Jemenkrieg-Mosaik 735 - Yemen War Mosaic 735

Yemen Press Reader 735: 17. April 2021: Steigende Lebenshaltungskosten in Jemen – Lokale Sicherheitskontrolle im Jemen in Kriegszeiten – Saudische Geheimgefängnisse im Südjemen ...

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Eingebetteter Medieninhalt

... Bidens Beauftragter entspricht der saudischen Linie, sagen Aktivisten – Joe Biden setzt Trumps größtes Waffengeschäft fort – Biden bricht Wahlversprechen und genehmigt den Waffenverkauf an Saudi-Arabien Arabien – Opfer von Drohnenangriffen im Jemen wollen USA zur Rechenschaft ziehen – BAE Systems verkaufte während des Jemen-Krieges Waffen im Wert von 17,6 Mrd. Pfund an die Saudis – Südafrikas Waffenverkäufe nach Saudi-Arabien – Finanzierung von Waffenfirmen, die nach Saudi-Arabien und in die Emirate exportiert haben – Die Saudis und Jemens Öl – und mehr

April 17, 2021: The soaring cost of living in Yemen – Local security governance in Yemen in the times of war – Saudi secret prisons in Southern Yemen – Biden official Is toeing the Saudi line, activists say – Joe Biden is proceeding with Donald Trump’s biggest arms deal – Biden breaks campaign promise, approves arms sale to Saudi Arabia – Drone strike victims in Yemen are desperate for accountability from the U.S – BAE Systems sold weaponry worth £17.6bn to Saudis during Yemen war – South Africa’s arms sales to Saudi Arabia – Financing of arms companies that have exported to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – Saudis and Yemen's oil and more

Schwerpunkte / Key aspects

Kursiv: Siehe Teil 2 / In Italics: Look in part 2: https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-735b-yemen-war-mosaic-735b

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

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

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

cp13a Waffenhandel / Arms trade

cp13b Söldner / Mercenaries

cp13c Kulturerbe / Cultural heritage

cp14 Terrorismus / Terrorism

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

cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important

(** B H)

Fotostory: Steigende Lebenshaltungskosten in Jemen

Schon vor der Pandemie hatten die Jemenit*innen mit einem massiven Anstieg der Nahrungsmittelpreise zu kämpfen. Das Coronavirus hat die Krise im Land durch eine Unterbrechung der Devisenzuflüsse noch verschärft. Abriegelungen in anderen Ländern stören die globalen Versorgungsketten, treiben Transportkosten in die Höhe und verzögern die Lieferung von Grundnahrungsmitteln in ein Land, das 90% seiner Nahrungsmittel importiert.

Vor diesem Hintergrund bedeutet der starke Wertverfall der jemenitischen Währung in Verbindung mit stagnierenden Löhnen, dass die Bevölkerung Mühe hat, ihre Grundbedürfnisse zu decken. Im siebten Jahr seit Ausbruch des Krieges sind über 67% der jemenitischen Bevölkerung auf Nothilfe angewiesen.

Asrar Mohammed Basem ist eine 30-jährige Mutter, die im Camp Al-Sawda im Gouvernement Al-Dhale'e in Südjemen lebt. Sie erklärt, wie sich die Preissteigerungen auf ihre Familie ausgewirkt haben. „Zu den aktuellen Preisen können wir nichts mehr kaufen“, sagt Asrar. „Ein Sack Mehl kostete früher 5000 bis 6000 jemenitische Rial (YR, etwa 6 Euro). Jetzt kostet er 8500 YR (etwa 8 Euro). Wenn wir Mehl kaufen, können wir keinen Zucker und kein Öl mehr kaufen.“

Die steigenden Lebensmittelpreise zwingen Familien in Jemen zu ungesunden Bewältigungsstrategien. Von IRC durchgeführte Umfragen verdeutlichen den Ernst der Lage: 66% gaben an, die Anzahl der täglichen Mahlzeiten zu reduzieren, 74% greifen auf relativ preiswerte Lebensmittel zurück, 68% begrenzen ihre Portionsgrößen zu begrenzen und 57% der Erwachsenen lassen Mahlzeiten ausfallen, um ihren Kindern genug Nahrung zu geben.

Asrar und ihr Ehemann leben mit ihren sieben Kindern zusammen. Um arbeiten zu können, mietet der Vater täglich ein Motorrad, für das er 1000 YR (etwa 1 Euro) an den Besitzer zahlt. Dies ermöglicht ihm genug Einkommen, um relativ preiswerte Lebensmittel zu kaufen.

Da die meisten Mahlzeiten der Familie aus Brot und Tee bestehen, sind Asrars Kinder zunehmend durch akute Unterernährung und den damit verbundenen Krankheiten gefährdet. Ihre jüngste Tochter Tahani hat in Folge der Lebensmittelknappheit eine Blutarmut entwickelt.

Im Oktober 2020 kosteten Grundnahrungsmittel wie Weizen, Reis, Öl, Zucker und Mehl mehr als doppelt so viel wie zu Beginn des Konflikts. „Die steigenden Preise verschlechterten unsere finanzielle Situation sehr“, sagt Taqwa. „Wir waren nicht einmal in der Lage, das Krankenhaus zu besuchen oder Medikamente für unsere Kinder zu kaufen.“ Taqwa und ihr Mann Mohammed mussten persönliche Gegenstände verkaufen, wenn ihre Kinder krank wurden.

Mit der Unterstützung der von der EU finanzierten mobilen Gesundheitskliniken des IRC - zu denen auch eine mobile Apotheke gehört - hat die Familie wieder Zugang zu lebenswichtigen Medikamenten für ihre Kinder. „Das macht einen großen Unterschied in unserem Leben“, sagt Mohammed.

https://de.rescue.org/article/steigende-lebenshaltungskosten-jemen

(** B H)

Photo story: The soaring cost of living in Yemen

Even before the pandemic, Yemenis were facing massive spikes in staple food prices. The coronavirus has only served to exacerbate the crisis in the country, as the pandemic continues to disrupt foreign currency inflows into Yemen. Lockdowns in other countries have interfered with global supply chains, driving up transport costs and delaying shipments of essential items to a country that imports 90% of its food.

Against this backdrop, a sharp decline in the value of the country’s currency coupled with stagnant wages means that average Yemenis are struggling to meet their needs. As the country enters its seventh year of war, over 67% of the Yemeni population is in desperate need of emergency relief.

Asrar Mohammed Basem, a 30-year old mother living in the Al-Sawda camp, located in the Al-Dhale’e Governorate in the south, told the IRC about how price increases had affected her family. “We can’t buy anything these days with these prices,” said Asrar. “A sack of flour used to cost 5 to 6 thousand Yemeni rials (YR) (around £6), but now it costs 8500 YR (around £8). If we buy flour, we won’t be able to buy sugar and oil. We can’t afford to buy everything.”

As a result of rising food prices, families in Yemen have resorted to harmful coping strategies to make ends meet. Surveys conducted by the IRC illustrate the gravity of the situation: 66% reported reducing the number of meals eaten a day, 74% reported relying on relatively inexpensive food items, 68% reported limiting portion sizes, and 57% of adults had to skip meals in order to have enough food to feed their small children.

Living together with her seven children, Asrar’s husband finds daily work by renting a motorbike, paying 1000 YR (around £1) every day to the owner. This allows him enough income to buy relatively inexpensive food items for family meals such as bread and tea.

Having bread and tea for most of their meals, Asrar’s children are increasingly at risk of developing persistent malnutrition and related diseases. As the family subsisted on meals lacking in nutrients, her youngest daughter, Tahani, developed acute malnutrition and anaemia as a result.

By October 2020, staple food items found in every household - such as wheat, rice, oil, sugar and flour - cost more than twice as much as compared to the beginning of the conflict.

“Increasing prices meant that our financial situation became very bad,” said Taqwa. “We were not even able to visit the hospital or buy medicine for our children.” Taqwa and her husband Mohammed had to sell personal belongings to visit the hospital when their children fell sick.

With the support of the IRC’s EU-funded mobile health clinics - which includes a mobile pharmacy - the family once again has access to vital medicine for their children. “It has made a big difference in our lives,” said Mohammed.

https://www.rescue-uk.org/article/soaring-cost-living-yemen

(** B P)

LOCAL SECURITY GOVERNANCE IN YEMEN IN TIMES OF WAR

With funding from the Government of Canada, between April 2020 and November 2020 the Yemen Policy Center with the support of CARPO researched local security structures, conducting interviews with over a hundred security officials, security experts, civil society figures and journalists. After six years of war, Yemen and its state institutions have undergone dramatic changes, having fragmented along multiple fault lines. The security sector is no exception. In the north west, Ansar Allah took over the capital Sana‘a by force in September 2014, before seizing large parts of the highlands: from the Saudi border in the north, to the Red Sea in the west, Marib in the east and al-Dhali‘ in the south. Ansar Allah consolidated its control over the state, systematically weakening tribal structures and using security forces to crush any space for dissent or opposition. With this takeover of Sana‘a, not only did the already porous boundary between state and non-state actors completely crumble but also national-level politics suddenly became ineffective, with old elites fleeing the country, national institutions falling under the control of Ansar Allah or becoming impaired, with territory becoming increasingly divided.

Given their role as the security governance structure’s central nodes, this report explores governorate-level Security Committees in three governorates that have been particularly affected by violence and institutional fragmentation: Ta‘iz, al-Hudayda and Aden. As well as seeking to understand the institutional set-up and functions of the Committees, this research looks at how the Committees have evolved in the context of state fragmentation and what, if any, capacities they have to play a potential role in local-level mediation (for instance, regarding humanitarian access) or transitional security governance arrangements. The study looks at the state of security institutions at the local level, and how state disintegration processes are reflected in governorate and district-level institutions. Local security governance institutions with functioning procedures exist even in governorates with significant political fragmentation, albeit with varying degrees of functionality, capacity and legitimacy. State fragmentation has shaped three different trajectories in the three governorates. In Ta‘iz, one political group came to dominate the institutions, while political divisions are relatively minor, and the Security Committee functions most effectively. Al-Hudayda provides an example of parallel institutions, but with Ansar Allah in control of the original Security Committee, it is also an example of a security institution that was newly established from the ground-up. Aden presents an example of a Security Committee that was captured by a political group within the state, with the IRG having gradually lost control.

https://www.yemenpolicy.org/local-security-governance-in-yemen-in-times-of-war/

Full report: https://www.yemenpolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/YPC-CARPO-Local-Security-Governance-in-Yemen-in-Times-of-War-final.pdf

(** B P)

Documents reveal that Saudi Arabia hides its prisons in Yemen

A Yemeni document revealed a Saudi endeavour to hide its secret prisons in Yemen and the grave violations of torture they contain.

Saudi Leaks obtained a document that revealed Saudi pressure on the prosecution and the Attorney General in Yemen to fake reports denying the existence of secret Saudi prisons in the country.

The move came to escape international sanctions and fear of human rights action after international organizations monitored Saudi secret prisons’ violations in Al-Mahra.

SAM Organization for Rights and Freedoms said that the legitimate government’s security forces in Hadramawt governorate in eastern Yemen have arbitrarily detained and forcibly disappeared dozens of civilians under the supervision of the Arab coalition led by Saudi Arabia and its partner the Emirates for more than four years.

The human rights organization confirmed in its report that Saudi Arabia and the UAE oversaw the torture of dozens of civilians arrested during security operations under the pretext of fighting al-Qaeda in Hadramout governorate.

It indicated that the detainees were transferred to Mukalla Central Prison Al Munawara in preparation for their trial but that the authorities kept them without trial. Some detainees’ families reported that their relatives were transferred to Dhahban Prison in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

SAM documented more than 15 cases, including two children subjected to arbitrary detention or enforced disappearance in Seiyun (the second-largest city in Hadramout) during 2016.

They were arrested by military units belonging to the First Region forces backed by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and they were detained in Al-Mud prison in the city of Seiyun before they were transferred to Mukalla prison, the capital of Hadhramaut.

Tawfiq Al-Hamidi, head of the Geneva-based SAM organization, said: “Arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, and torture is an unacceptable crime.”

According to the report, the Al-Mali prison, which is under the Saudi forces’ supervision, witnessed many detainees’ torture after their arbitrary detention.

The organization pointed out that the international team of experts has also documented many violations in this prison, known as Al-Mud Prison.

Al-Mud Prison detention centre is a “small secret facility” located south of Sayun, inside the Yemeni Armed Forces headquarters in the First Military Zone. It is located 50 meters to the east of the largest military prison, inside the First Military Region base.

Human rights organization’s reports stated that officers from the Saudi and Yemeni intelligence are the ones who are in charge of the interrogation and torture process.

According to a witness, three days after Saeed was arrested, his family found him in Seiyun Hospital’s refrigerator.

According to testimonies made by witnesses or from Saeed’s relatives, those who killed him were the anti-terror forces supervised by Saudi Arabia, and the family did not obtain permission to bury, before it was able to do so, after 15 days.

SAM organization considered reasonable grounds to believe that the military forces supervised by the Saudi forces have committed an extrajudicial execution by killing Saeed Awad, which entails criminal responsibility, as arbitrary deprivation of life is strictly prohibited under international human rights law.

https://saudileaks.org/en/yemen-6/

(** B P)

Biden Official Is Toeing the Saudi Line, Activists Say

Some are starting to criticize Biden’s special envoy as too close to the Saudis.

Lenderking’s allies describe him as a consummate diplomat who articulates policy that higher-ups craft. His diplomacy is credited with getting the Saudis to allow four fuel ships to dock at Hodeidah recently. But his comments to CNN were the latest in a pattern of statements from the U.S. official that articulate the position of the Saudis—whom the U.S. is meant to be pressuring to end the war that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman started. More broadly, since Biden took office, State Department comments on Yemen tend to aim their criticism at the Houthis more than the Saudis. Antiwar critics are starting to consider Lenderking a symptom of a broader problem with how Biden is approaching Yemen.

A Democratic congressional aide who focuses on Mideast policy and who requested anonymity to speak candidly called it “baffling that Lenderking, who both publicly celebrated U.S. support for the Saudi war and opposed the attempt by Congress to reassert its constitutional authorities, would be put in charge of negotiating a peaceful settlement for Yemen.”

A letter to Biden last week signed by the actors Mark Ruffalo, Amy Schumer, and 74 progressive organizations singled out Lenderking for “declin[ing] to adequately respond” to the CNN account of the blockade. Combined with another letter from 70 Democratic legislators—one that did not mention Lenderking—the end of antiwar groups’ patience with Biden over Yemen is nigh.

“I have no problem with Lenderking calling out Houthi human rights violations, obviously that’s part of his job, but he should emphasize that the first thing that needs to happen is the lifting of the blockade, and the key point is it shouldn’t be connected to the broader negotiation to end the war,” said Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), one of the leading antiwar voices in Congress.

“The question is,” Khanna continued, “are they taking bold enough action? The times call for really bold measures, not just an incremental approach that risks thousands dying.”

While it has only been two months since Lenderking’s appointment, activists and congressional staffers eager to end the conflict say that his posture reflects a diplomatic approach by the Biden administration and the U.N. likely to prolong a war that has already killed nearly a quarter million people.

That’s because, as Lenderking’s comment to CNN formulated it, he and Griffith seek a comprehensive political settlement rather than first securing an end to the blockade.

