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Re: Yemen

Post by blindpig » Tue Mar 22, 2022 2:08 pm

UN aid conference for Yemen falls short amid warnings of widespread famine and deaths
At the UN pledging conference for Yemen, Gulf countries that are party to the war in Yemen, like Saudi Arabia and the UAE, failed to commit any aid

March 22, 2022 by Peoples Dispatch
UN conference for Yemen

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(Photo: Middle East Online)

The United Nations (UN) on Wednesday, March 16, expressed disappointment that the international pledging conference it had organized to raise humanitarian funds for Yemen failed to raise even one-third of the required amount. The UN warned that the lack of funds could have devastating consequences for millions of displaced civilians in Yemen. The country is already facing widespread deaths, famine and malnutrition.

The UN pledging conference, co-hosted by Sweden and Switzerland, managed to raise only USD 1.3 billion out of a total required sum of USD 4.27 billion, forcing the organizers to think about holding a second pledging conference this year to raise the remaining amount. The international community had failed to meet the funding goals set by the UN last year as well, raising only about USD 1.7 billion for Yemen out of the USD 3.85 billion required at a similar conference. By the end of the year, this aid was increased to USD 2.3 billion with additional funding.

Following the completion of the conference, the UN humanitarian chief said that 36 of the international donors present had pledged the stated amount, “but let us be under no illusions: We hoped for more. And it is a disappointment that we weren’t able, as yet, to get pledges from some we thought we might hear from. We will be working hard to make sure that … we do stand in solidarity with the people of Yemen.”

Notably, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), two regional powers involved in the war in Yemen, did not pledge any humanitarian aid at the conference. The EU Commission committed USD 172 million to the funding pledge, the largest funding amount from Brussels to Yemen since the start of the conflict. The US, one of the major diplomatic, military and intelligence backers of the Saudi-led Gulf military coalition, pledged USD 585 million in fresh humanitarian aid to Yemen. This brings the total support from the US since the start of the conflict to USD 4.5 billion. Switzerland’s humanitarian chief Manuel Bessler questioned other oil-rich Gulf countries, many of whom are part of the Saudi-led coalition, saying “we are very curious to hear from donors from the Gulf, where they’re standing and what their intention is to address this funding crisis.”

UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres was quoted by news outlets as saying that Yemen is facing multiple socio-economic issues like poverty and hunger, with two out of every three Yemenis living in extreme poverty. He appealed to the international community saying, “as a matter of moral responsibility, of human decency and compassion, of international solidarity, and of life and death – we must support the people of Yemen now.” He further added that “Yemen may have receded from the headlines, but the human suffering has not relented. A funding crunch risks catastrophe.” The war and conflict in Ukraine has had a negative effect on the situation in Yemen as the country relies heavily on Ukrainian food imports. One-third of Yemen’s wheat is imported from Ukraine.

According to UN World Food Programme (WFP) statistics, out of the 31.9 million Yemeni population, 23.4 million are in need of humanitarian assistance, of which 12.9 million are in acute need. The required aid is critical for providing assistance to 17.3 million people who are in urgent need of food aid. The UN has said that this number will surpass 19 million in the second half of 2022, with 160,000 people set to face dire ‘famine-like’ conditions. WFP executive director David Beasley while speaking at the conference said that “It’s absolutely devastating, and now we’re out of money. The number of people knocking on famine’s door will rise from more than five million to more than seven million.”

War and civil violence erupted in Yemen in late 2014 after the Houthi militias overran large parts of the north of the country including capital Sanaa and overthrew the government. In 2015, the Saudi-led coalition launched a devastating military intervention in Yemen and imposed a blockade of vital ports in the territory controlled by the Houthis. The coalition’s intervention aggravated the already declining humanitarian and economic situation in the country. The UN has described Yemen as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis of the century. The intense fighting and tens of thousands of coalition airstrikes, deliberately targeting civilians, have resulted in thousands of deaths and injuries over the last eight years. The UN estimates that over 377,000 Yemenis have died since the beginning of the war. A staggering 70% of these deaths were among children. Around 4.5 million Yemenis have been internally displaced and are forced to seek refuge in relatively safer parts of the country. Efforts to end the war have been made, with the Houthi movement on Wednesday welcoming the news of potential talks with Saudi Arabia. The Houthis said that the venue should be a neutral country. The Gulf Cooperation Council is also planning to invite the parties in the war in Yemen, including the Houthis, for consultations in Saudi capital Riyadh.

https://peoplesdispatch.org/2022/03/22/ ... nd-deaths/
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Re: Yemen

Post by blindpig » Thu Mar 24, 2022 2:15 pm

THE UNSPOKEN ATROCITIES AGAINST THE PEOPLE OF YEMEN
23 Mar 2022 , 2:06 p.m.

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The naval blockade against Yemen is causing unprecedented famine in the region (Photo: Hani Mohammed / AP Photo)

It is notable that the Russian military operation in Ukraine fills all the front pages of the Western press to the detriment of other conflicts and crimes carried out by the "partners" of the United States in other parts of the world. The Yemeni case is perhaps the most resounding, along with the indiscriminate killing of civilians in Donbas for eight years and the Israeli colonization of Palestine for decades.

