Frequently Asked Questions about Yemen War

A graffiti work by Yemeni artists, Murad Subay, commemorating 15 children killed in 

Bani Hawwat area, in Sana’a, by an airstrike. May 18, 2015.

"Time to go back to blogging"

A dear friend and blogger from Syria, Razan Ghazzawi wrote a few days ago on her FB wall. Despite that the heartbreaking brutal war in Syria is on the news all the time, she's noticing that people know little about the situation in Syria. When I read her FB post, I thought: been there, done that. In international conferences I give talks about Yemen, I also often meet an audience who doesn't know much about the situation in Yemen, and doesn't know who to follow or read on Yemen. 

Murad's work was one of the topics I discussed at the "Arab Spring Generation" talk run by
Amnesty at Gothenburg's book fair, yesterday.

Inspired by Ghazzawi's call and by my participation in Gothenburg's Book Fair yesterday, where I took part in three talks about women's rights in patriarchal societies, journalism from exile, and Arab Spring generation, inspired by all that, I list below some of the most frequently asked questions about Yemen and the ongoing war, and my answer to them. 

* * * * * * 

Q1. Why don't we hear much about the war in Yemen in the media? is it because Yemen war is overshadowed by Syria war? 

From your question, I understand that you at least know more about the war in Syria but not in Yemen. Which is good. Better than not knowing about the two wars at all. From your question, I understand as well that you care about Syria and want to care as well about Yemen. Which is awesome. At this point, I appreciate your desire in trying to know about Yemen war. 

Now, answering your question, I think you don't hear much about the war in Yemen for three main reasons among many other: 

A. Yemenis are stranded and can't escape the war to Europe. Embassies in Yemen have shut down a long time ago. People can only apply for a visa to travel abroad from Jordan, Egypt or Ethiopia. To get to these countries by itself can be impossible with their extremely arbitrary and constantly changing rules. Even for those who have the patience in following the rules, they might run out of money in the course of traveling to Jordan, then coming back to Yemen and then traveling again to take the passport. And when you could afford the agony of traveling, there is a 99% chance that your visa application is rejected. Mind you that Yemen's main airport in Sana'a has been bombed several times by the Saudi-led coalition and only hidden diligent airport workers work in repairing what's repairable. Only one single airline can operate in Yemen and that is Yemenia, Yemen's airlines. 

Moreover, Yemen's geographical location makes it much harder for people to flee. Most of Yemen's neighbouring countries are taking part in the Saudi-led coalition bombing Yemen. When Yemenis are desperate enough to take the boats to neighbouring countries, the destination is typically towards Somalia and Djibouti. Despite that these countries are one of the world's poorest countries, they represent Yemenis' tiny window to escape. Once they arrive in Somalia & Djibouti, they have uncertain future. Having said that, you may measure the implications. You won't see Yemenis speaking in international conferences. And you were only able to see and talk to me because I live in Europe. 

B. Unlike the war in Syria, the Saudis are a direct actor in Yemen war and this tremendously impacts the lack of reporting or the non-reporting about Yemen war. Last year, Wikileaks released thousands of diplomatic cables from Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minstry, which includes documents showing how Saudi Arabia is buying media silence. Understandably, the oil-rich country, one of the world's top economic powers, Saudi Arabia has cash that can buy anything and anyone. The problem is, Saudi is at war with not any country but the POOREST Arab country, Yemen - which gives you an idea about the inequality in power in this war. 

C. The misconception that the war in Yemen is based on sectarian lines, as some reporters speak of Iran's role in Yemen war and how the war in Yemen is a proxy war and all that.. then, one reduces the bloodshed in Yemen to a mere Sunnis killing Shi'ites rhetorics. Whoever made you believe that is only doing a lazy journalism. Sectarianism is not the key driver of Yemen war, a super complicated political and economic power struggle is what drove this war to break out from the very beginning. There are many different internal and external actors in Yemen war with many different political agendas - some actors can find a cross-match point where secterian and politica motives meet. 

