

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Photos: Marib: They fled to another camp, and they were pursued with missiles and displaced a third time to another camp. Today, by God Almighty, a fourth displacement by the hundreds, and some of them were the fifth time.

https://twitter.com/ab_aljaradi/status/1376268117190512640

More photos: https://twitter.com/AlqadhiYasmin/status/1376153774700560388

https://twitter.com/Alsakaniali/status/1376135024718778369

https://twitter.com/Alsakaniali/status/1376188191116509189

https://twitter.com/Alsakaniali/status/1376264358574092289

https://twitter.com/RiyadhAldubai/status/1376528421015203842

https://twitter.com/RiyadhAldubai/status/1376528425515683843

https://twitter.com/EuroMedYemen/status/1376485652452237318

https://twitter.com/Afrahnasser/status/1376477871200473090

and

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Film: Houthi militia targets the camps for the displaced leading Yemeni families to flee

Around 570 displaced families fled the "Al-Mil, Al-Khair and Tawasal" camps in Marib, following the Houthi militia attacked them with heavy artillery. This occurred after civilians were killed and six women were injured as a result of the bombing of the "Al-Mile" camp with more than 20 artillery shells and Katyusha rockets on Sunday. According to Saif Muthanna to the head of the Executive Unit for the Management of Displaced Persons Camps in Marib, stated that the shelling with rockets and artillery, forced More than 4,000 displaced people to flee again, and the systematic targeting of the camps by the Houthi militia has contributed to the closure of 27 camps and the displacement of more than (2,671) families from those camps.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHMsmqqeykA

and

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Activists denounce Saudi abuses against internally displaced refugees

Activists have on Monday circulated pictures showing the suffering of displaced refugees in Ma’rib province, as a result of the Saudi-led coalition forces preventing them from leaving their camps.

The photos showed the great suffering of the internally displaced people (IDPs) due to the approaching battles towards them in the safe areas east of the city of Ma’rib.

Earlier in the day, local sources in the city of Ma’rib reported that the coalition forces stationed inside the IDP camps in Al-Suwaida area, north of Ma’rib city, bombed the sites of Yemeni forces with Katyusha rockets.

The sources also indicated on Sunday evening that the coalition forces prevented the displaced from leaving the IDP camps, which were turned into military barracks by coalition forces and Al-Qaeda operatives (photos)

https://hodhodyemennews.net/2021/03/29/activists-denounce-saudi-abuses-against-internally-displaced-refugees/

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Migrants continue to flock to Yemen despite war, famine and disease

By the end of 2019, Yemen was hosting an estimated 280,000 refugees and asylum-seekers, 96 percent of them from Somalia and 3.8 percent from Ethiopia.

Yet thousands from the Horn of Africa continue to seek refuge in the war-torn country.

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Representative Jean-Nicolas Beuze, who has been in the Yemeni capital Sanaa for the past 14 months, says these migration figures reflect the suffering of migrants.

“This speaks to the tragedies and persecution and suffering they have back home. They see no hope and no light at the end of the tunnel by staying in Somalia or Ethiopia and therefore Yemen, in their view, becomes safer than their own home,” Beuze told Arab News.

Beuze says that the international community should find ways to provide safer options for people to claim asylum “because going from Somalia to Yemen is not a solution.”

In recent years, due to political and economic instability and climate change that have caused deadly droughts in the Horn of Africa, the number of migrants traveling to Yemen has increased.

In 2019, with an average of 11,500 people boarding vessels each month from the Horn of Africa to Yemen, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) called it the “busiest maritime migration route on earth.”

Undeterred by the Gulf’s strict immigration policies for undocumented migrants, according to the IOM, nearly 90 percent of those who arrived in Yemen intended to continue to Saudi Arabia.