Criticisms of Lenderking aside, antiwar Yemen observers say there’s a fundamental problem with Biden’s initiative to end the war. It’s not his alone, but the United Nations’ as well. Their efforts are predicated on a Security Council resolution, 2216, that holds the Houthis solely responsible for the war. Absent a recognition that the conflict is more complex, the basis for resolving it is on what Biden and Obama officials Rob Malley and Steve Pomper recently wrote was the “wholly unrealistic” idea of demanding the Houthis quit. Continuing down the current course, some argue, will lead to a familiar outcome to Americans: a war that perpetuates itself while the officials behind it declare themselves devoted to a peace process that they portray their adversaries as undermining.

“The conundrum for the U.S. now,” said Salisbury of the International Crisis Group, “is how they can address the original sin of the U.S. response to the war—not doing enough to prevent indiscriminate airstrikes and weaponization of the economy—while also steering the conflict towards a resolution.” – by Spencer Ackerman

https://www.thedailybeast.com/biden-official-tim-lenderking-is-toeing-the-saudi-line-activists-say

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Für 23 Milliarden Dollar: Biden liefert Abu Dhabi modernste Kampfjets und Drohnen

Obwohl die Vereinigten Arabischen Emirate in den Kriegen in Jemen und in Libyen eine zweifelhafte Rolle spielten, gibt Washington grünes Licht für umfangreiche Waffenlieferungen. Dazu gehören 50 Tarnkappen-Flugzeuge des Typs F-35.

Bisher gab sich der neue amerikanische Präsident in der Aussenpolitik gerne als pazifistischer Idealist. Er liess die Waffenlieferungen an Saudiarabien und die Vereinigten Arabischen Emirate (VAE) überprüfen, forderte endlich eine Friedenslösung in Jemen, suchte den Dialog mit Iran und entschied sich für einen schnellen Abzug aus Afghanistan. Doch nun hat seine Regierung grünes Licht für Waffenverkäufe im Wert von über 23 Milliarden Dollar an die VAE gegeben, die noch von seinem Amtsvorgänger Donald Trump eingefädelt worden waren. Am Dienstag informierte das Weisse Haus den Kongress darüber.

Das Geschäft besteht unter anderem aus der Lieferung von 50 Tarnkappen-Kampfjets des Typs F-35 und 18 Reaper-Kampfdrohnen des Typs MQ-9B. Bis 2025 sollen die ersten Flugzeuge geliefert werden.

Biden indes dürfte mit seiner Entscheidung auch viele in den Reihen der eigenen Partei vor den Kopf gestossen haben. Die Demokraten versuchten im Dezember die Waffenlieferungen an die Emirate mit zwei Abstimmungen im Senat zu verhindern, scheiterten jedoch knapp. Ihre Hoffnungen lagen nun auf ihrem Präsidenten, der kurz nach seinem Amtsantritt im Januar auch in ihrem Sinne zu handeln schien. Biden kündigte nicht nur eine Überprüfung der Waffenverkäufe an die VAE an, sondern auch derjenigen an Saudiarabien.

Man wolle eine Neuausrichtung der Beziehungen zu Saudiarabien und keinen Bruch, erklärte ein hoher Regierungsbeamter die Inkonsequenz des amerikanischen Präsidenten.

Ähnlich scheint es sich nun auch im Fall der Waffenlieferungen an die Emirate zu verhalten. Gerade angesichts des Kräftemessens mit Iran scheinen sich die USA einen Bruch mit ihren wichtigsten Partnern im Nahen Osten kaum leisten zu können. Umso mehr, als sich diese ihre Waffen gegebenenfalls auch anderswo kaufen könnten – von Christian Weisflog

https://www.nzz.ch/international/die-usa-liefern-abu-dhabi-modernste-waffen-ld.1611896

und auch https://www.israelnetz.com/politik-wirtschaft/sicherheit/2021/04/14/neue-us-regierung-billigt-verkauf-von-kampfjets-an-emirate/

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Joe Biden Is Proceeding With Donald Trump’s Biggest Arms Deal

A State Department spokesperson told HuffPost the president is permitting a $23 billion package for the United Arab Emirates that he had placed under review.

President Joe Biden is advancing controversial Trump-era plans to transfer $23.4 billion in sophisticated weaponry to the United Arab Emirates, a State Department spokesperson told HuffPost on Tuesday ― despite concerns from influential lawmakers and progressive activists, as well as the Biden administration’s promise to review the package.

The news ― first reported by HuffPost ― came amid an ongoing lawsuit by a nonprofit group called the New York Center for Foreign Policy Affairs, which echoed criticism of the deal as potentially destabilizing for the Middle East.

“While we will not comment on ongoing litigation, we can confirm that that the Administration intends to move forward with these proposed defense sales to the UAE, even as we continue reviewing details and consulting with Emirati officials to ensure we have developed mutual understandings with respect to Emirati obligations before, during, and after delivery,” the spokesperson said.

Last December, nearly all Senate Democrats voted to try and block the sale, citing President Donald Trump’s rushed attempt to push it through and the UAE’s alarming violations of human rights at home and around the region.

Biden put the deal — which would give the UAE the F-35 fighter jet, armed drones and associated bombs and missiles — under review shortly after becoming president. The administration has since been vague about that process.

The transfers are incredibly complex and will take years to complete, so it was clear that they were not occurring yet. In January, an official told the Wall Street Journal that the UAE sales “were not frozen while they are being examined” — in contrast to Trump-era arms deals for Saudi Arabia, a UAE ally which has also faced growing criticism in Washington.

Still, many observers believed there was an effective pause on the deal and that at some point the administration would offer a public explanation of how it would handle the agreement.

U.S. officials will continue raising rights and geopolitical concerns with the Emiratis, the State Department spokesperson told HuffPost.

“The estimated delivery dates on these sales, if implemented, are scheduled for after 2025 or later. Thus, we anticipate a robust and sustained dialogue with the UAE to [ensure] any defense transfers meet our mutual strategic objectives to build a stronger, interoperable, and more capable security partnership,” the spokesperson wrote in an email.

“We will also continue to reinforce with the UAE and all recipients of U.S. defense articles and services that U.S.-origin defense equipment must be adequately secured and used in a manner that respects human rights and fully complies with the laws of armed conflict.”

Biden aides informed Congress of the president’s plan to leave the deal intact during briefings last week, a U.S. official told HuffPost.

Opponents of the deal are likely to continue calling for it to be nixed and to keep highlighting the UAE’s brutal interventions in neighboring countries, notably Yemen and Libya – by Akbar Shahid Ahmed

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/biden-united-arab-emirates-sale-trump_n_60761e0fe4b01654bb7754bb?fkzg

and also https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-emirates-f35-exclusive-idUSKBN2C032F

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/04/14/shame-biden-advance-trump-era-sale-23-billion-f-35s-and-armed-drones-uae

https://english.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2021/4/14/biden-confirms-23-billion-arms-sales-to-uae

Comment by Shireen Al-Adeimi: Here's more evidence that Biden's pledge to end the war on #Yemen was only performative.

https://twitter.com/shireen818/status/1382121406947848192

Comment by Medea Benjamin: So how can the Biden administraion say it is stopping US involvement in the war in Yemen if it just okayed a huge $23 billion sale of advanced weapons to the UAE, including F-35s and drones, while the UAE is involved in the Yemen conflict?

https://twitter.com/medeabenjamin/status/1382343737171439620

Comment by Sunjeev Bery: Here's the simple reality: Trump backed the UAE dictatorship. Biden backs the UAE dictatorship. Why? Because @JoeBiden and @ABlinken are choosing US military control of the Middle East over human rights and freedom.

https://twitter.com/SunjeevBery/status/1382394275594260486

and

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‘Enables UAE’s reckless conduct’: Anti-war advocates slam $23bn US arms sale

William Hartung, director of the arms and security project at the Center for International Policy, on Wednesday warned that the massive arms deal "contradicts" the Biden administration's pledge to make human rights and US security interests central concerns when deciding which nations to supply US weaponry.

"From its role in the brutal intervention in Yemen, to its violation of the UN arms embargo on opposition forces in Libya, to its severe internal human rights abuses, the UAE should not be receiving US arms sales at this time," Hartung said.

"Continuing to endorse and enable the UAE's reckless conduct in the Middle East and North Africa will only serve to undermine stability in the region and reduce the prospects for a peaceful resolution of conflicts in the area," Hartung said.

Philippe Nassif, advocacy director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International USA, said the approval of the arms deal was "not the actions of a President committed to upholding human rights in the United States and abroad".

"The startling fact that the Biden administration continues the previous administration’s unflinching support of providing weapons that risk adding to the devastating toll of Yemeni civilians unlawfully killed and injured by United States-made weapons should shake to the core every person who supports human rights," Nassif said in a statement on Wednesday.

Annie Shiel, senior advisor for US policy and advocacy at the Center for Civilians in Conflict, warned that Biden's move to go forward with the massive arms deal "betrays the will" of the majority of Democrats who voted against it just months ago.

"Most importantly, it's a slap in the face to victims of conflict in Yemen & beyond," she said in a post to Twitter.

Jeff Abramson, a senior fellow at the Arms Control Association, also slammed the decision, urging the Biden administration to halt the deal as a way to send a message to other harmful governments.

"The Biden administration needs to be serious about no longer arming abusive regimes, especially those with a track record of misuse of weapons," Abramson said. "The decision to continue arming the United Arab Emirates is the wrong one".

Abdullah Alaoudh, research director for Saudi Arabia and the UAE at Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), a human rights group, called on the Biden administration to re-think the US's role in the Middle East, given the Emirates' influence across the region.

"Fulfilling arms deals with the UAE rewards the Emirati government for war crimes it has committed in Yemen and Libya and for its support for dictators like Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi," Alaoudh noted.

"It sends a message to dictators around the world that Biden is continuing Trump's bromance with dictators," he said – by Sheren Khalel

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/biden-uae-arms-sale-23bn-denounced = https://en.minbarlibya.org/2021/04/16/20110/

and

(* A K P)

Kristine Beckerle, Mwatana: I always knew that "relevant" in the @POTUS announcement on arms sales and #Yemen was going to end up doing a lot of work I did not like, but this is pretty ridiculous. #UAE has been + remains one of the major players in #Yemen, + again (+ again ) implicated in gross abuse.

https://twitter.com/K_Beckerle/status/1382970421855805441

and

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US Resuming Arms Sales to UAE is Disastrous

Biden’s U-Turn on Pledge Heightens Risks to Civilians in Yemen, Libya

Any re-examination of US arms sales to the UAE should have determined that the risk they could be used to commit laws-of-war violations is high, especially given the evidence that the Saudi and UAE-led coalition have already used US weapons in bombings unlawfully harming civilians and civilian sites in Yemen since the beginning of the war in 2015. Many of those attacks may amount to war crimes.
The UAE’s violations extend beyond Yemen. In Libya, the UAE has conducted unlawful strikes and provided military support to abusive local forces. Human Rights Watch identified an apparently unlawful UAE drone attack that hit a biscuit factory in November 2019, killing 8 civilians and wounding 27.
Resuming arms sales without first ensuring that the UAE is taking meaningful steps towards accountability for previous unlawful attacks just creates a situation in which those violations could happen again, with no one being held responsible. In resuming these arms sales, the US government once again risks complicity in future violations – by Afrah Nasser

https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/04/15/us-resuming-arms-sales-uae-disastrous

and

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Meeks Issues Statement on Administration’s Decision to Proceed with UAE Weapons Sales

Today, Representative Gregory W. Meeks issued the following statement regarding the Biden administration’s decision to proceed with weapons sales to the UAE, lifting its pause on the previous administration’s agreements:

“I and many other House Members remain concerned about the proposed sale of $23 billion in arms to the UAE. I still have many questions about any decision by the Biden Administration to go forward with the Trump Administration’s proposed transfers of F-35s, armed UAVs, munitions and other weapons. Fortunately, none of these transfers would occur any time soon, so there will be ample time for Congress to review whether these transfers should go forward and what restrictions and conditions would be imposed.”

https://foreignaffairs.house.gov/2021/4/meeks-issues-statement-on-administration-s-decision-to-proceed-with-uae-weapons-sales

and also https://twitter.com/HouseForeign/status/1382370920535359492

and

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CIVIC: The decision to move forward with these sales, while significant civilian harm and human rights violations remain unaddressed, sends a signal of impunity for civilian harm around the world.

The decision also shows just how broken the US arms transfer system is when it comes to prioritizing human rights & civilian protection. Civilians trapped in conflict can't wait - we need structural reform now.

For more on how to reform the US arms transfer system to prioritize human rights and civilian protection, see our twin reports with

@StimsonCenter: https://twitter.com/CivCenter/status/1382394126969212928

that cover structural reforms in the executive branch & Congress:

https://twitter.com/CivCenter/status/1382394126969212928

and

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Biden Breaks Campaign Promise, Approves Arms Sale to Saudi Arabia

Above and beyond the reach of powerful politicians is the true business of the United States, its most profitable enterprise and its ideologically ingrained mission: war. Practically nothing seems to get in the way of imperialism and war, and specifically the sale of U.S. war weapons abroad. War is not often allowed into the Overton window of permissible discussion, and when it is, we perceive it through a riot of patriotic noise.

War has the best advertisers the U.S. has to offer; their marketing puts all else to shame. Think about it: A politician proposes a social program designed to help starving children, and the first question, always, is, “How much will it cost?” But when expensive cruise missiles are launched by expensive sailors from an incredibly expensive warship to assassinate a foreign leader or obliterate some buildings, few people ask how much that costs. Hundreds of millions, usually, each time. It takes a fantastic ad campaign to haul down that level of popular buy-in, especially when it cuts deeply against people’s own well-being.

While the actual business of shooting wars is grossly profitable, they tend to draw significant media attention, at least for a while. Wars also historically had a tendency to be short term. Before Iraq and Afghanistan, Vietnam was the only active war that kept paying out on a daily basis for 20 years. Every bullet fired, every bomb dropped, every missile launched, every helicopter shot down, every body bag filled, translates into revenue for someone. For the war profiteers, those three actions made for 60 years of profit combined.

That being said, the long, quiet and reliable money is, and has been for decades, in this nation’s worldwide sale of weapons. Called “Foreign Military Sales” or FMS, it is a business with enormous reach and clout in Washington. At present, the U.S. represents 37 percent of all global arms sales, with half of that going to the Middle East. The U.S. is currently selling weapons to 96 countries around the world, and 169 countries have purchased U.S. weapons since 2001.

“The U.S. sold $175 billion in weapons to foreign partners and allies in fiscal 2020, a 2.8 percent rise from the previous year’s total, according to a Friday announcement from the Defense and State departments,” reports DefenseNews.

President Biden came into office on a wave of tough talk about Saudi Arabia, specifically regarding their responsibility for the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Not only did President Biden fail to punish Saudi Arabia over the Khashoggi murder when given a clear opportunity to do so, he is now preparing to break the other promise he made during that debate. Worse, he is doing so by way of an avalanche of weasel words and nodding winks.

“The Biden administration plans to suspend the sale of many offensive weapons to Saudi Arabia approved under the Trump administration,” reports The New York Times, “but it will allow the sale of other matériel that can be construed to have a defensive purpose, U.S. officials said on Wednesday. The plan, which was briefed to Congress last week, is part of an administration review of billions of dollars in arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) that the White House announced soon after President Biden’s inauguration.” (Emphasis added.)

The U.S. sells war globally to the tune of hundreds of billions a year. A portion of those weapons become involved in scenarios that “demand” a U.S. military response. Billions, if not trillions, are spent in those responses (read: wars), with the money going to war-maker corporations like Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Boeing, and to their pet politicians by way of campaign donations. Some politicians and the people may shout and scream, but as it was said in Dune, Frank Herbert’s classic novel, “The spice must flow.”