From Europe, even, it has been insisted that "the people of Yemen need the same level of support and solidarity that we have seen for the people of Ukraine", said by Jan Egeland, the secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council.

But support for a population decimated by war in a country in the Global South does not have the necessary foci of interest for its help. While the United Nations' goal was to raise more than $4.2 billion for Yemen, by March 15, only $1.3 billion had been raised.

In parallel to the daily massacre against the population of Donbas, the systematic blockade and bombardment of Yemen, carried out by the coalition led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, now enters its eighth year.

The UN estimated last year that the number of victims would reach 377,000 people by the end of 2021.
Added to this is an unparalleled food crisis in Western Asia (Middle East), only comparable to what is happening in Lebanon and Syria, countries hit by the Zionist and NATO war against their peoples.

Yemen imports more than 35% of its wheat from Russia and Ukraine, so the disruption to wheat supply will cause food prices to skyrocket .

Basheer Al Selwi, a spokesman for the International Red Cross Commission in Yemen, recently said that "since the start of the Ukrainian conflict, we have seen food prices skyrocket by more than 150%." "Millions of Yemeni families don't know how to get their next meal," he added.

The Saudi blockade of Yemen has cut off essential imports needed for daily life for its people, forcing them to rely on aid groups to survive. Although, apparently from the bowels of the UN, this is not enough.

Since 2015, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have committed atrocities against Yemen such as repulsive violations of international law, missiles and cluster bombs raining down on civilian homes, kleptocrats laundering their ill-gotten gains through London and buying political influence in the West . , while illegally occupying Yemeni territory.

THE WAR SUPPORT OF THE UNITED STATES

Different associations, institutions and human rights organizations have denounced the aforementioned coalition for bombing roads, fishmongers, drainage and sanitation facilities, weddings, funerals and even children's school buses. In a recent attack, the Saudis killed 50 African migrants held in a detention center in Sadah.

Even Amnesty International says that one of the missile fragments found in the detention center wreckage showed that the weapon responsible was made by the US company Raytheon , one of the corporate strongholds of the US military-industrial complex.

And it is that the United States continues to provide spare parts for the war planes of the Saudi-Emirati coalition, along with the maintenance and the constant flow of weapons in the amount of millions of dollars. Without this military support, the Saudis would not be able to continue their airstrikes that are constantly killing civilians.

However, instead of condemning the atrocities committed by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates' invasion, bombardment and naval blockade of Yemen, the United States is trying to reach out to them, even though they may not want such embrace .

The North American activist Kathy Kelly recalls that "the United States is entering into talks to depend more and more on Saudi and Emirati oil production. And Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates do not want to increase their oil production without a US agreement that helps them increase their attacks against Yemen".

All this within the framework of the gringo-European "sanctions" against Russia, which has partially stopped the trade flows of oil from Eurasia to the West.

On the other hand, it is a scandalous silence on the part of the political spokesmen of the United States and Europe in general around what is happening in that corner of the Global South. All the attention on Ukraine rather confirms the warmongering interests that exist behind each scene, both in West Asia and in the heart of Eurasia.

ANOTHER SCENARIO FOR YEMEN AND THE COALITION OF AGGRESSION

In his story for Common Dreams , Kelly mentions the execution on March 12 of 81 people, "including seven Yemenis, two of them prisoners of war and five of them accused of criticizing the Saudi war" against Yemen by the monarchist government. from Saudi Arabia.

"Only two days after the mass execution, the Gulf Corporation Council, which includes many of the coalition partners attacking Yemen, announced the Saudi willingness to hold peace talks in its own capital city of Riyadh. , demanding that Ansarallah leaders (informally known as Houthis) risk execution by Saudi Arabia in order to discuss the war," reports the American activist.

And he concludes: “The Saudis have long insisted on a deeply flawed UN resolution that calls for the disarmament of Houthi fighters without ever mentioning the US-backed coalition as one of the parties to the conflict. The Houthis say they will go to the negotiating table, but they cannot count on the Saudis as mediators. This seems reasonable, given Saudi Arabia's vindictive treatment of the Yemenis."


But apparently the prerogatives of the Arab monarchies could lessen. The Cradle reports that "between March 29 and April 7, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) plans to hold a series of talks with the aim of establishing a ceasefire in Yemen following retaliatory airstrikes against the Saudi-led coalition by Ansarallah forces".

According to a New Khalij report cited by The Cradle , the negotiations are aimed at establishing humanitarian corridors for Yemen, among other issues.

The report continues: "These negotiations are reportedly a means for Saudi Arabia to exit Yemen and save face after seven years of unsuccessful war."

Despite the Saudi-Emirati coalition spending $175 million a month on airstrikes alone, Yemeni resistance forces have managed to hold off US- and NATO-backed forces.

Yemen's military has also been able to launch several successful attacks on Saudi and Emirati territory with ballistic missiles and drones. On March 20 , for example, Operation Breaking the Siege hit several economic and infrastructure targets of the Aramco oil company, the largest in the region, multiple times in one day.