The UN body for migration says that most are unaware of the security situation in Yemen where they face serious threats to their safety, including fighting or abuses such as kidnapping, torture, exploitation and trafficking.

https://www.arabnews.com/node/1833196/middle-east

cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis

Siehe / Look at cp1

(A K P)

17 deceived [defectors from anti-Houthi forces] returnees return home

https://www.saba.ye/en/news3134624.htm

(A P)

This is the most powerful poem i heard in my entire life. You guessed right. It’s from #Yemen.

https://twitter.com/AliAlAhmed_en/status/1376645305026945029

(A P)

Art exhibition on oppression suffers by Yemen opens in Sana’a

Yemeni Culture Minister Abdullah Ahmed al-Kabsi had on Monday opened an exhibition on Digital Art representing Yemen’s Oppression, organised by Mohammed Abdul-Karim al-Houthi, in corporation with the People’s Social Foundation for Development, in honour of the National Day of Steadfastness.

At the inauguration, the Minister of Culture stressed that the exhibition reflects the tragedies experienced by the Yemeni people caused by the aggression, as well as the daily suffering of Yemeni citizens since the beginning of the aggression.

https://hodhodyemennews.net/2021/03/29/art-exhibition-on-oppression-suffers-by-yemen-opens-in-sanaa/

Longer report in Arabic with photos: https://spicy-news.com/news/yemen/17075

Photos: https://www.facebook.com/Mohamed.abdulkareem2020/posts/307127724086649

(A P)

Sana'a-based GPC refers Tariq Saleh to observation

The General People's Congress (GPC) branch in Sana'a on Sunday attacked Tariq Saleh, nephew of the Yemeni late president, over declaring a politburo for national resistance in the western coast.
At a meeting for GPC's general committee and secretariat in Sana'a, chairman Sadiq Abu Ras expressed objection to this body that conflicts Yemen's constitution and the GPC laws, and harms regulations and people unity.
The meeting tasked regulatory observation body with taking discipline measures against all members participating in the declaration party.

https://debriefer.net/en/news-24126.html

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Houthis Draft, Deploy 85 Child Soldiers from Yemen’s Ibb

Houthi militias are gathering fresh batches of recruits from different districts to deploy them to battlefronts in the oil-rich Marib governorate, reported local sources based in southern Yemeni governorate of Ibb.

At least 85 minors are among the fighters Houthis deployed over the last 14 days, sources revealed, adding that the Iran-backed group had collected the child soldiers from villages and forced them to train for a week before being used as cannon fodder in Marib.

Despite some of the children being kidnapped and forcibly drafted into Houthi ranks, a number of minors were traded off to the Iran-backed group by some of Yemen’s poorest families in exchange for monthly financial and food support.

It is worth noting that Houthi recruitment campaigns are ongoing, intensifying and have spread to multiple districts across the war-torn country.

https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2888001/houthis-draft-deploy-85-child-soldiers-yemen%E2%80%99s-ibb

My remark: By a Saudi news site.

(A P)

Jemen: Vertreiben die Huthis die letzten Juden?

Die Huthis sollen die letzten drei jüdischen Familien gezwungen, den Jemen zu verlassen. Ähnliche Berichte in der Vergangenheit wurden allerdings dementiert.

Die letzten drei jüdischen Familien im Jemen wurden von den vom Iran unterstützten Huthi-Rebellen deportiert, so dass nur noch vier ältere Juden im Land sind. Die Huthis hatten starken Druck ausgeübt, berichtete die in London ansässige saudische Tageszeitung Asharq Al-Awsat am Wochenende.

Die Familien, insgesamt 13 Personen, sagten gegenüber Asharq Al-Awsat, dass sie nun auf der Suche nach einer neuen Heimat seien. Die Familien hatten sich dagegen gewehrt, ihre Heimat zu verlassen, stimmten aber schließlich zu, nachdem die Huthis ihre Abreise zur Bedingung für die Freilassung von Levi Salem Marhabi gemacht hatten, einem Juden, der vor etwa sechs Jahren von den Huthis gefangen genommen worden war. (…)

Marhabi wurde von den Huthis verhaftet, weil er einer jemenitischen jüdischen Familie geholfen haben soll, eine alte Thora-Rolle außer Landes zu bringen. Trotz eines Gerichtsurteils, dass er unschuldig war und freigelassen werden sollte, wurde er laut der Tageszeitung als Druckmittel festgehalten.