You tell me. Who’s really in charge around here? – by William Rivers Pitt

https://truthout.org/articles/biden-breaks-campaign-promise-approves-arms-sale-to-saudi-arabia/

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Drone Strike Victims In Yemen Are Desperate For Accountability from the U.S

As a new generation of Yemenis confronts the fear of U.S. attacks, they are taking action and demanding answers.

For close to nine years, Ahmed has felt like a marked man. “I was with both of them, just minutes before the attack,” he explained to VICE World News. “It became incredibly real to me.” It’s been the same for his neighbors who have lived with the fear that any person at any time might be obliterated by Americans watching them via video feed half a world away. “Anyone who is walking in this village, anyone living here, could be the next target,” said Ahmed. “When you hear a drone buzzing. Everyone in the village relives that moment again.”

Ahmed’s near-decade of anxiety offers a window into the lives of thousands of Yemenis who have survived, witnessed, or been proximate to U.S. drone strikes. While the Biden administration is currently conducting a review of lethal counterterrorism missions outside of war zones, the United States has never honestly grappled with U.S. attacks in Yemen, much less the now-multigenerational psychological fallout, instead maintaining that as few as four civilians may have been killed during almost 20 years of air and ground strikes.

For years on end, Ahmed, his neighbors from the village of Khashamir, and Yemenis from other areas of the country subject to U.S. attacks have lived with the relentless hum of aircraft that they know could, at any moment, rain missiles down upon them. In a bid for some measure of accountability and protection for his family, Ahmed recently filed a complaint with Germany’s highest court regarding the role of a U.S. base in Germany to the drone war in Yemen. Along with others, he also wants answers from the Biden administration about the reasons they and their children must live in a perpetual state of fear. Their questions, passed along to the White House by VICE World News, have gone unanswered.

While the Obama years saw a marked escalation of the war in Yemen—including the strike that killed Salem and Waleed bin Ali Jaber—attacks spiked in 2017 under the Trump administration, with 133 declared U.S. airstrikes and commando raids. Over four years, the number of declared attacks during the Trump administration—181—nearly equaled the total of eight years under President Obama. Attacks under President Trump resulted in 42 civilian casualty incidents and an estimated 86 to 154 civilian deaths, according to the U.K.-based monitoring group Airwars.

Beyond the dead and physically wounded, the Mwatana for Human Rights report also documented the heavy burdens borne by survivors of the attacks and witnesses to their aftermath, as well as the fear induced by the persistent hum of drones.

“People described a range of social and psychological harms following U.S. operations. Sometimes, that was what you might expect, feeling helpless and depressed long after a strike, or being afraid that you or your family members might suddenly die,” Kristine Beckerle, the legal director for accountability and redress at Mwatana for Human Rights, told VICE World News. “Other times, and in many cases, people linked physical ailments that had arisen after attacks to the trauma resulting from attacks. One young person described what sounded a lot like survivor's guilt. He survived an operation, his cousin did not.”

While the attack that killed Salem and Waleed bin Ali Jaber is not covered in Mwatana’s investigation, Ahmed and another relative, Khaled Mohmed Naser bin Ali Jaber, said that their entire village has suffered from persistent psychological trauma due to the 2012 attack and the continued presence of drones overhead.

“Yemeni residents, particularly in certain areas of the country, have been forced to live with U.S. strikes and the possibility that these strikes may kill civilians, including themselves or their family members, for many years,” reads the recent Mwatana report. “The operations also caused significant social and psychological harm to survivors, those who lost loved ones, and wider impacted communities. In a few cases, surviving members of families left their homes after U.S. operations, saying they felt unsafe and worried about future strikes.”

Prior analyses have come to similar conclusions.

In January, a VICE World News investigation chronicled seven separate attacks by the United States—six drones strikes and one raid—that killed 36 members of two large, intermarried, families between 2013 and 2018. (Some of these deaths are referenced in the 2021 Mwatana for Human Rights report.) A quarter of the dead were children between the ages of three months and 14 years old.

The impact of drones on Yemeni children has been devastating. Members of the bin Ali Jaber family, who live in a different province, more than 400 miles away, echoed this testimony. “Our children are suffering from psychological trauma,” said Ahmed bin Ali Jaber. “When children hear the drones hovering above, they begin screaming and run to their homes.” Khaled explained that all he can do for his children is usher them inside and turn up the volume on the radio to drown out the incessant whirring of the drones flying overhead.

The 2015 Alkarama study found that more than half the children interviewed said drones impeded their general happiness in the two weeks before they were screened, and 96% said they were afraid that a drone attack might harm them, or their family, or their community with “the feeling of fear… further exacerbated among children when they hear sounds that resemble the buzzing of drones.” The Mwatana report offered an anecdote from one father: “My six-year-old son wanted to go to the bathroom but then returned without going. When I asked him the reason, he said, ‘I don’t want you all to die without me if the drone hits,’” he told an interviewer.

“The U.S. armed drone program is responsible for thousands of civilian casualties and could not operate without the support of European partners, including Germany,” said Jennifer Gibson, a human rights lawyer and project lead on extrajudicial killing at Reprieve, of Ahmed and Khaled’s complaint to the German to the German high court.

While Kristine Beckerle of Mwatana for Human Rights believes the review by the Biden administration is a positive step, she expressed concern about its scope. “To have any credibility when proposing how to move forward, the U.S. should be doing a full review of what's already occurred—including the civilian harm and lawfulness of each operation conducted in Yemen since this began,” she said. “That might sound like a big ask. It's far less costly than these operations have been to Yemenis over the years.” – by Nick Turse

https://www.vice.com/en/article/n7bj8b/drone-strike-victims-in-yemen-are-desperate-for-accountability-from-the-us

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BAE Systems sold weaponry worth £17.6bn to Saudis during Yemen war

The scale of British arms sales to Riyadh rises again amid secrecy over a meeting between BAE and trade minister Liam Fox after the Khashoggi killing. Documents show both the UK trade ministry and BAE sought to keep arming Saudi Arabia in the immediate wake of the dissident’s murder.

Records obtained by Campaign Against Arms Trade reveal BAE continued seeking to sell Saudi Arabia Typhoon warplanes 16 days after Khashoggi killing

Liam Fox was briefed by UK trade ministry four weeks after the killing to enquire about BAE’s negotiations and reminded that “Saudi Arabia remains the UK’s largest defence export customer”

Britain’s largest arms company, BAE Systems, has sold £17.6-billion worth of aircraft, weapons and services to the Saudi military since 2015, when Riyadh began bombing Yemen.

The new figures, included in BAE’s latest annual report, reveal the company made £2.6-billion in revenues from the Saudi military last year alone, a small rise on 2019.

The sales went ahead despite a temporary UK government embargo on new arms licences for the Yemen war during the first six months of 2020.

Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) believes that BAE’s total sales to Saudi Arabia over the six years of conflict could be worth £19-billion, when cybersecurity deals and the company’s share in a missile manufacturer, MBDA, are included.

The revelation comes amid ongoing secrecy over the extent of the UK government’s support for the powerful arms company, which has long been embroiled in the Yemen war — the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

BAE met Liam Fox, who was then Britain’s international trade secretary, to discuss relations with Riyadh four weeks after journalist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered by Saudi officials on 2 October 2018. Khashoggi had recently called for an end to the “cruel war” in Yemen.

CAAT has spent over two years trying to obtain full records from that meeting through freedom of information requests, asking to see copies of the minutes, briefing notes and other correspondence.

Last month the UK’s Information Commissioner noted there was “an urgent need for informed public debate on this issue, given the terrible and tragic suffering being inflicted on the Yemeni people”.

However, the Commissioner, Elizabeth Denham, ruled that the Department for International Trade (DIT) could keep censoring parts of the paperwork on the BAE-Fox meeting, as it was more important to protect British trade with the Gulf.

Her decision means that the minutes from the meeting will not be published in full, although she agreed that some paperwork written in advance of the encounter could be given to CAAT in heavily redacted form.

The disclosure includes a letter written by the chairman of BAE, Sir Roger Carr, seeking a formal meeting between Fox and his company in the wake of Khashoggi’s killing.

The letter was sent to Fox on 18 October 2018, the same day a Turkish newspaper reported that a barbecue was held at the Saudi consul’s residence in Istanbul the night Khashoggi disappeared, probably to disguise the smell of his body being disposed of.

A second document obtained by CAAT is a government briefing paper for Fox’s subsequent meeting with BAE’s chief executive Charles Woodburn, which took place on 29 October 2018, to “assess any impact of recent developments in Saudi Arabia”.

Despite the British government publicly cooling its trade ties with the Saudis, in private Fox was briefed to tell BAE he “would be interested to hear how negotiations” to sell Saudi Arabia more Typhoon aircraft “are progressing, particularly around its tie in with [Vision 2030] aspirations”.

Vision 2030 is a project to present Mohammed bin Salman as a reformer and moderniser, a public relations drive which was undermined by Khashoggi’s killing.

An annex to the briefing shows Fox was reminded by trade officials that “Saudi Arabia remains the UK’s largest defence export customer”, although the size of those exports has been redacted.

Trade staff set out the scale of UK arms sales to Saudi Arabia brokered by Whitehall since the 1980s as “clear evidence of Government-to-Government contracts underpinning the UK’s long-standing success”.

The arms exports have included Hawk, Tornado and Typhoon jets, missiles, minesweeper ships, “manpower support services” and a communications contract for Saudi Arabia’s national guard.

British officials have long hoped Riyadh will buy a second batch of Typhoons to replace its ageing Tornado fleet. Fox was reminded in the briefing that this deal was “in the pipeline” and designed to “fill the Saudis’ capability gap”.

Sarah Waldron from CAAT told Declassified: “These revelations shine more light on the long and toxic relationship between BAE Systems and the UK and Saudi governments. BAE Systems has made huge profits from the suffering of the Yemeni people and its weapons empower and enable abuses by the Saudi authorities.

“Even violations such as the brutal murder of Jamal Khashoggi are primarily of concern as a threat to BAE’s ability to generate more ‘value’. It is no wonder they want to keep this secret — but it’s vital that this immoral and deeply damaging relationship can be scrutinised and challenged.” – by Phil Miller

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-04-16-bae-systems-sold-weaponry-worth-17-6bn-to-saudis-during-yemen-war/

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South Africa is putting profit before Yemeni lives

The South African state has abandoned its commitment to human rights to profit from weapons deals. In so doing, it has become complicit in war crimes in Yemen.

Open Secrets’ new investigative report, Profiting from misery – South Africa’s complicity in war crimes in Yemen, reveals that since the war in Yemen began, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have become the key market for South African weapons. In 2013, a little more than 3 percent of South African weapons exports went to these two states. In 2015 and 2016, this was up to 42.1 and 48.9 percent, respectively. Since the war in Yemen broke out, South African weapons worth more than 8 billion rands ($550m) have been sold to Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

The United Nations Group of Eminent Experts on Yemen and Amnesty International have identified many of these South African weapons in Yemen. These include drones, surveillance equipment, armoured vehicles, and most notoriously, 120mm mortar bombs, whose remnants were discovered at the site of an attack on civilians in the Yemeni city of Hodeidah. Two independent investigations, one of them by the UN experts group on Yemen, found it most likely that these mortars were manufactured by South African arms firm Rheinmetall Denel Munitions (RDM). RDM is a joint venture between German arms company Rheinmetall Waffe Munition GmbH (which holds a 51 percent stake) and South African state-owned arms company Denel (with 49 percent). RDM not only sells weapons to Saudi Arabia and the UAE, but has also established a munitions factory in Saudi Arabia in 2016. The factory specialises in, among other things, the production of 120mm mortar bombs.

All of this has occurred in apparent contravention of South Africa’s legal requirement to prohibit exports to countries that may use them to commit human rights violations or exacerbate conflicts. All indications are that South Africa’s arms trade regulator, the National Conventional Arms Control Committee (NCACC), continues to approve permits to export weapons to Saudi Arabia and the UAE, despite the extensive public evidence of war crimes committed by those states.

Sadly, when Open Secrets asked the NCACC whether it had taken evidence of war crimes in Yemen into account, or the presence of South African weapons in Yemen, it only said these issues had not been brought to it through formal channels. It thus currently continues to approve export permits.

Despite the ban, Rheinmetall subsidiaries around the world including RDM in South Africa, have continued to supply weapons to Saudi Arabia. Activists have raised concerns that this is part of a pattern of “offshoring”, whereby Rheinmetall and other European arms companies use subsidiaries in other parts of the world to sidestep domestic bans. By 2019, Rheinmetall had direct or indirect holdings in a staggering 156 companies and offices or production facilities in 129 locations across 32 countries. This places Rheinmetall in a prime position to do precisely this.

In addition to the 120mm mortar remnants found at the site of an attack in Hodeidah, that have been identified as likely produced by South Africa’s RDM, Rheinmetall’s Italian subsidiary has also been implicated in supplying weapons used in civilian attacks in Yemen.

The Italian ban and others like it make South Africa’s next move even more important.

Will it continue to ignore the evidence of war crimes and attacks on civilians in Yemen? If it chooses to do so, companies like Rheinmetall will continue to use South Africa for exports despite domestic restrictions on sales to countries with dubious human rights records.

Instead, South Africa should choose to recommit to a human rights-based approach to foreign policy and acknowledge its domestic and international legal obligations and stop the flow of weapons to Yemen’s conflict with immediate effect. For the suffering in Yemen to end, corporations in South Africa too must stop profiteering from this unjust war – by Zen Mathe and Michael Marchant

https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2021/4/16/south-africa-is-putting-profit-before-yemeni-lives

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Financing weapons of the Yemen War. Analysis of the financing of arms companies that have exported to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (2015-2019)

It is, in this serious context of armed conflict and human rights violations, that we present a case study on who support the arms companies whose military material is exported to the main countries of the coalition: Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

This new report shows data on the financing of 15 of these companies: Airbus, BAE Systems, Boeing, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, General Dynamics, Leonardo, LIG Nex1, Lockheed Martin, Navantia, Norinco, Raytheon Technologies, Rheinmetall AG, Rolls-Royce, Textron and Thales Group.

The Spanish armed banks have assigned 8,519 million of dollars to 8 companies that have exported arms to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates: Airbus, Boeing, General Dynamics, Leonardo, Navantia, Raytheon Technologies, Thales and Rheinmetall AG.

BBVA and Banco Santander are the Spanish banks that have allocated the most funding to arms companies, supplying the principal armies involved in the war in Yemen, with 5.231 million dollars during the period 2015-2019.

Executive Summary:

News and information on the Yemeni conflict, has been all but silenced by the media and the international community, and yet it has led to the most relevant humanitarian crisis in recent decades. According to UNHCR1 data, 80% of the population in Yemen requires humanitarian aid in order to survive, some 4 million people are internally displaced people and over 7 million people now require nutritional assistance.

We are proposing the need to undertake a case study into those entities financing the arms companies, whose military material is then exported to the main countries of the coalition: Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates within this grave context of armed conflict and the violation of Human Rights. The main data provided in this report includes:

Between 2015 and 2019, a total of 25 countries across the globe have exported military equipment to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates; the states leading the coalition of countries currently participating in the war in Yemen. The United States is the country heading the list, accounting for 72.2% of all transactions. The U.S. is followed by countries from the European Union, which represent 21.9%.