Q2. How is the press freedom in Yemen today? 

The press in Yemen is in crisis, as everything else is in crisis in the country. The humanitarian crisis could be the worst humanitarian tragedy in the world today, even beyond Syria. Nearly half of Yemen's population, over 14 MILLION people inside Yemen lack food, water, medicine and other basic human needs. No doubt among these millions of people are journalists and writers who are struggling to stay alive. Then, you have that the Houthis have forcibly disappeared and detained many local journalists who tried to expose Houthis-made human rights violations or even simply who want to report about what’s on the ground. Only those journalists who are, or sound like, pro-Houthis and abide by Houthis’ narrative can practice their work safely. It’s important to note that many journalists or commentators try to sound like a pro-Houthis, while not identifying oneself as a pro-Houthis. That’s done because they are scared of Houthis’ oppressive and barbaric rule. So, there is much self-censorship. 

Plus, as the war prolongs, journalists are discarding journalism and turning into armed fighters at frontlines, each motivated by his political affiliation to this or that armed group. 

For international journalists, it's almost impossible to get in Yemen. For more details into this, please check the following tweets: 

Why is Yemen too dangerous to report on? @Nawalf answers  📻  https://t.co/qsa18cjQSf

— Afrah Nasser (@Afrahnasser) September 13, 2016

"A jurno must apply 4 a flight ticket 2 Yemen, then, get permission frm Saudis & Houthis. A fight that often takes 7 hrs now takes +24 hrs"

— Afrah Nasser (@Afrahnasser) September 13, 2016

And I also co-spoke yesterday at the Book Fair about several aspects of media and Yemen war:

Q3. How is the situation for women's rights in Yemen today? 

Horrible. So far 10 thousand people have been killed in Yemen war, which includes women and children as they are the most vulnerable victims in this war. In light of the horrific humanitarian situation, million of mothers are suffering from malnutrition and therefore can't breastfeed their little babies and therefore both million of mothers and babies are suffering from hunger, which has extremely damaging consequences to their health. Despite that women are directly affected by the war, peace advocate Yemeni women had little, if nothing at all, say in Yemen's previous peace talks. 

Nonetheless, Yemeni women activists are still doing what they can do to end the war. To be a women rights advocate in Yemen today means you are an anti-war activist, an anti-arm-sales activist, among many other forms of activism.

Q4. Has the Arab Spring achieved anything for Yemen?

Both yes and no. As the war rages on in Yemen, it seems foolish to say that Yemen harvested any merits from Yemen's 2011 uprising. It actually did. It started a movement, a process, which calls for civil rights for all Yemenis. This can't be finalized in 2 or 5 years. This will take generations. But on the other hand, Yemenis need the world's solidarity. Yemen can't get back on its feet again, while governments in London and Washington DC are an ally to unjust and oppressive regimes which shape Yemen's politics, and here I can name Saudi Arabia. For a more current example, UK was accused of blocking UN inquiry into claim of war crimes in Yemen. However, there are still ongoing efforts by the Netherlands pushing a UN draft resolution in establishing that independent international committee. 

Interview with Afrah Nasser, Yemeni Journalist and Blogger

I was interviewed by RT tv, a couple of weeks ago, following the withdrew of Saudi name from the UN blacklist report on the most children rights abusers.

Yemen war one year on: Are peace talks doomed to fail?

*As the war in Yemen enters its second year, the previously adjourned peace talks led by the United Nations special envoy for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, are scheduled to resume in mid-April in Kuwait. The talks cannot succeed until their structure is revised and attitudes are changed on both warring sides.

During the covert and overt peace negotiations to end the conflict, both sides have shown interest in reaching a political solution while accompanying attempts for a ceasefire have been infringed on the ground with increasing brutality.

Talks in Switzerland, in Oman and then again in Switzerland failed to establish concessions for a roadmap to a political solution and a long-term ceasefire. Instead, they gave a chance for warring parties to reposition themselves in renewed fighting.