Werbung

Ähnliche Berichte wurden bereits in der Vergangenheit als falsch dementiert.

https://www.mena-watch.com/vertreiben-huthis-juden-jemen/

(A P)

Almost all remaining Jews in Yemen deported - Saudi media

Similar reports have been denied as false in the past.

The last three Jewish families in Yemen were deported by the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, leaving only four elderly Jews in the country, the London-based Saudi daily Asharq Al-Awsat reported over the weekend.

The move marks the virtual end of a 2,600-year-old Jewish community in Yemen.

The families, totaling 13 people, told Asharq Al-Awsat that they were now searching for a new home. The families had resisted leaving, but finally agreed after the Houthis made their departure a condition for the release of Levi Salem Marhabi, a Jew who was captured by the rebels about six years ago.

“They gave us a choice between staying in the midst of harassment and keeping Salem a prisoner, or leaving and having him released,” one of the deported Jews told Asharq Al-Awsat. “History will remember us as the last of Yemeni Jews who were still clinging to their homeland until the last moment.”

Marhabi was arrested by the Houthis for helping a Yemeni Jewish family move an old Torah scroll out of the country. Despite a court ruling that he was innocent and should be released, he was reportedly held as a bargaining chip, according to the daily.

The three families arrived in Egypt and are considering whether to immigrate to the UAE or make aliyah to Israel, according to KAN news. Some of the family members are reportedly interested in moving to Israel, but one of the family members is reportedly opposed.

https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/almost-all-remaining-jews-in-yemen-deported-saudi-media-663486

and also https://www.timesofisrael.com/some-of-yemens-last-remaining-jews-said-expelled-by-iran-backed-houthis/

https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2021/03/houthis-deport-some-yemens-last-remaining-jews

http://en.adenpress.news/news/32583

https://english.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2021/3/29/last-jewish-families-leave-yemen-after-houthi-ultimatum-report

(A P)

Houthis call for boycotting France after remarks of ambassador to Yemen

The Ansar Allah group, referred to as the Houthis, on Sunday called on the Yemeni people and all Muslim countries to boycott the French government and products after the French ambassador to Yemen Jean-Marie Safa criticised the group as the only party prolonging the war in the country.

The Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Houthi government Hussein Al-Ezzi said the French government is one of the worst governments in the West and participating in killing and blockading the Yemeni people.

https://debriefer.net/en/news-24116.html

(B P)

Ministry of Interior Reveals Security Achievements within six Years

Ministry of Interior has revealed security statistics for the most important achievements during the past 6 years.

During a press conference held on Saturday in Sana'a, the Interior Ministry spokesman Brigadier General Abdulkhaleq Al-Ajri stated that 302 terrorist sabotage plans were detected and thwarted during 2015-2021.

Al-Ajri stated that the Ministry of Interior units managed to seize 9,709 criminals affiliated with the Saudi-led coalition, Al-Qaeda and Daesh, as well as agents of monitoring, assassinations and planting explosive devices.

He pointed out that during the six years, security personnel were able to seize and dismantle 1,981 explosive devices that were planted by terrorists affiliated with the coalition, as well as seizing 105442 criminal cases and carrying out 12048 operations to seize and recover stolen items and deliver them to their owners.

https://english.almasirah.net/post/18565/Ministry-of-Interior-Reveals-Security-Achievements-within-six-Years

and also https://hodhodyemennews.net/2021/03/28/yemeni-forces-have-thwarted-over-300-terrorist-attacks-since-2015/

(A K P)

Funeral services held for Saudi citizen who joined Yemeni revolutionary forces

A funeral was held in the capital Sana’a for Abdulaziz Yousef Saed Mohamed Omar, a Saudi citizen who was martyred while fighting alongside the Yemeni army and Popular Committees against the Saudi-led coalition forces.

https://hodhodyemennews.net/2021/03/27/funeral-services-held-for-saudi-citizen-who-joined-yemeni-revolutionary-forces/

and also https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20210329-yemen-state-funeral-for-saudi-martyr-who-fought-alongside-houthis/

(A P)

President Mahdi al-Mashat speaks on sixth anniversary of Saudi invasion

President of the Republic of Yemen, Mahdi Al-Mashat, has affirmed that “the steadfastness of the Yemeni people has protected them from suffering that would otherwise have been greater and more dangerous.”