80 arms companies have exported their products to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates during the period studied. We possess data on the financing of 15 of these companies: Airbus, BAE Systems, Boeing, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, General Dynamics, Leonardo, LIG Nex1, Lockheed Martin, Navantia, Norinco, Raytheon Technologies, Rheinmetall AG, Rolls- Royce, Textron and the Thales Group.

Hundreds of financial entities from the international armed banking sector provided a total of 607 billion to the main arms supplying companies equipping the armies of Saudi Arabia and the UAE between 2015 and 2019, when they took military action against the Yemeni civilian population.

Among the 50 entities that lead the ranking of the international armed banks that have financed those arms companies supplying the main armies involved in the war in Yemen (2015-2019) are some of the main US banks, such as Black Rock, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Citigroup, in addition to European banks such as Deutsche Bank, Barclays, BNP Paribas, the insurer AXA, Unicredit, public companies such as Spain’s SEPI or the Norwegian Government Pension Fund - Global and the two large Spanish banks BBVA and Banco Santander.

The Spanish Armed Bank allocated 8,686 million dollars to 9 companies that have manufactured weapons for export to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The companies that have benefitted from its services and financial investments are: Airbus, Boeing, General Dynamics, Leonardo, Navantia, Raytheon Technologies, Rolls-Royce, Thales and Rheinmetall AG.

The BBVA and Banco Santander are the two Spanish banks that have allocated the largest amount of financing to those arms companies supplying the main armies involved in the war in Yemen, to the amount of 5,231 million dollars between 2015 and 2019.

http://centredelas.org/publicacions/financiaciondelasarmasenyemen/?lang=en

http://centredelas.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/informe48_ES_FinancingWeaponsYemenWar_ENG_DEF.pdf

Complete report in Spanish: http://centredelas.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/embargado_informe48_FinanciacionArmasGuerraYemen_CAST_DEF-1.pdf

Shorter media report: https://nournews.ir/En/News/65858/The-role-of-banks-in-the-Yemen-bombings

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For Riyadh, the prize in Yemen is oil – for Houthis the prize is Yemen

These recent Houthi assaults serve as emphatic rejection of a presumptuous Saudi ceasefire initiative presented to them on March 22, in which Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan piously affirmed his regime’s “total rejection of Iranian interference in the region and Yemen” and claimed “the Iranian regime’s support for the Houthi militias […] remains the main reason for the prolonging of the Yemeni crisis.”

No mention was made of the facts that a Saudi invasion, not Iranian meddling, began this war, which has led to what has been assessed as the world's worst humanitarian crisis, in 2015; that the Saudi occupiers, who receive at least 70% of their weapons from their chief strategic partner, the US, have killed thousands of Yemeni civilians; that while Houthi missile strikes have mainly targeted Saudi military installations and oil infrastructure, the Saudis and their invasion partners have indiscriminately attacked civilians, partially or completely destroying over 500 healthcare facilities and bombing over 100 ambulances, even as the Covid-19 pandemic has ravaged the country.

But the Houthi moves also point to the simpler, more-sinister reason why this war has turned so violent: Riyadh’s petroleum politics, designed to put Yemen under oil vassalage to the House of Saud.

Also contained in Prince Faisal’s proposal was a demand that the Saudi government access a large portion of revenues generated by Yemen’s oil- and natural-gas deposits in Marib. The Houthi resistance was swift in condemning this resource grab: The movement’s leader Abdul Malik al Houthi said 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.”

Though Yemen is rich in hydrocarbons, Saudi Arabia has repeatedly thwarted the country’s attempts to exploit those resources fully, keeping Yemen in a state of resource bondage since the 1970s that has only intensified with the ongoing war.

Several months before he was ousted by the Houthis in January 2015, Yemen’s Saudi-aligned President Hadi met with Christophe de Margerie, CEO of French oil major Total, to discuss expanded operations for the company in Yemen.

Three years later, with the Saudis having invaded and occupied Yemen’s northern and eastern oil-producing regions, Yemeni economic expert Mohammad Abdolrahman Sharafeddin revealed that the Saudis, in collaboration with Total, had built an oil-extraction installation in the Kharkhir region close to the Saudi border. From here, 63% of Yemen’s crude production was “being stolen by Saudi Arabia in cooperation with Mansour Hadi, the fugitive Yemeni president, and his mercenaries.” It was no coincidence that the string of Saudi military bases and checkpoints built along an area of occupation in east Yemen“were built in oil-rich areas,”according to comments made by resident Ahmed Balhaf in 2019.

The reported outright theft of Yemeni oil reserves in the Marib, Shabwa, Hadremout, and al-Mahrah provinces by Saudi and UAE forces has been rampant since hostilities began in 2015, with a group of economists and officials estimating that as much as 65% of Yemen’s entire crude production from 2015 to 2020 has been stolen by coalition members and foreign oil companies aligned with the Hadi government in exile. Before Saudi troops invaded in 2015 and shut down most of the country’s oilfields, Yemen was producing more than 300,000 barrels of oil per month – a figure that has plummeted to 70,000 over the course of the war. The oil revenue Yemen has lost as a result of Saudi actions has been estimated at $6 billion.

In the escalating quid pro quo, the Houthis have designed their retaliatory measures to disrupt oil production in Saudi Arabia.

The breach of Yemeni sovereignty and civilian deaths in bombing raids are seen as necessary means to the end of having an oil-transit route that is totally outside the orbit of Iran or its Houthi allies, even though Saudi Arabia already exports millions of barrels per day through the Strait of Hormuz, making it the largest oil exporter via that corridor.

Saudi Arabia’s theft of Yemeni oil may even have caused disruptions on global markets. Oil engineers and tanker-truck drivers on the ground reported a drastic increase in oil movements from Yemen into Saudi Arabia in March 2020, which was the height of the Saudi-Russian oil-price war that sent Brent crude down to $30 from an earlier high of $75 per barrel. If, as seems likely, Saudi leaders put some of that stolen oil onto the international market, that could be to blame for the subsequent price dip and massive losses by US shale producers.

Oklahoma Senator James Inhofe, who was part of a group of 14 Republican senators calling on then-US president Donald Trump to cut military involvement in the Saudi fight, remarked that the Saudi monarchy “must be accountable for their actions that have significant impact on our energy markets.”

Prince Faisal’s remarks in March as part of the rejected Saudi peace initiative, claiming that “the systematic attacks carried out by the Iranian-backed Houthi militia […] target the core of the global economy and its supplies, as well as global energy security” sounded like a deflection of blame from Riyadh’s own role in oil-market disruptions.

The aims of the opposing sides over what to do with Yemen’s oil diverge completely. That divergence has ignited the war and defined its implications, even if Riyadh and Tehran have also been using it to fight for regional dominance by proxy.

But as the Houthi offensive gathers pace and rolls up Saudi positions in oil-rich areas that coalition forces have plundered for years, Washington is still going to bat for its disgraced ally. Timothy Lenderking, Joe Biden’s special envoy for Yemen, arrived in Berlin on Tuesday to seek, as part of a ceasefire, “an immediate end to the offensive in Marib” – meaning, a last-ditch attempt to save the retreating Saudi forces from a further Houthi reckoning.

Among all the sides wrangling in this quagmire, the Houthis have the only real defensible objectives. Thanks to Saudi Arabia’s desire for Yemen’s oil, Houthi forces have committed to taking that oil back and putting it under sovereign control. The people of Yemen can only hope the Houthis will use it to help end their crises, instead of profiting from them as their enemies have done – By Kevin Karp, commentator, screenwriter, and former political adviser in the House of Commons and the European Parliament. As an EU adviser based in Brussels and Strasbourg, he specialized in international trade, European populism, and Brexit. Find his website at moon-vine-media.com.

https://www.rt.com/op-ed/521056-saudi-arabia-yemen-houthi-oil/

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

(A H P)

WHO expresses concern over surging number of COVID-19 cases in Yemen

The World Health Organization (WHO) has expressed concern over the over surging number of COVID-19 cases in Yemen, saying that this situation caused increasing pressure on the health system in Yemen.

In a press conference via video held on Thursday, WHO representative in Yemen Adham Esmael said that WHO is exerts efforts to alleviate the effects of Covid 19 on Yemenis.

https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-46343

(A H P)

Southern Houthi leader dies from Covid-19

https://debriefer.net/en/news-24520.html

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UN official: COVID-19 'moving much faster' in Yemen

Mark Lowcock says new wave of infections raised two times number of confirmed cases in just six weeks

UN humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock warned on Thursday that the situation in Yemen is still getting worse with coronavirus spreading faster in the famine-hit country.

Lowcock said a new wave of infections has raised two times the number of confirmed cases in just six weeks.

"But right now, the virus is moving much faster than we can keep up. Vaccines won’t be enough to suppress the second wave. So we urgently need more resources to scale up treatment, monitoring and other activities that will mitigate the impact of the pandemic," he told the UN Security Council.

He also warned that the second wave is coming at a time when large-scale famine is still bearing down on the country and said tens of thousands of residents are starving to death, with another 5 million just a step behind.

"To stop this unfolding catastrophe, we urgently need action on the five points I brief you on every month: protection of civilians; humanitarian access; funding; support for the economy; and progress towards peace," he said.

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/americas/un-official-covid-19-moving-much-faster-in-yemen/2210519

(B H)

COVID-19 Movement Restrictions: Yemen Mobility Restriction Dashboard #23 (7 April 2021)

On 23 March 2021, the Supreme National Emergency Committee for Coronavirus declared a public health state of emergency as infection and death cases in the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic surge. The committee ordered health centres and hospitals to increase preparations and provide medical staff with personal protective equipment, and called on local authorities to close wedding halls, shopping centres and mosques outside of prayer times and to implement a partial curfew.

https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/covid-19-movement-restrictions-yemen-mobility-restriction-dashboard-23-7-april-2021

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75 new cases of coronavirus reported, 5,582 in total

The committee also reported the death of 10 coronavirus patients, in addition to the recovery of 58 others.
921 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests for the virus were carried out on the same day.

http://en.adenpress.news/news/32717

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COVID-19 vaccine doses distributed in govt-held areas

Ministry of Public Health and Population launched on Wednesday, the distribution of 360,000 coronavirus vaccines to 13 government-held governorates, state news agency Saba reported.
The doses of AstraZeneca’s vaccine arrived two weeks ago by plane at Aden, part of a consignment from the global COVAX vaccine-sharing scheme expected to total 1.9 million doses this year, COVAX said.
The COVAX vaccines will be free, and distributed across the country, a spokesman for the government’s health ministry said last week, confirming more shots would arrive in May.
“The arrival of the COVID-19 vaccine doses is a critical moment for Yemen,” said UNICEF Representative Philippe Duamelle. “Yemen now has the capacity to protect those most at risk, including health workers, so that they can safely continue to provide life-saving interventions for children and families,” he added.

http://en.adenpress.news/news/32720

and also https://debriefer.net/en/news-24489.html

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Yemen's interim capital #Aden is facing a shortage of graves amid a spike in deaths from Covid-19 and other causes, according to local reports, which add that the price of a grave has increased to more than 30.000 rials, around $40.

https://twitter.com/FuadRajeh/status/1382477492418666500

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#UNICEF is working with its partners the World Health Organization Yemen and the Ministry of Public Health and Population around the clock to prepare and arrange for the start of the vaccination campaign against # Covid 19 in the country. Today, the delivery of # Covid 19 vaccines has begun to 13 Yemeni governorates, in preparation for the launch of the campaign in the coming days.

https://www.facebook.com/unicefyemen/posts/4051108328288513

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Deaths from Covid-19 rise to 1.083 in Yemen regions controlled by government

Yemen's Supreme National Emergency Committee for Covid-19 on Wednesday reported 75 new Covid-19 cases and 10 new deaths in regions controlled by the internationally recognised government.

The infections were recorded in the provinces of Lahij, 34, Taiz, 19, Hadhramout, 15, and Aden, 6. The fatalities were reported in Hadhramout, 7, Taiz, 2, and Lahij, 1, bringing the total deaths from the virus to 1.083.

https://debriefer.net/en/news-24480.html

(B H)

Restoring Hope, Saving lives: COVID-19 Response Project in Yemen

In war-torn Yemen, the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA) and the World Health Organization (WHO) worked together through the Yemen COVID-19 Response Project (YCRP) to support and strengthen the country's preparedness and response to the pandemic. The project supports early detection and screening for the virus, provides essential medicines and medical equipment to treatment centers, and builds the capacity of human resources to respond to the pandemic in Yemen. In 2020, 37 isolation units across the country were established and supplied with medicines and medical equipment to provide treatment and handle severe cases of COVID-19. Specialized Rapid Response Teams (RRTs) were trained and deployed to 84 high priority districts to detect and respond to COVID-19. Additionally, YCRP has supported the country's diagnostic capacity with six national laboratories to conduct a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing for suspected cases since the beginning of the response. The project also supports the local health system with Infection Prevention and Control (IPC)to prevent further spread of the virus.

https://www.worldbank.org/en/results/2021/04/14/restoring-hope-saving-lives-covid-19-response-project-in-yemen

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Covid-19 turns into major challenge to Yemen

The southwestern city of Taiz is hit hardest by the pandemic. The suffering of the residents of the city has not stopped for six years now. Taiz now has the largest number of Covid-19 patients in Yemen.
According to reports by health organizations, Taiz is moving fast toward collapse because of an acute shortage in medical supplies and financing for the hospitals as a result of the curfew imposed by the Houthis on the city.
Health service workers are warning against the pandemic getting out of control.
The pandemic, they said, is far larger than the abilities of health facilities in the city.
Nevertheless, the Houthis have launched a new wave of threats against humanitarian assistance organizations, vowing to target these organizations in Taiz.
Hospitals in Yemeni capital, Sana'a, are bursting at the seams with patients and have no room for any additional numbers, also because of the practices of the Houthi militia.

http://en.adenpress.news/news/32713

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61 new cases of coronavirus reported, 5,507 in total

The committee also reported the death of 5 coronavirus patients, in addition to the recovery of 11 others.
1,476 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests for the virus were carried out on the same day.

http://en.adenpress.news/news/32708

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Research Terms of Reference: Situation Overview of Polio Outbreak and WASH Needs YEM2103, Yemen (March 2021, Version 1)

Poliovirus has reemerged in Yemen, with the first cases identified in June and July 2020. Since January 2020, 30 circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus (cVDPV) cases have been reported, spreading among a few select districts in Sa’ada governorate. Sa'ada governorate is located in north-western Yemen and was estimated to have a population of 934,000 as of the 2021 Humaniatian Needs Overview (HNO). It is one of the governorates most affected by both current and previous conflicts in Yemen, with the current conflict originating in the mountainous Houthi strongholds in Sa’ada governorate. According to the 2021 HNO4, Sa’ada governorate is home to an estimated 691,000 people in need of humanitarian assistance, with 20% of those people classified as being in catastrophic need. Sa’ada governorate also has one of the largest populations of internally displaced persons (IDPs) out of all governorates in Yemen, with an estimated 306,000 people displaced (33% of total population). Since January 2020, 30 cVDPV cases have been reported, spreading among a few select districts in Sa’ada governorate. Since January 2020, 73 cases of Acute Flaccid Paralysis (AFP) have been identified in Sa’ada governorate, making the governorate’s AFP rate four times higher (0.16 cases/100,000 children under 15) than Yemen’s national average (0.04 cases/100,000).

