Yemen: The Arab World's overlooked proxy war

A week ago, I co-discussed Yemen war on France24 tv channel, in the wake of the funeral hall attack in Sana'a. Part 1 & 2 can be watched below.

Postcard from UN: Yemen Under Fire

June 18, 2016 - This is the second year I am invited to speak about the war in Yemen at a side event during the UN Human Rights Council annual session, co-organized by the Gulf Center for Human Rights. Nothing has changed since last year except the expansion of the catastrophic humanitarian situation, an increase in the atrocities committed by all warring sides, and the UN failing Yemeni children. With the UN’s withdrew of Saudi’s name from the child rights blacklist, the UN has lost its credibility. I feel very pessimistic that there’s any meaning of me speaking here, but I’m here today only because it has been extremely difficult, if not impossible, to get Yemenis from inside Yemen traveling to come here and speak to you. I was able to be here only because I had to seek political refuge in Sweden where I live today. Yemenis’ mobility is extremely difficult and can be impossible for them to get a visa to travel abroad, and even to seek refuge in neighboring Arab countries who are members of the Saudi-led coalition. Yemenis are trapped, while the world doesn’t bother to care.


Mwatana‘s Radhya Almutawakel should have been here with us, but it’s been a mission impossible to help her travel with the never ending obstacles for Yemenis to get a visa to travel to anywhere. Despite her absence, the youtube clips she sent us, illustrating the grave human rights violations in Yemen were a smart solution. Watching these clips break my heart because I know that every single Yemeni house has a similar heartbreaking story as they are affected by the killing and the violence.



Today in Yemen, if the violence doesn’t kill you directly, the lack of food, water and medicine will kill you. 80% of Yemen’s 26 mil population are in a dire humanitarian situation and struggling to stay alive. Nowhere else in the world today, you have millions of people in need of water, food, medicine, electricity shelter, like the situation in Yemen. I wish we see this as if the country was hit by an earthquake, so perhaps the world can rally to help us. All warring sides are responsible for this situation. The Houthis/Saleh coalition and the Hadi/Saudi-led coalition are both to blame. However, two wrongs don’t make a right. Million of Yemenis’ lives is at stake, as we are busy blaming this or that side. We must support any peace agreement, immediately. Yemenis must join their efforts to stop this war and work together in bringing peace, yesterday before today.



For the UN to regain its credibility, it has to prioritize the survival of Yemenis. The international community must consider the catastrophic humanitarian situation more seriously and exert efforts to allow unrestricted delivery of humanitarian assistance and commercial goods to all Yemenis. It also has to do whatever it takes to support the ongoing peace talks in Kuwait. The UN must continue in its attempts to implement the UN Security Council 2216 resolution and also adopt a new resolution against any individual or groups that are hindering the possibility for a peace process in Yemen.

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*This piece was originally published on the Huffingtonpost, June 20, 2016.

The Problem of Yemen Experts

Local voices are under-represented in favour of a new market of Western experts.

*Mohammed Al-Yamani, the dedicated Yemeni photojournalist who was killed after being shot by a Houthi sniper more than a week ago, has received a wide solidarity online exceeding his usual humble local network in Yemen; as his death came in a tragic incident. The New York Times has even reported his death. Hadn’t Al-Yamani – like most other killed Yemeni media workers – been murdered, the likelihood that his name would appear in big media publication would have been slim, if not impossible.

Tainted by evident under-representation of local Yemen experts, media outlets in all forms and directions, as well esteemed international panels and research centres, cover and analyse Yemen through the lens of predominantly non-Yemeni experts on Yemen. This undermines the importance of local Yemeni’s agency in shaping the narrative related to their country in international media.


“Study up” Yemen

It is crucial to differentiate between two types of foreign Yemen experts: those who have never been to Yemen and yet like to study and analyse Yemen as a mere subject-matter, and those who have been to Yemen for months or years and decide to make Yemen their speciality. Certainly, the former is more problematic than the latter. But they both contribute to the under-representation of the local Yemeni experts.

In the second oldest magazine in the United States, Harper's Magazine, a contributing editor wrote: “face it, until recently many of you didn’t know for sure if Yemen was a country or an erectile dysfunction medication. Now that Yemen has emerged as a major focus of the war on terror, you better study up.”

I see how Yemen can be regarded as a baffling case that needs to be “studied up”. This reflects why foreign Yemen experts are on demand. As an expert, he or she is expected to deliver the truth about this ‘mysterious’ country. Nevertheless, many Yemeni local journalists and writers who are unable to reach international audiences due to the language barrier or other economic reasons have often been recognised by the world only when they became attacked or killed in tragic circumstances. The agency that materialises in their work is denied when they are only represented in the event of a tragedy.

The fame that non-Yemeni experts gain feeds on the devaluation of Yemeni experts’ work and their exclusively tragic framing and representation. In fact, with every Yemeni journalist unnoticed or killed, a local perspective that could have tremendously challenged simplistic foreign perspectives is lost.

Some critics would denounce that and say instead that objectivity would be undermined if local Yemenis speak on the developments in Yemen, as the never-ending conflict in the country has created an extremely polarised environment. This overlooks the fact that, like any other expert or journalist, local Yemeni experts have publications and records that can stand as proof of their objectivity or lack thereof.


It is important that Yemenis claim how Yemen stories are ought to be told and framed because that won’t only enhance their representation in the media, but it might also transform all misinformation and confusion related to Yemen. The topics they focus on, the language they use, and the analysis they provide would be unique, organic, and original. Needless to say, the benefits of encouraging more female Yemeni local experts could provide better inclusive reporting on Yemen’s diverse issues.

More platforms for Yemeni experts

After more than 8 years of experience in covering Yemen, I notice the growing number of Yemeni journalists who work hard to report on what’s happening in their country. Acknowledging that some of them lack the needed skills or knowledge to excel in their work, as the country has been ravaged by sequel of devastating conflicts, I still see great potentials.

Yemeni journalists only need space and platform to develop; be it more opportunities for training or taking on media jobs. Additionally, the more international mainstream media and platforms depend on non-Yemeni experts on Yemen, the more they undermine the great potentials in aspiring Yemeni journalists.

It is time for western media outlets to stop promoting that only confusion and misinformation come out of Yemen and work more responsibly and sensibly on finding and offering spaces to diligent local voices.

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*This op-ed was originally published on The New Arab, 29 March 2016.