During his speech on the occasion of the “National Day of Steadfastness” on Friday evening, President Al-Mashat stated that the steadfastness gave the Yemeni people immunity from being affected by the policies and methods of enemies.

“The steadfastness of our people had a great impact in thwarting all hostile schemes,” he said.

President Mahdi Al-Mashat explained that one of the most important gains of Yemen’s steadfastness is that it has exposed the decline of human values among the invaders pretending to support “progress and humanity”, and has “dropped all [their] masks.”

He pointed out that the United Nations expresses concern every time the Yemeni people use their legitimate right to defence, but keeps quiet about the daily aggression and the ongoing blockade on them.

https://hodhodyemennews.net/2021/03/27/president-mahdi-al-mashat-speaks-on-sixth-anniversary-of-saudi-invasion/

and also https://english.almasirah.net/post/18540/Steadfastness-by-Yemeni-People-Protects-from-Greater-Suffering%C2%A0

cp6 Südjemen und Hadi-Regierung / Southern Yemen and Hadi-government

Siehe / Look at cp1

(A P)

Yemen: Security forces fire on anti-government demonstrators in Burum, Hadramawt Governorate, March 30

https://www.garda.com/crisis24/news-alerts/461426/yemen-security-forces-fire-on-anti-government-demonstrators-in-burum-hadramawt-governorate-march-30

(B P)

New Yemeni ports come under foreign occupation, says TV channel

New ports of entry to Yemen have come under foreign occupation, a local TV channel said.

Almahriya reported on Sunday the deployment of UAE forces to take Alghadha Airport and Nashtoon Seaport in the eastern governorate of Almahra. It said US and UK forces are “supervising the equipping of those forces under the pretext of fighting terrorism” and ISIS

despite the fact that this terror organization “is not proven to have existence in Yemen” until now.

https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-46023

(A P)

Growing Yemeni demands for opening Mokha and handing the seaports’ control over to the local government of Taiz/Yemen News Agency (YNA) website

https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-46021

(A P)

39 detainees go on hunger strike in the UAE-controlled Beer Ahmed jail in Aden./Almahriya TV channel.

https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-46021

(A P)

Women's protest continues in al-Mukalla

The women's protest continues in al-Mukalla city, the provincial capital of oil-rich Hadhramout governorate.
Dozens of women gathered on Monday, near al-Dhaba Oil Port in the eastern parts of al-Mukalla city in protest against the deteriorating economy, poor living conditions and lack of basic services.

http://en.adenpress.news/news/32594

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Jemen: Die VAE haben die Insel Sokotra zu ihrem Waffenarsenal gemacht

Ihren jüngsten Behauptungen zum Trotz hat die emiratische Regierung die strategisch wichtige Insel Sokotra im Südjemen zu einem Waffenarsenal gemacht.

Wie die Nachrichtenagentur Sputnik am Sonntagabend berichtete, hat die Armee der Vereinigten Arabischen Emirate (VAE) zur Stärkung der separatistischen Truppen des Südlichen Übergangsrat auf der Insel Sokotra schultergeschützte Raketenwerfer und tragbare Artillerien dorthin entsandt.

Trotz iher Behauptung über einen vollständigen Truppenabzug von der Insel setzen die VAE die Entsendung von Militärausrüstungen fort.

Laut lokalen Quellen auf der Insel Sokotra hat ein riesiges Containerschiff mit der Flagge der humanitären Hilfeleistung die Militärausrüstungen auf die Insel gebracht.