The World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) have proposed an integrated response to the poliovirus outbreak. The integrated response will address advocacy, communication and social mobilization and robust immunization (as per global polio response SOPs). The response will consist of a poliovirus vaccination campaign integrated with: measles vaccination in Sa’ada, Hajja and Amran districts; as well as WASH (hygiene items and water treatment), and micronutrient interventions and maternal health services in Sa’ada, Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah districts.

https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/research-terms-reference-situation-overview-polio-outbreak-and-wash-needs-yem2103-yemen = https://www.impact-repository.org/document/reach/e1b5147c/REACH_YEM_ToR_Polio-and-WASH_Mar2021_EN_p.pdf

cp2 Allgemein / General

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Interactive Map of Yemen War

https://yemen.liveuamap.com/

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MILITARY SITUATION IN YEMEN ON APRIL 14, 2021 (MAP UPDATE)

https://southfront.org/military-situation-in-yemen-on-april-14-2021-map-update/

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Film: How children are bearing the brunt of famine in Yemen

An ongoing humanitarian crisis in Yemen could pull the United States back to the Middle East. There are complicated geopolitics at play between Iran and Saudi Arabia, but bearing the brunt of it all are the children. CNN's Christiane Amanpour talks with Nima Elbagir and "Hunger Ward" director Skye Fitzgerald about how children in Yemen are literally starving to death as a result

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YkQa7Amhis

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Film: Skye Fitzgerald - “Hunger Ward” & Documenting Yemen’s Famine | The Daily Social Distancing Show

Skye Fitzgerald discusses his new Oscar-nominated short film, “Hunger Ward,” about the famine in Yemen and shares how you can help stop this human-caused tragedy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PNBKGqKyk4

and Fitzgerald also in PBS interview: https://www.pbs.org/wnet/amanpour-and-company/video/famine-yemen-putting-half-million-children-risk-ndae4r/

(B P)

Film: I want my father in #Ramadan. #Free_all_detainees

https://twitter.com/SAM4rights/status/1383037038010662914

(B K P)

Film: The US "has a lot of leverage... the Saudis cannot conduct a lot of basic military actions without some U.S. support." @brhodes is right. The Biden administration can — and must — push Saudi Arabia to end its deadly blockade on Yemen.

https://twitter.com/WinWithoutWar/status/1382757980584747011

(A P)

Former minister criticises news blackout around Berlin Yemen meeting

Former Minister of Foreign Affairs Abu Baker Al-Qirbi has criticised a news blackout around a Berlin meeting on Yemen.

The news blackout around the Berlin meeting indicates that the sponsors of the peace process are busy with the reconciliation of the interests of the local and foreign actors instead of pushing for a UN resolution to end the war, lift the blockade and normalise the humanitarian and economic situations, he wrote on Twitter on Thursday.

https://debriefer.net/en/news-24497.html

(B H K)

Killing Yemen [Overview article]

https://dissidentvoice.org/2021/04/killing-yemen/

(B P)

Saudi doubt about US efforts to end war in Yemen

In this context, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman Bin Abdulaziz is said to believe that President Biden’s efforts to pressure the Houthis to sit at the negotiating table are not serious.

Tactical Report has prepared a 429-word report to shed more light on Crown Prince Mohammad’s position on this matter. (subscribers only)

https://www.tacticalreport.com/saudi-doubt-about-us-efforts-to-end-war-in-yemen/

(B K P)

Houthi 'government': War won't stop until Saudis quit Yemen

The Yemeni civil war has created one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. The Houthi-backed foreign minister Hisham Sharaf tells DW his "government" will not stop fighting until the Saudi-led coalition withdraws.

This week, Conflict Zone host Tim Sebastian spoke to the Houthi-backed foreign minister, Hisham Sharaf, who dismissed most of the charges as part of a Saudi media operation destined to place the blame for war crimes on the Houthi coalition. "They (the Saudi-led coalition) committed most of the crimes in this country and we know what they have done...What is happening in the international arena is what the Saudis have paid for. And those countries who are condemning the Houthis are countries who have a lot of interests, a lot of business with Saudi Arabia and the Gulf countries."

"The national forces in Sanaa are trying their best not to hurt their people. We are really targeting the Saudis. We are targeting our enemies because they have destroyed our country," said Sharaf.

Sharaf said that the Sanaa rebel governing coalition is committed to investigating the cases and procuring justice. However, he told DW that ultimately Sanaa sees the accusations as part of a campaign orchestrated by Saudi Arabia to damage its reputation and places the blame for most of the violations committed during the war at the feet of the Saudi coalition.

"There is a big media campaign made by the Saudis, by the Emiratis, even by the British, to sell their weapons, to show the world that Sanaa and the Houthis, or Ansar Allah, are the only criminals who committed things in this war." (with interview in film)

https://www.dw.com/en/houthi-government-war-wont-stop-until-saudis-quit-yemen/a-57208060

My comment: It seems they only had interviewed Sharaf for framing him with stories how horrible Houthi rule in Yemen actually is. And it’s rather ridiculous that one part of theis framing is to enter Houthi “government” in inverted commas – as if thios wouldn’t be a real government. This is rather ridiculous if you compare it to ther Hadi “government”: Most of the time staying in Riyadh hotels, the president still is, the government now sits in a Aden building while the streets of Aden are ruled by the separatists.

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Film: Sanaa

https://twitter.com/AhmadAlgohbary/status/1382335918057607170

https://twitter.com/AhmadAlgohbary/status/1382336604635815936

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Yemen faces public health catastrophe from war and pandemic

The Saudi- and Emirati-led coalition has implemented measures making it difficult to import needed medical supplies, depriving the Houthi-run public health system of critical medicines. This has proven deadly for patients receiving emergency care who rely on life-saving medical supplies. Houthi forces have also been accused of stopping humanitarian cargo trucks, and holding them for days before allowing them to continue.

Public health personnel and hospital facilities have been attacked, leading to the closure of health facilities. This has further hindered the proper delivery of health care. Physicians for Human Rights, an NGO, has consistently denounced those abuses. To make matters worse, 92% to 95% of medical equipment in Yemeni hospitals and health facilities no longer functions, according to that organization.

The situation is particularly dire in rural areas, which already lack the essential resources that are only minimally available in the cities. According to UNICEF, 20 million out of the country’s 30 million people currently rely on food assistance. However, the coronavirus pandemic has made the delivery of food even more problematic.

Countries on both sides of the conflict (Iran, on one side and the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Saudi Arabia and the UAE on the other) have the humanitarian responsibility to redress this situation. In 2018, U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres called it “the worst humanitarian crisis in the world.”

There is something wrong when the richest Arab countries team up with leading democracies to bomb thousands of civilians and ravage the poorest country in the Middle East.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2021/04/14/commentary/world-commentary/yemen-covid-19-saudi-arabia-u-n-iran-uae-houthis-civil-war/

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"The Houthis are in a position of strength"

Fighting persists in the conflict, which has been going on since 2014. The rebels hope to take control of the strategic town of Marib, in an oil and gas zone. (Article reserved for subscribers)

https://www.liberation.fr/international/yemen-les-houthis-sont-en-position-de-force-20210414_U3OW5HB42ZFHPONCMEGZ5RFHL4/

(B K)

Eight Children Killed This Past Month As Fighting Intensifies In Yemen

It has been reported on March 20th, by UNICEF’s representative to Yemen, Phillipe Duamelle, that 8 children have been killed and 33 have been wounded, as violent altercations between the Houthi rebels and Saudi-led military have continued to escalate in provinces of Taiz and Hodeida, often targeting hospitals and schools. Duamelle commented, “We condemn these attacks in the strongest possible terms. Too often children and families are paying such a heavy price as conflict rages around them,”.

https://theowp.org/eight-children-killed-this-past-month-as-fighting-intensifies-in-yemen/

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Assoc. of Abductees Mothers: The seventh Ramadan is here while our abducted, detained, and forcibly disappeared sons are still held behind bars. Our living conditions have worsened and our tears cannot be stopped for any joy is not felt without our sons’ presence.

Currently, there are 633 abducted civilians held by Houthi armed group, 155 of whom are forcibly disappeared. In Aden, there are 39 abducted civilians held at Be’er Ahmed Prison and 38 forcibly disappeared held at secret detention centres run by Security Belt forces.

While the government holds 23 detained civilians, 2 of whom are forcibly disappeared, West Coast Forces hold 11 abducted civilians. As international reports repeatedly warn of the outbreak of COVID-19 in Yemen, and local reports monitoring the rise of death cases by the virus, we live in constant fear for our sons’ lives. By hearing the statements of for five years, it was concluded that detention conditions are absolutely horrible, as prisons are often packed and badly-ventilated, and abductees are deprived from sunlight exposure, clean water, and medications, and subjected to starvation. The association has documented the cases of sick abductees as follows; 131 abducted civilians held by Houthi armed group, 9 abducted civilians held by Security Belt forces in Aden, 2 detained civilians held the government, and 1 abducted civilian held by West Coast Forces. The authorities responsible for abductions and detentions usually subject abductees to systematic deprivation of medical care as a method of torture and punishment, thus, letting sick abductees carelessly die. The association has monitored the death of17abductees and detainees as a result of medical care deprivation.

http://ama-ye.org/index.php?no=1649&ln=En = https://twitter.com/abducteesmother/status/1382117205308010500

(B K P)

When will we see an end to the war in Yemen? [Overview article]

https://www.wionews.com/opinions-blogs/when-will-we-see-an-end-to-the-war-in-yemen-377218

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Making Yemen Bleed – OpEd

Since the start of the war in 2015, USA has provided full backing to the Saudi-led coalition, including technical support, training fighter jet pilots, targeting assistance, selling arms, and supplying military hardware. The same is the case of UK and France. Western powers will keep making Yemen bleed until they extract unconditional surrender from Houthis. Yemen’s location on the southern coast of Arabian Sea and eastern cost of the Red Sea has geo-political significance. The Red Sea is crucial for international trade. It connects the Suez Canal. Around 8% of the worlds’ trade happens through the Suez Canal. Imperialist countries will never allow a neo-colony as significant as Yemen from slipping out of their hands.

https://www.eurasiareview.com/13042021-making-yemen-bleed-oped/

(A P)

War gone too long and no victory with civilians remain in parties’ underground prisons

Mwatana launches “Their Ramadan With Their Families” campaign

Ramadhan comes again. As much as the families of thousands of Yemenis await it with lanterns and welcome, the disgraceful and immoral practices of the warring parties have deprived thousands of families of this opportunity.

As for the last few years, this distress has turned into a nightmare, and it has added to the darkness and gloom of the underground prisons, real fears of these innocent victims being infected with Covid-19, which has become rampant, and threatens the lives of many.

The war has gone too long, so has the sufferance.

For those who believe that by detaining and abusing civilians, they are winning the goals of the war they made, we want to remind them here, that real victory comes through bringing back the joy and drawing smiles on the faces of children who are waiting, days and nights, for the moments of their reunion with their beloved relatives.

All arbitrarily detained and forcibly disappeared at all parties to the conflict in Yemen must be released. Their place should be among their families, not in the darkness of underground prisons.

With the beginning of Ramadan, Mwatana for Human Rights launches “Their Ramadan With Their Families”, to focus on the personal identity of each victim of arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance, and to call on all conflict parties in Yemen to release all those men and women detained arbitrarily and disclose the fate of the forcibly disappeared.

https://mwatana.org/en/war-gone-too-long/

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Film: Jemen: 2011, der Aufstand einer Generation10 Jahre Arabischer Frühling

Sie haben die Umwälzungen des Arabischen Frühlings 2010 und 2011 hautnah miterlebt und erzählen ARTE Info von "ihrer" Revolution. In dieser dritten Folge berichten zwei jemenitischen Aktivistinnen von der Besetzung des "Change Square" in Sanaa und ihren damaligen Hoffnungen. Die jungen Jemeniten, die damals aktiv waren, tragen noch immer die Werte dieser Revolution in sich, die sie politisch geprägt haben. Zehn Jahre später befindet sich der Jemen im Krieg und leidet unter der schlimmsten humanitären Krise der Welt.

https://www.arte.tv/de/videos/100627-035-A/jemen-2011-der-aufstand-einer-generation/ = https://de.qantara.de/inhalt/10-jahre-arabischer-fruehling-jemen-2011-der-aufstand-einer-generation

En Francais. https://www.arte.tv/fr/videos/100627-035-A/yemen-2011-la-revolte-d-une-generation/

cp2a Saudische Blockade / Saudi blockade

(A K P)

Yemen Petroleum Company reiterates its assertion that the US-Saudi aggression coalition is still holding 10 fuel ships that are loaded with a total of "255,646" tons of fuel, for varying periods that exceeded four months months for one of the ships (list)

https://twitter.com/Ayman_altawili/status/1383199062757892101

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Film: “Our own government here in the US is complicit in the fact that children are currently dying in Yemen,” says director Skye Fitzgerald. “I refuse to accept that.”

https://twitter.com/camanpour/status/1383122038651564033

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Starving Yemen

Yemen is starving to death.

More accurately, Yemen is being starved to death.

The coalition claims that the blockade is necessary in order to detect weapons being smuggled from Iran to the Houthis. The coalition claims that UN Security Council Resolution 2216 (Apr. 14, 2015), which imposed an arms embargo on Yemen, furnishes the legal authority for the blockade. By a happy coincidence, Saudi Arabia helped draft UNSCR 2216.

The war would not be possible without US support.

UNVIM’s ineffectiveness was on view this year. Despite a desperate fuel shortage in Yemen, the Royal Saudi Navy had prevented oil tankers from entering the Houthi-controlled port of Hodeidah for the first three months of 2021. Finally, on March 25, the Saudis allowed the oil tanker Thuruya to dock. The Thuruya was one of fourteen tankers the Saudis had detained in the Red Sea. All fourteen tankers had been cleared by UNVIM.

Two of the fourteen ships, the Mt. Majnoon and the Dynasty, got tired of waiting for Saudi permission to proceed to Hodeidah and sailed for destinations outside of Yemen. According to the Arabian Rights Watch Association, the Saudis had detained the Mt. Majnoon for 344 days and the Dynasty for 220. Eight tankers remaining in the Red Sea are still waiting for Saudi permission to dock.

It does not take months to search a ship for weapons, particularly not ships which have already been cleared by UNVIM. Something else is at work: a deliberate strategy of starving Yemenis to death. Kamel Jendoubi, Chair of the UN Group of Eminent Experts on Yemen, reported to the Security Council in December that “Civilians in Yemen are not starving; they’re being starved by the parties to the conflict.”

The Houthis were less than impressed by the UN-backed peace plan the Saudis unveiled on March 22. The Houthis have said that they will not agree to a ceasefire until the coalition blockade is completely lifted. The Saudi plan would allow only some flights into Sanaa airport and only partially lift the naval blockade. The Houthis branded the Saudi plan “not serious and “nothing new.” They’re right.

Yemen doesn’t have time to wait for a ceasefire.

One of these days, Biden may get around to answering how he will end the war in Yemen. I am very much afraid that Biden’s response will contain the word “holistic.” That will be the Kiss of Death for Yemen. We will be told that the war in Yemen needs a holistic rather than a piecemeal solution. That will mean that the Administration has decided to allow the blockade to continue until there’s a ceasefire while Yemenis continue to die.

If Biden takes this tack, it will be necessary to force his hand by having Congress pass another War Powers Resolution. But one way or another, the blockade has to end now – by Charles Pierson

https://www.counterpunch.org/2021/04/16/starving-yemen/

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Biden’s Empty Gesture: Houthis No Longer “Terrorists” but Yemen’s Suffering Only Grows

Human rights groups have warned that levels of famine in Yemen are now among the highest recorded since 2015, suggesting that suffering in the country has actually grown worse under the Biden administration.