Significant problems in the talks lay in the structure of the talk process and in the warring sides' attitudes.

Flawed negotiations table

Rather than having a negotiation table that includes all parties to the conflict, previous talks focused exclusively on two parties - Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi's government and the Houthi-Ali Abdullah Saleh alliance - and failed by excluding a major party in the conflict, the Saudi-led coalition supporting Hadi.

The exclusion of the coalition camp ultimately represented an ineffective communication and contributed to the renewal of the fighting more aggressively. Over the past year, more than 6,400 people have been killed and more than 30,000 injured, and 7.6 million people are in a position of severe food insecurity, according to the UN.

It is difficult to see the possibility of productive negotiations if the Saudis don't sit around the table as well and became involved in direct communication with all the warring sides.

A previous exchange of prisoners swap and the latest one between the Houthis and the Saudis, conducted by intervening tribal men, exemplify how talks might be more productive if the two sides started talking to each other.

An important missing component in previous talks was the participation of women. Yemeni women are playing a vital role as advocates for peace-building, as affirmed by Oxfam's executive director, Winnie Byanyima, and yet they have nearly no access to the peace talks.

As a result, Yemeni women are struggling to ensure their participation at the negotiation table through a "Pact for Peace and Security" endorsed by the UN Women, the body created in 2010 as the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women.

Conflicting attitudes

Above all, the logic of the strategies used by both sides demonstrates their different attitudes towards any prospect of peacemaking. The Saudi-led coalition's spokesperson, Brigadier General Ahmed al-Asiri, has stated that its goal is to bring a political solution to the conflict - while the military plan has never ceased.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, has reported that "the coalition is responsible for twice as many civilian casualties as all other forces put together".

On the other side, the Houthi-Saleh bloc's goal is to attain a military victory. Under such attitudes, reaching a political solution is a remote possibility.

Furthermore, the two blocs' disparate political capabilities make it difficult to foresee a political or military answer to end the fight.

The Saudis excel in politics while the political capabilities of the Houthis' are limited, but the latter have excelled in military confrontations as they had previously gained tremendous field experience during the six wars between 2004 and 2010 against the Yemeni government under the now ousted president Saleh's rule.

The idea to keep on fighting till the last drop of blood is not new to them, as fighting has become their forte.

External factors

Additionally, the role of bystanders in this conflict contributes towards slowing any peace process. Western countries such as the United States and Britain are known to be significant suppliers of arms to Saudi Arabia, and they both have kept silent over widely publicised reports about the unlawful use of weapons in Yemen (PDF).

Another bystander in the conflict is the anti-Houthi, silent majority Yemeni group, who are forced to be silent as any dissidence in regard to the Houthis is met with a serious crackdown. Tens of Yemeni journalists have been killed, jailed or forcibly disappeared under the Houthis' rule.

The conflict has caused serious human rights abuses which undermine the objective of a peaceful resolution.

With about 80 percent of Yemen's 21 million people in desperate need of assistance - a figure greater than anywhere in the globe, including Syria - and a looming famine set to ravage the country, the humanitarian situation is catastrophic.

In addition, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is expanding and fighters of the Islamic State group (also known as Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) are emerging.

A dangerously growing anti-US and anti-UK sentiment is also on the rise as Yemenis see the US- and UK-made weapons, including cluster bombs, being used by the coalition forces. All these factors will backfire sooner or later.

More importantly, the longer the war drags on, the more do different political and military factions appear in the country. If these factions are not taken into consideration in any negotiation table, achieving a lasting peace will be an impossible mission.

The continuation of the conflict is a recipe for an irreversible disaster. In order to find a solution to the conflict, the warring parties must address the shortcomings of previous talks and come up with a new talks structure, focusing on immediate humanitarian concerns with long-term goals that take into account the full complexity of the conflict. 

_______________________________________________

*This op-ed was originally published on Middle East Eye, 30 March 2016.