Die Vereinigten Arabischen Emirate haben vor einigen Wochen den Hafenmanager der Insel, der sich der Militarisierung dieser touristischen Insel widersetzte, entlassen, um die Lieferung militärischer Ausrüstung an die mit ihnen verbundenen Kräften auf Sokotra zu erleichtern. Gleichzeitig damit wurde bekannt gegeben, dass die VAE Truppen in der Provinz al-Mahra im Osten des Jemen stationiert haben. Es gibt auch Berichte über ein großes Manöver unter Führung der USA, Frankreich und Belgien in den südlichen Küstengewässern des Jemen.

https://parstoday.com/de/news/middle_east-i57166-jemen_die_vae_haben_die_insel_sokotra_zu_ihrem_waffenarsenal_gemacht

(A)

STC Official Survives Assassination Attempt in Shabwa

The head of the local leadership of the Southern Transitional Council in Nisab of Shabwa governorate, Abdullah Awad Ali Ariq survived an assassination attempt on Saturday, local sources and news websites reported.

http://en.adenpress.news/news/32579

(A P)

Militias exchange fire in Aden, spread panic

Armed militias exchanged fire this morning in the port city of Aden, spreading panic and holing people up in their work places, local sources said.

The sources said the STC militia exchanged fire with other gangs who set up buildings in wrong locations near the historical cisterns of Aden known as the Sahareej. Both the STC and the gangs are affiliate to the UAE’s created paramilitary forces in Aden.

https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-45974

(A P)

Shatara: No regional stability unless Southern State is returned

Member of the Presidency of Southern Transitional Council (STC ), Vice-President of the National Assembly for Control and Inspection, Lufti Shatara said that the region will not be stabilized without the return of the Southern State.

http://en.adenpress.news/news/32571

(A P)

Cabinet members still in Aden doing their jobs

Yemen’s cabinet said its members are working in Aden and other liberated governorates normally despite challenges.
According to Saba news agency, a source in the cabinet denied the news that the ministers have left Aden as a rumor saying the ministers are practicing their daily activities there and that the travel of any minister outside the country comes only within the business travel before they come back to Aden.

http://en.adenpress.news/news/32574

(A P)

Hadrami women protest against harsh living conditions

Dozens of women peacefully took to the streets of al-Dees in al-Mukalla city, the provincial capital of oil-rich Hadhramout governorate on Saturday to peacefully express their anger at the dire living conditions, breakdown of essential public services, rising food and fuel prices, economic collapse and long hours of power outages.
The Hadrami women condemned the government's failure to provide basic public services and to alleviate the people's suffering.

http://en.adenpress.news/news/32576

Fortsetzung / Sequel: cp7 – cp19

https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-731b-yemen-war-mosaic-731b

Vorige / Previous:

https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-730-yemen-war-mosaic-730

Jemenkrieg-Mosaik 1-730 / Yemen War Mosaic 1-730:

https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose oder / or http://poorworld.net/YemenWar.htm

Der saudische Luftkrieg im Bild / Saudi aerial war images:

(18 +, Nichts für Sensible!) / (18 +; Graphic!)

http://poorworld.net/YemenWar.htm

http://yemenwarcrimes.blogspot.de/

http://www.yemenwar.info/

Liste aller Luftangriffe / and list of all air raids:

http://yemendataproject.org/data/

Untersuchung ausgewählter Luftangriffe durch Bellingcat / Bellingcat investigations of selected air raids:

https://yemen.bellingcat.com/

Untersuchungen von Angriffen, hunderte von Filmen / Investigations of attacks, hundreds of films:

https://yemeniarchive.org/en

Dieser Beitrag gibt die Meinung des Autors wieder, nicht notwendigerweise die der Redaktion des Freitag.
Geschrieben von

Dietrich Klose

Vielfältig interessiert am aktuellen Geschehen, zur Zeit besonders: Ukraine, Russland, Jemen, Rolle der USA, Neoliberalismus, Ausbeutung der 3. Welt

Dietrich Klose