Symptoms of severe acute malnutrition — the most extreme and dangerous form of under-nutrition — include jutting ribs and loose skin, with visible wasting of body tissue. Swelling in the ankles, feet and belly, as blood vessels leak fluid under the skin, are other symptoms. During the six years of war, thousands of Yemeni children have borne these symptoms. But since Biden promised to end the war on humanitarian grounds upon assuming power in January, painful scenes of thousands of children with symptoms of acute malnutrition have been recorded in new areas where no cases were previously recorded, and at a higher rate than even during the era of former President Donald Trump, according to Yemen’s local health sources.

The same source said, in a statement given to MintPress, that many districts in Saada, Amran, Hajjah, Hodeida, Aden and Lahj provinces saw record jumps in the number of malnourished children this year, with at least 100,000 cases of severe acute malnutrition in the first three months of the Biden presidency alone. That number represents a massive increase from the same period at the onset of the Trump presidency, when 5,000 cases were recorded. This is likely because the blockade has continued unabated, according to officials.

In fact, the average Yemenis daily caloric intake is only 800 calories. This is insufficient even for small children, leading to a slew of disorders related to malnutrition – scurvy, tuberculosis, dysentery, rickets, marasmus, as well as wasting and stunting across Yemen. Official statistics attribute nearly 70% of deaths in the country to starvation caused by the blockade. Famine also opens a new window to Covid-19, which is inevitably causing disproportionate suffering among those already weakened by malnutrition and related diseases.

The Ministry of Health in Sana’a said in March that “more than 2.6 million children under the age of five suffer from acute malnutrition, and other 500,000 children are threatened by severe malnutrition due to the blockade.”

No relief from blockade’s strangulation

In February, four United Nations agencies — including the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), UNICEF (the United Nations Children’s Fund), the World Food Programme (WFP), and the World Health Organization (WHO) — said that nearly 2.3 million children under the age of five in Yemen are projected to suffer from acute malnutrition in 2021. Of these, 400,000 are expected to suffer from cases so severe that they could lead to death. The groups warned that these were among the highest levels of severe acute malnutrition recorded in Yemen since the escalation of conflict in 2015. “This is exactly what is going on thanks to the blockade supported by the Biden administration,” Dr. Ali Askar, the manager of Haydan rural hospital said in frustration.

In March 2015 when the war began, Saudi Arabia, supported by the United States, moved immediately to strangle the supply of raw materials and foodstuffs into Yemen. Now, armed with a list of 100 banned items, Saudi naval ships, supported by the U.S. Navy, are still patrolling the seas around Yemen, intercepting and detaining thousands of merchant ships carrying food, fuel, and fertilizer that are vital to agriculture, under the guise of halting arms smuggling into the country. On occasion the ships are released after months of detention, carrying damaged goods. The ongoing naval blockade shows no signs of easing, despite recent talk of the U.S. ending support for the war and with it the suffering of 30 million in the war-torn country.

The CEO of Yemen Petroleum Company (YPC), Ammar Al-Adrai, told MintPress that at least 10 oil tankers have been detained. The tankers, Al-Adrai says, have been held despite being checked, cleared, and issued permits by both the Saudi-led Coalition and the United Nations. He confirmed that the vessels are loaded with oil derivatives needed to run generators at hospitals, water pumping stations, and sewage plants – by Ahmed Abdulkareem

https://www.mintpressnews.com/biden-empty-gesture-houthis-no-longer-terrorists-but-yemen-famine-grows/276586/ = https://english.almasirah.net/post/18871/Biden-s-Empty-Gesture-Ansarullah-No-Longer-%9CTerrorists-%9D-but-Yemen-s-Suffering-Only-Grows

(A K P)

Yemen government approves more fuel ships to dock at Hodeidah port

Yemen’s Saudi-backed government has said it approved more fuel ships to dock at Yemen’s Red Sea port of Hodeidah, which is held by the Iran-aligned Houthi group, as the country grapples with a shortage exacerbating a dire humanitarian crisis.

The internationally recognised government’s information minister said late on Wednesday that additional ships would be approved for clearance by the Saudi-led military coalition that controls the waters off Hodeidah, but did not give numbers.

https://www.reuters.com/article/yemen-security-fuel-int/yemen-government-approves-more-fuel-ships-to-dock-at-hodeidah-port-idUSKBN2C21V9

My comment: This just is illegal. It’s UN (UNVIM) business to control ships going to Hodeidah, but the Hadi government and / or the Saudi coalition have no right to intervene and to block or to “approve” anything.

(B K P)

There was indeed cargo discharged in March.The 4 ships I mention in the original tweet were in March and 1 in April. All after our reporting showed the devastating impact of the blockade. In January there was 0 fuel discharged so over two months with no fuel. That’s a blockade (infographics)

https://twitter.com/nimaelbagir/status/1382393041810493440

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“It is not a blockade”: US says Saudi Arabia isn’t to blame for Yemen’s fuel shortage

Is there a fuel blockade in Yemen? It’s complicated.

It’s true that the Hadi government is denying permits for some vessels. It’s also true that the Houthis are siphoning off fuel for their own benefit. But could fuel flow more easily into Yemen if the Saudi-led coalition chose not to block ships from docking and unloading? Of course.

This is a point activists can’t see past. “I don’t buy that is the Yemeni government’s fault. They do not have the navy or aircraft to bomb a ship that threatens to break the blockade,” said Aisha Jumaan, president of the Yemen Relief and Reconstruction Foundation. “This is nonsense, and the State Department knows that.”

“It is hard to fathom that after six years, the US is casting doubt about the existence of the oppressive blockade,” she continued. “It is harder because it is from the Biden administration from whom we expected better judgment.”

In other words, it’s pretty clear that the Biden administration is downplaying the Saudi role during this entire episode. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on March 1 did “call on all parties to allow the unhindered import and distribution of fuel,” but didn’t specifically call Riyadh out.

That’s surprising for two reasons, experts say. First, the Biden administration has said that human rights are “at the center of US foreign policy.” Minimizing Riyadh’s role in blocking fuel into Yemen isn’t making human rights a priority.

Second, it’s not like the Saudis have downplayed their own role. In March, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud proposed to reopen the airport in Sana’a in exchange for a ceasefire — the first time Riadh openly acknowledged carrying out any kind of blocking effort in Yemen.

Further, the Saudi-led coalition allowed at least four fuel ships in Hodeidah’s port in March after the Hadi government gave its approval, shortly following pressure from the CNN report. It’s clear, then, that Riyadh plays a key role in deciding which ships do and don’t get to operate in Hodeidah.

This is something UN World Food Program Director David Beasley noted openly last month. “The people of Yemen deserve our help. That blockade must be lifted, as a humanitarian act. Otherwise, millions more will spiral into crisis,” he said in a speech to the UN Security Council. When I asked Beasley’s team what he precisely meant by “blockade,” a spokesperson said that “the fuel shortage is in reference to the coalition blockade.”

Beasley’s remarks follow many other instances of the UN calling the Saudi-led coalition’s efforts a “blockade.”

The question now is why the Biden administration won’t more openly and forcefully deride Riyadh’s involvement in blocking fuel from getting into Yemen.

Analysts say one consideration is that the US is trying to broker a peace agreement between the Saudi-led coalition, the Hadi government, and the Houthis. If the Biden administration berates the Saudis repeatedly, they might lose leverage with a key party in those talks.

Another reason experts noted is that the US is in the middle of negotiations to reenter the Iran nuclear deal, an accord Riyadh doesn’t like. By not speaking out against Saudi Arabia’s complicity in blocking fuel into Yemen, then Riyadh implicitly understands it isn’t to speak out about the Iran diplomacy.

There’s one more: Pushing for Saudi Arabia and its partners to “end the blockade” could lead to the dissolution of the UN ship-inspection system that was put in place to facilitate shipments during a war and humanitarian crisis and curb the smuggling of weapons to the Houthis. If that happens, then it’d be far easier for Iran to send arms to the Houthis and further inflame the war. That also wouldn’t reverse the humanitarian disaster brought on by years of fighting.

Whatever the reason, a bipartisan group of lawmakers is calling on the Biden administration to “urgently push” Riyadh to stop helping keep fuel from reaching Yemeni ports.

“The interference, delay, and outright blocking of commercial goods and humanitarian assistance shipped to Yemen’s ports is a principal cause of price inflation, food insecurity, economic collapse, and the failure of public services in Yemen,” House of Representatives members wrote in a letter to Secretary of State Blinken on Tuesday.

It’s unclear if Biden or his team will listen to them. What is clear, though, is that without Riyadh, a lot more fuel would be flowing into Yemen – by Alex Ward

https://www.vox.com/2021/4/14/22381459/yemen-blockade-saudi-arabia-biden-cnn

(A K P)

Yemeni gov't allows oil tankers in Hodeida port, Houthis deny

The Yemeni UN-recognized government has allowed a number of oil tankers access to the Red Sea port of Hodeida for humanitarian reasons, Yemen's foreign minister tweeted on Wednesday, as the Houthi group denied the arrival of any vessel.

https://debriefer.net/en/news-24472.html

(A K P)

YPC Denies Arrival of Detained Fuel Ship to Hodeidah

Yemen Petroleum Company (YPC) denied on Wednesday the arrival of any new tanker from fuel ships held by the Saudi-ledaggression to the ports of Hodeidah.

The YPC stated that "the forces of the US-Saudi aggression" are holding 10 oil ships, including a ship loaded with gas.”

In its statement, the company confirmed that the Saudi-led aggression continued to detain 9 oil ships with a total tonnage of 246,855 tons of gasoline and diesel for more than 4 months, despite the completion of all examination and verification procedures through the mechanism of the verification and inspection mission in Djibouti (UNVIM) and obtaining the UN permits that confirm their compliance with the conditions.

https://english.almasirah.net/post/18856/YPC-Denies-Arrival-of-Detained-Fuel-Ship-to-Hodeidah

(A K P)

UN oil tanker arrives at Hodeida port west Yemen

An oil tanker has arrived at the Yemeni western port of Hodeida granted by the United Nations as humanitarian assistance, the Houthi-appointed director of the Sana'a-based Yemeni Petroleum Company (YPC) tweeted late on Monday.
"The UN vessel Maliha was allowed in Yemen without being detained" by the Saudi-led coalition, Ammar al-Adhroie added.
The tanker "is loaded with 4,489 tons of diesel as assistances," the Houthi official said, while "all the Yemeni people's oil tankers assigned for public consumption are detained and denied access to Hodeida port, inflicting the Yemenis millions of dollars in demurrage."

https://debriefer.net/en/news-24447.html

and also https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20210414-un-fuel-ship-arrives-in-yemen/

cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation

Siehe / Look at cp1

(* B H)

Die Kinder im Jemen und Nours Geschichte um Leben und Tod

Nach sechs Jahren Krieg steht der Jemen kurz vor dem Kollaps. Eine Hungersnot droht, 2,3 Millionen Kinder unter 5 Jahren leiden an akuter Mangelernährung. Davon 400 000 so schwer, dass ihr Zustand lebensbedrohlich ist. An dieser Stelle erzählen wir die Geschichte der kleinen Nour, deren Leben gerettet werden konnte.

Schon als Nour Fatini geboren wurde, war sie schwach und ausgelaugt. Die ersten Monate bekam sie zu wenig Nahrung. Zwar stillte die Mutter ihr Baby, doch die Kleine war nie gesättigt, weil die Mutter nicht genug Milch produzierte. Das bald stark mangelernährte Baby wurde jedoch nicht zur Behandlung in ein Gesundheitszentrum gebracht. Der Familie fehlte hierfür nicht nur das Geld, sondern die Mutter erkannte auch die Symptome von Mangelernährung nicht. Nours Gesundheitszustand verschlechterte sich zusehends. Bis zu dem Tag als Ali Al-Raymi ins Leben von Familie Fatini trat.

Der Sozialforscher Ali Al-Raymi untersucht als Case-Manager des von UNICEF mitfinanzierten Projekts «IMSEA» benachteiligte Bevölkerungsgruppen, wie etwa die Slumbewohner in Sana’a. Das Projekt «IMSEA», («Integriertes Modell der gesellschaftlichen und wirtschaftlichen Unterstützung und Förderung») zielt mitunter darauf ab, bessere Bedingungen für die ärmsten und am meisten gefährdeten Kinder zu schaffen und diese Bevölkerungsgruppen sozial und wirtschaftlich zu unterstützen.
Die Familie von Nour war eine der Familie, die für Erhebungen ausgewählt wurden. In der Folge besuchte Ali Al-Raymi die Familie zuhause

https://www.unicef.ch/de/ueber-unicef/aktuell/blog/2021-04-16/die-kinder-im-jemen-und-nours-geschichte-um-leben-und-tod

(* B H)

Film: Sana'a Center Report Launch: The Life Phases of a Yemeni Woman

On April 15, 2021, the Sana'a Center along with the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs launched the center's latest gender report titled "The Life Phases of a Yemeni Woman." Co-Facilitators: Amb. Charlotta Sparre, Director of the Swedish Dialogue Institute AbuBakr al-Shamahi, Researcher at the Sana'a Center Speakers: Marta Colburn, gender and Yemen specialist; Amal Nasser, Economist at the Sana'a Center; Rim Mugahed, Non-Resident Researcher at the Sana'a Center

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

Clip: https://twitter.com/SanaaCenter/status/1383029148973686791

and written report: https://sanaacenter.org/publications/main-publications/13340

(A H P)

Project Update: Water for food security: Enhancing the resilience of host communities in supporting internally displaced persons and returnees in Yemen (OSRO/YEM/805/KUW)

Water scarcity is one of the most pressing issues in the country, aggravated by six years of uninterrupted conflict and its destructive effects on water infrastructure.
In this context, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) partnered with the Government of Kuwait to enhance the resilience of host communities, internally displaced persons (IDPs) and returnees in Yemen. The “Water for food security: Enhancing the resilience of host communities in supporting internally displaced persons and returnees in Yemen” project funded by Kuwait contributed to the restoration of agricultural livelihoods of food-insecure vulnerable households mainly through the rehabilitation of water infrastructure and the promotion of socioeconomic inclusion of displaced populations. FAO organized joint cash-forwork activities

https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/project-update-water-food-security-enhancing-resilience-host-communities-supporting

(* B H)

How conflicts turned the Middle East into an organ-trafficking hotspot

From Libya in the west to Yemen in the east, as conflicts wrack parts of the Middle East and North Africa, the growing population of the displaced and dispossessed are proving easy prey for traffickers in human body parts.

More than 5 million refugees in the Middle East are potential targets for this illicit trade.

The going rate for human organs in the Arab region is substantial. In Iraq, illegally obtained organs can sell for $20,000 apiece, while in Turkey a sale can be sealed for up to $145,000, according to reports.

In Yemen, which is not a signatory to the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children (which is a part of the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime), it has been difficult to obtain information on human trafficking since 2015 due to the conflict.

Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) point to Yemen’s protracted conflicts, general lawlessness and deteriorating economic conditions as factors that place the population at risk of being trafficked, including for organ harvesting.

What makes the illicit organ trade especially shocking is the meager gain for a typical donor.

https://www.arabnews.com/node/1701871/middle-east

(A H)

Film: #Ramadan Mubarak Dear friends, We apologize for the absence from you. We were busy with distributing Ramadan food baskets to the poor. We carry a lot of great news, the details of which will be published later. Thanks so much for all of you http://Chuffed.org/project/food-at/food-and-medicine-for-yemen…

https://twitter.com/ghalebalsudmy/status/1382828818587598849

(* B H)

Audio: Der Naturbursche aus dem Jemen | Talk

Für Aziz bedeutet der Jemen Berge mit kilometerweitem Blick in die Ferne, mit wilden Tieren und dem Gefühl völliger Freiheit. Aber auch die Angst vor Granateneinschlägen, vor Straßenkämpfen und Checkpoints. Aziz ist im Jemen aufgewachsen. Die Wochenenden verbrachte er im Dorf seines Großvaters und unter der Woche ging er in Sana’a, der Hauptstadt des Landes, zur Schule. Ein ganz normales Leben - im Jemen. "Mir ist erst im Ausland klar geworden, dass es Dinge gibt, die existieren überall auf der Welt - aber im Jemen gibt es das einfach nicht.” Was es bedeutet, jung zu sein in einem Land, das vielleicht keine Zukunft hat, erzählt er Malcolm in der neuen Folge von Sack Reis. |

https://www.ardaudiothek.de/sack-reis-was-geht-dich-die-welt-an/der-naturbursche-aus-dem-jemen-talk/88284504

(B H)

Yemen: Acute Food Insecurity and Acute Malnutrition Situation 14 April 2021

http://www.ipcinfo.org/ipcinfo-website/resources/resources-details/fi/c/1154287/

(B H)

Film: Rights activist fights for gender equality in Yemen

https://www.dw.com/en/houthi-government-war-wont-stop-until-saudis-quit-yemen/a-57208060

(* B H P)

Yemen: Humanitarian Access Snapshot (January - February 2021)

Humanitarian partners reported 489 access incidents in January and February across 32 districts in 15 governorates in Yemen. This is a decrease from the 624 incidents reported in November-December, mainly due to reduced operations In January following the end-of-year holidays.

Restrictions on the movement of humanitarian organizations, personnel and goods within and into Yemen continued to be the most reported constraints, with a total of 369 incidents reported. The incidents involved delayed or denied travel permits along with blockages at checkpoints. In northern governorates, the Ansar Allah (AA) authorities continued to issue a range of new ad-hoc requirements for travel permits, such as the sharing of beneficiary lists, vehicle lease contracts and other sensitive or protected information. Movements in Al Hudaydah and Hajjah Governorates remained particularly challenging where national female staff members continued to be required to travel with a mahram (a male family member) and access to emerging IDP displacements in southern Hudaydah were obstructed by the local authorities. In areas controlled by the Government of Yemen (GoY), lengthy security inspections at checkpoints added to delays and challenges in securing permits from various local authorities.
Interference in humanitarian operations by local authorities remained a major constraint, with over 210 incidents reported. This included some 21 new directives and instructions issued by the AA authorities that breached independent programming and/or operations of UN and NGOs, such as the restriction on organizing and participating in online activities and events, suspension of partners to carry out certain sector activities and arbitrary demands to change project design, approaches and other programming elements. In GoY-controlled westcoast areas, partners reported emerging challenges around new administrative requirements and demands by the local authorities that disrupted timely movements and aid deliveries.

Violence against humanitarian personnel and assets were reported across Yemen. Over 14 separate incidents were reported, thus similar to the levels reported in late last year. This included detention, intimidation and other mistreatment of staff and the confiscation and theft of humanitarian supplies.

https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-humanitarian-access-snapshot-january-february-2021

(B H)

Greenhouses for Female Farmers in Yemen

For the last two years, Yemen Aid has been focusing on a sustainable approach to the humanitarian crisis on the ground. We believe that through sustainable development projects, we are providing real solutions to serious problems.

We have worked in projects revolving economic opportunity through livestock projects, large solar energy projects equipments over 25 villages with access to clean water, and focusing on the agricultural sector with over 60 greenhouses.

The outcomes of such projects generate income for farmers struggling with inadequate techniques and resources. It also allows farmers to be more confident about growing crops at a quicker pace and without worry of difficult weather. By creating locally produced foods, we are also supporting communities by lowering the price of vegetables and fruits in markets.

In our campaign, we will highlight success stories from projects like these.

https://charity.gofundme.com/o/en/campaign/greenhouses-for-female-farmers-in-yemen

(B H)

Film: He was born in the year the #Yemen conflict began. Tonight, 6-year-old Omar and his father Salem shared their struggle to survive with @itvnews. Families in Yemen urgently need clean water, food and a peaceful future. Please donate now at http://bit.ly/YemenUrgentAppeal

https://twitter.com/oxfamgb/status/1379908269473419265

(B H)

UNICEF: To ensure #children and their parents receive consistent health services, UNICEF #Emergency_Health_and_Nutrition_Project team visited couple of health facilities in #Aden governorate and checked the urgent needs of these facilities for future development. (photos)

https://www.facebook.com/unicefyemen/posts/4049135331819146

The #Emergency_Health_and_Nutrition_Project provides free medicine to around 2,000 health facilities across #Yemen to enhance the health sector capacity in the country. (photos)

https://www.facebook.com/unicefyemen/posts/4050772551655424

Taizz in #Yemen is among the governorates most severely affected by conflict.

EU Civil Protection & Humanitarian Aid - ECHO's support to #therapeutic feeding centres there enable children like Laylian suffering from severe acute #malnutrition with complications to receive lifesaving treatment through #UNICEF’s partner (photos)

https://www.facebook.com/unicefyemen/posts/4043620375703975

cp4 Flüchtlinge / Refugees

(* B H)

Jemen: Eskalierende Gewalt bedroht Schutzsuchende in Marib

Neue Fluchtbewegungen stellen die humanitären Organisationen vor immense Herausforderungen, die dringende Hilfe für Millionen Menschen aufrecht zu erhalten.

Das UN-Flüchtlingshilfswerk UNHCR ist angesichts der Verschärfung des Konflikts im jemenitischen Gouvernement Marib zutiefst besorgt um die Sicherheit der Zivilbevölkerung. Die Kämpfe wirken sich zunehmend auf Gebiete in und um die Stadt Marib aus, wo viele Menschen Schutz gesucht haben, die bereits durch den anhaltenden Konflikt vertrieben wurden.

Nach Angaben von UNHCR-Partnern führten im ersten Quartal des Jahres mindestens 70 Vorfälle von bewaffneter Gewalt – Artilleriefeuer, Feuergefechte und Luftangriffe – zu Toten und Verletzten unter der Zivilbevölkerung in Marib. Allein im März gab es 40 zivile Opfer, darunter 13 in Behelfssiedlungen für vertriebene Familien – eine monatliche Höchstzahl für Marib seit 2018.

Luftangriffe, Gefechte und Granatenbeschuss haben die zivile Infrastruktur und Wohnhäuser schwer beschädigt, darunter Wassertanks und Notunterkünfte sowie informelle Siedlungen, in denen die Vertriebenen untergebracht sind. Auch das Vieh wurde getötet, was die ohnehin verarmten Gemeinden ihrer Lebensgrundlage beraubt.

Seit Anfang 2021 hat die Eskalation der Gewalt in Marib zur Vertreibung von mehr als 13.600 Menschen (2.272 Familien) geführt – einer Region, in der ein Viertel der vier Millionen Binnenvertriebenen des Jemen lebt.

Die neuen Fluchtbewegungen stellen angesichts knapper Mittel eine große Belastung für die öffentlichen Dienstleistungen und die humanitären Partner dar. Die meisten Familien suchen Zuflucht in unterversorgten, überfüllten Unterkünften in der Stadt Marib und in nahegelegenen Gebieten, in denen es keinen Strom oder Zugang zu Wasser gibt. Unsere Mitarbeiter vor Ort berichten, dass die Familien keine andere Wahl haben, als ihre Unterkünfte mit bis zu drei anderen Familien zu teilen.

Eine aktuelle Bedarfsanalyse von UNHCR ergab, dass Frauen und Kinder fast 80 Prozent der vertriebenen Bevölkerung in Marib ausmachen. Etwa ein Viertel der Kinder geht nicht zur Schule. Die meisten vertriebenen Familien (90 Prozent) leben in extremer Armut und haben weniger als 1,40 US-Dollar pro Tag zur Verfügung.

Jede vierte Familie hat in der Nähe ihrer Unterkünfte keinen Zugang zu Toiletten, Duschen oder Handwaschgelegenheiten. Da eine zweite Welle von COVID-19 den Jemen trifft und nur die Hälfte der Gesundheitseinrichtungen des Landes funktioniert, verschärft der Mangel an sanitären Anlagen die Situation.

Trotz Finanzierungsengpässen und der volatilen Sicherheitslage stellt UNHCR Tausenden von vertriebenen Familien in Marib Bargeldhilfe zur Verfügung, um Nahrungsmittel, Kleidung, medizinische und andere Bedürfnisse zu decken. Auch Zelte und grundlegende Hilfsgüter wurden an Familien verteilt, die auf der Flucht vor den Kämpfen alles verloren haben.

Die Unterstützung der internationalen Gemeinschaft ist dringend nötig, um die verzweifelte Lage der vertriebenen Menschen im Jemen zu lindern

https://www.unhcr.org/dach/de/62841-jemen-eskalierende-gewalt-bedroht-schutzsuchende-in-marib.html

(* B H)

Civilians at risk from escalating fighting in Yemen’s Marib

This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Aikaterini Kitidi – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at today's press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is deeply concerned about the safety of civilians as conflict intensifies in Yemen’s Marib governorate. The fighting is increasingly impacting areas in and around Marib city where large numbers of people already displaced by the ongoing conflict are sheltering.

In the first quarter of the year, at least 70 incidents of armed violence – shelling, crossfire, and airstrikes– resulted in injuries or deaths of civilians in Marib, according to UNHCR’s protection partners. In March alone, there were 40 civilian casualties, including 13 in makeshift settlements for displaced families. This is the highest number in a month since 2018 in Marib.

Airstrikes, shelling and crossfire have also badly damaged civilian infrastructure and property, including informal sites hosting the displaced, water tanks and shelters. Livestock has also been killed, depriving already impoverished communities of their livelihoods.

Since the beginning of 2021, the escalation in hostilities has led to the displacement of over 13,600 people (2,272 families) in Marib – a region that is hosting a quarter of Yemen’s 4 million internally displaced people.

The new displacement is putting a heavy strain on public services and humanitarian partners at a time of funding shortfalls. Most families are seeking refuge in underserved, overcrowded hosting sites in Marib city, and nearby areas that lack electricity or access to water. Our staff on the ground report that families have no choice but to share their shelters with up to three other families.

A recent protection assessment by UNHCR found that women and children represent almost 80 per cent of the displaced population in Marib. About a quarter of the children do not attend school. Most displaced families (90 per cent) live in extreme poverty, on less than US$1.40 per day.

One in four families have no access to toilets, showers, or hand washing facilities near their shelters. With a second wave of COVID-19 hitting Yemen, and only half of the country’s health facilities functioning, the lack of sanitary facilities is making the situation more dire.

Despite funding shortages and a volatile security situation, UNHCR is providing cash assistance to thousands of displaced families in Marib to cover food, clothing, medical and other needs. Tents and basic relief items have also been distributed to families who lost everything when fleeing the fighting.

Urgent support is needed from the international community to alleviate the desperate situation of displaced Yemenis who have endured enormous suffering and trauma for the past six years. Only 27 per cent of UNHCR’s funding requirements for the response in Yemen have so far been received.

https://www.unhcr.org/news/briefing/2021/4/607933ab4/civilians-risk-escalating-fighting-yemens-marib.html

(B H)

UNHCR Yemen: Marib - IDP Protection Monitoring (20 February 2021-13 April 2021)

https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/unhcr-yemen-marib-idp-protection-monitoring-20-february-2021-13-april-2021

(A H P)

Some 252 Ethiopians Returned Home From Yemen

Spokesperson of Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that some 252 Ethiopians returned home from Yemen.

Out of the total returnees 92 have arrived home today while the remaining 162 were returned yesterday.

https://www.fanabc.com/english/some-252-ethiopians-returned-home-from-yemen/

(* B H)

Film: Ethiopians head home after Yemen migrant life becomes difficult

When Ethiopian migrant Jamal Hussein boarded a U.N.-run repatriation flight out of Yemen, he ended a journey through the war-torn country that he had hoped would take him to a better life in wealthy Saudi Arabia. Many more migrants are also calling it quits, reversing a longstanding and often perilous flow out of the Horn of Africa by sea and then north through Yemen into Gulf states for work. Their hopes for better a life have been thwarted by coronavirus restrictions and the security conditions, leaving them stranded in a country where millions already live on the brink of famine. The U.N. migration agency IOM estimates more than 11,000 migrants have returned by boat in the past year, but it’s now running flights so migrants can safely return. "I wanted to go to Saudi to work so I came to Yemen. That's when I found out there was a war in Yemen, I had not known," Hussein said before Tuesday's flight home. With COVID-19 and security restrictions blocking routes into Gulf states, thousands of migrants, facing increased stigma due to the pandemic, have been detained and forcibly transferred back to south Yemen, where the internationally recognized government is based. It said an initial group of 1,100 Ethiopians had been approved for "Voluntary Humanitarian Return" with Tuesday's flight, the second to be operated to take people home. More than 32,000 migrants, mainly Ethiopians, remain stranded across Yemen in dire circumstances, the agency said.

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

(* B H)

Ethiopians head home after Yemen migrant life becomes untenable

Many more migrants are also calling it quits, reversing a longstanding and often perilous flow out of the Horn of Africa by sea and then north through Yemen into Gulf states for work.

Their hopes for better prospects have been thwarted by coronavirus restrictions and the security conditions, leaving them stranded in a country where millions already live on the brink of famine.

The U.N. migration agency IOM estimates more than 11,000 migrants have returned by boat in the past year.

Now it is running flights so the migrants can return safely.

It said an initial group of 1,100 Ethiopians had been approved for “Voluntary Humanitarian Return”, with Tuesday’s flight the second to be operated to take people home.

Thousands of others are waiting for their nationality to be verified and travel documents to be provided, it said.

More than 32,000 migrants, mainly Ethiopians, remain stranded across Yemen in dire circumstances, the agency said.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-ethiopia-migrants/ethiopians-head-home-after-yemen-migrant-life-becomes-untenable-idUSKBN2C11EE

(* A B H)

160 Ethiopian Migrants Stranded in Yemen Repatriated

One hundred and sixty Ethiopian migrants stranded in Yemen for months in dire conditions were flown home from Yemen to Ethiopia on Tuesday, according to the International Organization for Migration.

The IOM says tens of thousands of impoverished migrants from countries like Somalia and Ethiopia make the perilous journey to Yemen every year in search of work in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries.

IOM spokeswoman Angela Wells says many never make it across the border and find themselves stranded in Yemen. She says more than 32,000 migrants, most from Ethiopia, are currently trapped in the country.

https://www.voanews.com/africa/160-ethiopian-migrants-stranded-yemen-repatriated

(B H)

Audio: Suffering in #Yemen is so vast that much of it fails to make news, especially when it doesn't directly impact 'us'. #Migration from #Africa makes headlines if it's north to Europe, but what about when it's east to the #Gulf via Yemen? @ElanaGulf & I take a quick look for @ConvSix

https://twitter.com/Dr_E_Kendall/status/1382015120696545282

cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis

(B P)

Film: Recruitment of children in Yemen, Houthi-controlled areas, starts at school. Curriculum, radio, theater, and school activities for recruitment and making extremism

https://twitter.com/abduhothifi/status/1382896149275758595

(A H P)

Photos: The General Authority for Zakat inaugurates the Ramadan charity bakery in Hodeidah, with a production capacity of 20 thousand loaves of bread per day. The bakery benefits 2000 families from the poorest families, orphans, martyrs' families, the Social Welfare House and Dar Al-Salam for health and psychological care.

https://twitter.com/ZakatYemen/status/1382782457351700483

(B P)

A Yemeni Human Rights Report Monitors a 28% Increase in Violations by the Houthi Rebels in Al-Bayda Governorate

A Yemeni human rights report monitored a sizable increase in the violations committed by the Iranian-backed terrorist Houthi militia against civilians in Al-Bayda Governorate, Yemen, it was reported here today.
The report issued by the Monitoring Center for Rights and Development spotted 674 violations during the year 2020, an increase of 28% compared with the year 2019.
The violations included 49 civilian deaths, 34 injuries and 399 kidnappings.
The report, published by the [Hadi gov.] state-run Yemeni News Agency (Saba), also documented 79 cases of attacks on private property, 22 cases of destruction of homes, seven cases of attacks on public property, in addition to six cases of attacks on mosques.
The report covered other cases of Houthi violations

https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=2216460

(B P)

Union: Houthis killed, wounded over 3,500 teachers in 6 years

Yemen's Houthi rebels have killed and wounded more than 3,500 Yemeni teachers over the past six years, the Yemeni Teachers Syndicate has reported.

The Yemeni Teachers Syndicate issued a new report documenting the crimes and violations committed by the Houthi militia against teachers and the education sector employees in areas under their control since their coup in 2014.

According to the report, Houthi gunmen have killed 1,579 teachers and workers in the education sector, including 81 school principals and 1,497 teachers. As many as 2,642 teachers have been subjected to various injuries, some of which resulted in permanent disabilities.

The report disclosed that the Houthis had issued execution orders against ten teachers, including the head of the Teachers Syndicate in the capital, Saad Al-Nuzili, and school principal Khaled Al-Nahari, in addition to eight students, after kidnapping and detaining them.

"As many as 621 teachers have been subjected to kidnapping and enforced disappearance in various governorates of the country," the report stated, noting that the Hodeidah governorate ranked first in terms of the number of kidnapped teachers.

According to the report: "14 teachers have died under torture in the Houthi militia's prisons."

The Houthis have displaced more than 20,000 teachers after threatening and prosecuting them, forcing them to leave their jobs, homes and families and immigrate to other governorates.

Moreover, the Houthi rebels have also cut the salaries of 60 per cent of the 290,000 employees in the educational sector since September 2017.

The report indicated that the Houthis' coup had caused a state of extreme poverty among teachers, prompting some to commit suicide.

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20210416-union-houthis-killed-wounded-over-3500-teachers-in-6-years/

My comment: By a Hadi-gov. affiliated association, hardly free of bias. The lack of payment for Yemeni teachers hardly is the Houthis’ fault.

and

(B P)

[Hadi gov.] Yemeni teacher’s union slams Houthi curriculum takeover

Yemen’s union of teachers has denounced the Iran-backed Houthi militia’s takeover of the country’s schools and curriculum, and accused Tehran of using the education system to pursue a “policy of cultural colonialism.”

Yahya Al-Yinai, head of media at the Yemeni Teachers Syndicate, told the Daily Telegraph that the Houthis have made hundreds of changes to the teaching curriculum since they seized power in a violent 2014 coup. He also said they have replaced nearly 90 percent of school principals with pro-Houthi allies.

Al-Yinai accused Iran of overseeing the changes, saying it is pursuing a “policy of cultural colonialism” by trying to introduce the “ideology of the Khomeinist revolution in Yemen through public education.”

https://www.arabnews.com/node/1843536/middle-east

and also https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-46342

and

(* B P)

Houthis indoctrinating children in Yemen 'with violent, anti-Semitic and extremist material'

'The closest we have seen to being this is extreme is ISIS materials,' said one analyst

Three million Yemeni children living in areas under Houthi control are being indoctrinated with education material filled with violent, anti-Semitic propaganda, an official from the Yemeni Teachers Syndicate has told the Telegraph.

Yahya Al-Yinai, the union’s head of media, said he had documented hundreds of changes to the teaching curriculum by the Iran-backed group, which since 2014 has fought a war against the government of Yemen.

The group has also replaced nearly 90 percent of school principals with pro-Houthi figures, he told The Telegraph.

Iran is overseeing the changes, he said, accusing Tehran of pursuing a "policy of cultural colonialism" by trying to introduce the "ideology of the Khomeinist revolution in Yemen through public education."

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/04/15/houthis-indoctrinating-children-yemen-violent-anti-semitic-extremist/

A detailed report, which also is quoted in this article: https://www.impact-se.org/wp-content/uploads/Review-of-Houthi-Educational-Materials-in-Yemen_2015-19.pdf

and by a Saudi news site. https://english.alarabiya.net/News/gulf/2021/04/15/Millions-of-Yemeni-youth-being-educated-with-violent-anti-Semitic-propaganda-Report

(B H P)

Oxygen cylinders trade revives on Sana’a black markets

Oxygen cylinders trade has revived on Sana’a black and other Yemeni governorates, medical sources told Alsahwa Net, affirming that Houthis confiscate large numbers of cylinders which were provided to Yemeni hospitals by international organizations.

Physicians told Alsahwa Net Houthi leaders confiscate oxygen cylinders and sell them on black markets, while Yemeni hospitals severely lack to oxygen as a surging number of COVID-19 cases is increasing the pressure on war-torn Yemen’s already strained healthcare system.

https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-46329

(* A H P)

Al-Houthi militia carries out a campaign of kidnappings among the medical personnel who refuse to fight

Medical sources in Sana'a reported that the Houthi militia launched kidnapping campaigns among the health personnel working in the Al-Thawra General Hospital and other government hospitals ... after their failure to persuade doctors to join the battlefronts to treat their wounded who were lost due to the fighting, according to Al-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper.

The sources revealed that in the past few days, the group’s militants had kidnapped more than 12 doctors and 17 health workers from hospitals: Al-Thawra, Al-Jamhouri, seventy, and others in Sana'a. While it removed a number of others from their administrative positions and replaced them with loyalists, the sources revealed that the group’s militants had kidnapped more than 12 doctors and 17 health workers in the past few days in the past few days from hospitals: Al-Thawra, Al-Jamhouri, El-Sabaeen, and others in Sanaa. While it excluded a number of others from their administrative positions and replaced them with loyalists. The sources confirmed to Asharq Al-Awsat that the Houthi escalation against the health sector employees came against the backdrop of the refusal of a number of them working for the Al-Thawra General Hospital Authority (the largest government hospital in the country) and other hospitals to directives issued by the Minister of Coup Health Taha Al-Mutawakel that ordered the officials of these hospitals to quickly form emergency teams to be attached to the fronts to heal the group's wounded.

Health workers said that a number of their fellow doctors and health workers are still hidden in unknown places, accusing the Houthi group of being behind the crime of kidnapping, especially after they refused to restrict their names to the lists of cadres that were chosen to join the militia fronts in Ma'rib, Al-Jawf, Al-Dhalea, and the West Coast, and a pretext for treating the wounded.

https://www.criticalthreats.org/briefs/gulf-of-aden-security-review/gulf-of-aden-security-review-april-14-2021#_ednc883a84f9d7a1df8ceb0805d32a975752

and original link: https://www.7adramout.net/4MAY/7653320/%D9%85%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%B4%D9%8A%D8%A7-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD%D9%88%D8%AB%D9%8A-%D8%AA%D9%86%D9%81%D8%B0-%D8%AD%D9%85%D9%84%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D8%AE%D8%AA%D8%B7%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%A7%D9%88%D8%B3%D8%A7%D8%B7-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%83%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%AF%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B7%D8%A8%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%B6%D8%A9-%D9%84%D9%84%D9%82%D8%AA%D8%A7%D9%84.html

and also https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-46330

My remark: Going back to a claim by Saudi Al-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper.

(B P)

In Yemen, antisemitism is rampant even though few Jews actually live there

So why has the Houthi movement had such an obsession with persecuting the last handful of Yemen’s Jews, when most of the country has been devoid of Jews for decades?

According to Mohammed Al Samawi, a Yemeni national and interfaith activist who had to flee the country after the Houthi takeover of his native city of Sanaa, antisemitism is nothing new in Yemen – but the Houthis have taken it to a new level.

“The Houthis are trying to spread these stereotypes and conspiracy theories against the Jews,” Al Samawi explained. “It’s extremely sad. If you look at the history of Yemen – the capital city, Sanaa – the architecture came from the Jews, the music came from the Jews, the food even.”

According to a report released by the U.S. Embassy of the Republic of Yemen, who remain the internationally recognized government of the war-torn nation, hatred of Jews is an essential facet of the Houthis’ ideology. The report states that al-Houthi’s teachings make clear one message: that Jews are the enemies of Yemen.

“Arab countries and all Islamic countries will not be safe from Jews except through their eradication and the elimination of their entity,” al-Houthi wrote in one of his publications.

Al Samawi believes Jews were simply used as a pawn by Yemen.

“At the end of the day, you have this movement whose antisemitism is genocidal, in a place where practically no Jews exist any more and neither Jews nor the Jewish state have any influence,” Sheff said. “Yet, you have this outsized obsessional hatred toward them.”

https://forward.com/news/467761/in-yemen-antisemitism-is-rampant-even-though-few-jews-actually-live-there/

My comment: The background for this development isn’t to be found in Yemen and with the Yemeni Jews, but in Palestine and in Israeli policy.

(A P)

Yemen model is abducted by Iran-backed Houthi rebels for 'violating Islamic dress codes' as she travelled to a shoot

A teenage model who posed for pictures without a hijab has been abducted

The Yemeni model and actress was kidnapped by Iran-backed Houthi rebels

Entesar Al-Hammadi, 20, and two of her colleagues were snatched in Sanaa

A model who posed for pictures without a hijab has been snatched off the street by Iran-backed Houthi rebels who are planning to prosecute her in a kangaroo court for being a bad influence.

The young Yemeni model and actress kidnapped by Iran-backed Houthi rebels is set to be 'tried' by her abductors who see her as a corrupting influence, according to reports.

The kidnapping is believed to be part of a series of crackdowns on objectors and liberals in areas of the country controlled by the rebels.

A Houthi 'prosecutor' will question the young model on Sunday, according to her lawyer, Khaled Mohammed Al-Kamal, who said that she was arrested unlawfully.

Entesar and her colleagues were on their way to film a drama TV series when their vehicle was stopped by rebels, who abducted the women, taking them to a secret location in February.

Crackdowns against Yemeni women have reportedly become commonplace in Houthi-controlled areas

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9475387/Teenage-Yemen-model-abducted-Iran-backed-Houthi-rebels.html

(A P)

Houthis to prosecute abducted Yemeni model

Iran-backed Houthis plan to launch a criminal investigation against Entesar Al-Hammadi, a young Yemeni model and actress, who was abducted from a Sanaa street on Feb. 20, the model’s lawyer Khaled Mohammed Al-Kamal said on Wednesday.

The kidnapping of Al-Hammadi and two of her friends is the latest in a string of attacks by the Houthis on dissidents and liberal women in areas under the group’s control.

Al-Kamal told Arab News that a prosecutor from the rebel-controlled West Sanaa court will question Entesar on Sunday.

“My client was arrested without a warrant,” Al-Kamal said by telephone, giving no information about the Houthis’ explanation for the abduction.

Yemeni officials said the three actresses were traveling to shoot a drama series when the rebels stopped their vehicle on Sanaa’s Hadda Street and took them to an unknown location.

The Houthis accused the abducted actresses of violating traditional Islamic dress codes.

Their detainment has sparked outrage inside and outside Yemen

https://www.arabnews.com/node/1843081/middle-east

and also https://www.thenationalnews.com/gulf-news/kidnapped-yemeni-model-highlights-plight-of-women-detained-by-houthi-militias-1.1203724

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/04/15/yemeni-model-abducted-street-houthi-rebels-photoshoot-without/

(A K P)

Daily statistic on the names of the victims of children recruited by the Houthi group 12 April2021 (with film)

https://twitter.com/abduhothifi/status/1382037146102554629

(A P)

Circulated Houthi memo shows new Houthi instructions during the month of Ramadan, including to broadcast speeches of the Houthis leader Abdulmalek and other religious programs through external speakers and microphones in mosques every day. Never happened before in #Yemen (document)

https://twitter.com/Alsakaniali/status/1382160149528391680

and

(A P)

Films: The first Ramadan lecture by Mr. Abdul Malik Badr Al-Din Al-Houthi, The Practical Purpose of Fasting 1442 AH 12-13-2021

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WepMkQEnLDM = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhES9BnacrY

The second Ramadan lecture by Mr. Abdul Malik Badr Al-Din Al-Houthi 02 Ramadan 1442 AH 04/14-2021

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Qr8z1lnpO4 = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1TnYvOrKjU

The third

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tq1yLryNZE = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTwcRnF0TcU

The 4.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-nHlw7XX50 = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lx1uPwj8r-8

(A P)

Saudi ‘Peace Plan’ Aimed at Concealing Heinous Crimes against Yemen

The chairman of Yemen’s Supreme Political Council roundly dismissed Saudi Arabia’s so-called peace initiative on the conflict in his country, emphasizing that such bids are meant to conceal the heinous crimes that the Riyadh regime and its allies are perpetrating against the Yemeni nation.

https://iqna.ir/en/news/3474455/saudi-%E2%80%98peace-plan%E2%80%99-aimed-at-concealing-heinous-crimes-against-yemen

(A P)

[Hadi gov.] Yemen-UNESCO envoy: Houthis redraft our history on sectarian basis

The Iranian-backed Houthi group looks at the Yemeni ancient (pre-Islam) history from negative viewpoint, trying to reword this history in line with a sectarian concept, the Yemeni ambassador to UNESCO said Tuesday.
The Houthi ruin of some historic mosques in Zabid and other Yemeni areas is feared to be on sectarian basis, Mohamed Jomaih added in interview with the Sputnik International.
"The Houthis want to have Yemen's history started from the day when al-Hadi Yahiya Bin al-Hussein first arrived in Sa'ada in the third century of Hegira. This is the history they are proud of," the Yemeni official said.

"They have now new terminology; like the faith-based identity alongside Yemeni identity, which means they see the current Yemeni identity as unfaithful identity. Thus, they seek to engineer this identity so as to obey faith specifications called for by Hussein al-Houthi."
Listed by UNESCO as world heritage, Yemeni archeological sites (particularly in Sana'a) are renovated with modern materials in contrast with their historic and archeological stuff.
The Houthis tore down the Sana'a-based Annahrain Mosque, he said. Still, other "historical mosques in Zabid and elsewhere were ordered to be rebuilt for baseless reasons.. without recognizing their historical building.

https://debriefer.net/en/news-24454.html

(A P)

Houthi Ministry of Interior to launch advanced security information system, report

The Ministry of Interior in the Houthi government said on Monday it has produced an advanced security information system.

The salvation government gives priority to to information systems, automation, technical security, security cameras, cybersecurity and technology projects, the Sanaa-based Saba news agency said, quoting an official at the ministry.

https://debriefer.net/en/news-24441.html

Fortsetzung / Sequel: cp6 – cp19

https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-735b-yemen-war-mosaic-735b

Vorige / Previous:

https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-734-yemen-war-mosaic-734

Jemenkrieg-Mosaik 1-734 / Yemen War Mosaic 1-7343:

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