Yemen has vowed to continue these retaliatory attacks as long as the Saudi coalition continues to bomb and besiege its people. In a televised interview with Al Mayadeen on March 23, Yemen's National Salvation Government (NSG) promised "unprecedented surprises" from the armed forces against the Saudi-Emirati coalition.

Specifically, Yemen's Defense Minister, Major General Mohammad Nasser al-Atefi, stated that these surprises would shift the balance of power in Yemen's favor and "send chills down the spine of the aggressors."

Even as the Saudis and their partners wash their hands of almost eight years of bombing civilians and causing an unprecedented famine in Yemen, the Gulf monarchies seem to want to reach a peace agreement after having undermined their economy under a aggressive desire.

Despite the United States relentlessly sending Patriot and THAAD missile defense systems to Saudi Arabia after initially withdrawing them last year, those systems have failed to successfully intercept military retaliation from Yemen.

That is another reason why you want to reach a peace agreement. But for that, there must be a sign that the unspoken atrocities against the Yemeni people will come to an end.

https://misionverdad.com/globalistan/la ... o-de-yemen

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Re: Yemen

Post by blindpig » Tue Mar 29, 2022 2:03 pm

UN Condemns Escalation of Yemen Conflict

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Yemen at risk of being ‘forgotten’ as Russia-Ukraine conflict grabs world attention: UN warns. | Photo: Twitter @Hephaestus7

Published 28 March 2022

“The Secretary-General strongly condemns the recent escalation of the conflict in Yemen,” UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said in a statement Saturday.


UN Secretary-General (UNSG) António Guterres on Saturday strongly condemned the escalation of the conflict in Yemen that, in seven years, has left hundreds of thousands of casualties and millions of people in famine.

Guterres also called for “restraint” on all sides in seven-year conflict following reports concerning Yemen´s Houthi rebel attacks on an oil plant and airstrikes by Saudi-led coalition forces on the capital Sana´a and the port city of Hodeida.

“The secretary-general strongly condemns the recent escalation of the conflict in Yemen,” UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said in a statement Saturday.


Figures updated by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) reported that over 20 million Yemenis, out of a 30.5M population, were barren of access to basic health care and around 16.2 million suffer from food shortages.

Hostilities started off in 2014, as the Houthis took up arms and seized large parts of the country, including Sana’a, and a year later, in March 2015, the Saudi-led coalition got in on the act in support of President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/May ... -0021.html

Missile Attack Causes Fire in Saudi Arabian Refinery

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Saudi Aramco Petroleum Storage Site Hit By Houthi Attack, Fire Erupts. | Photo: Twitter @ZyiteGadgets

Published 26 March 2022

The event affected the facilities of the state-owned Saudi Arabian Oil Co., also known as Saudi Aramco.

Saudi Arabian authorities reported Friday that a missile attack caused a major fire at an oil refinery located in the city of Jeddah.

The event affected the facilities of Saudi Arabian Oil Co. also known as Saudi Aramco, near the Red Sea coast.

This follows the announcement made by Houthi rebels about the execution of several attacks against various targets in that nation.


For its part, the Government of Saudi Arabia stated that it will reinforce security measures to avoid the repetition of another similar event.

Local media reported that the aforementioned fuel depot had also been attacked in recent days by Houthi rebels.

After the attack, an increase in the price of oil was registered, Brent oil increased by 0.7 percent, to 119.92 dollars per barrel, while the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) of the United States (US) rose by 0.9 percent, to 113.34 dollars.

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Mis ... -0002.html

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‘Just Pay Attention to What Our Own Government Is Doing in Yemen’
CounterSpin interview with Shireen Al-Adeimi on Yemen
JANINE JACKSON
Shireen Al-Adeimi

Janine Jackson interviewed Michigan State’s Shireen Al-Adeimi about Yemen and the Ukraine crisis for the March 18, 2022, episode of CounterSpin. This is a lightly edited transcript.

How coverage of the Ukraine-Russia conflict highlights a racist double standard
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NBC (3/1/22)
Janine Jackson: It’s encouraging to see widespread recognition of the double standards of concern from media and politicians that we see reflected in the earnest attention to Ukraine, as compared to that devoted to other areas of crisis—like Yemen, seven years now under a Saudi-led war and blockade, enabled by weapons and technical assistance from the United States and others, that’s leaving hundreds of thousands of people in hunger and need.

While we’re using that critical lens, we can also see that it’s only media framing, and its social media echoes, that insist that you quantify your compassion in the first place. And they’re mainly interested in how your concern shows up as consuming more media.

So while acknowledgement of official double standards and hypocrisy is welcome, the point is lost if you come away seeing Yemen as a rhetorical device, rather than a country of 30 million people enduring a protracted cataclysm—in which this country, the United States, is playing a central role.

Here to talk about Yemen in its own right is Shireen Al-Adeimi. She’s assistant professor of education at Michigan State University, and has been working for years to raise awareness on Yemen and human rights. She joins us now by phone from Lansing. Welcome back to CounterSpin, Shireen Al-Adeimi.

Shireen Al-Adeimi: Thanks so much for having me back, Janine.
Humanitarian crisis in Yemen remains the worst in the world, warns UN
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UN News (2/14/19)
JJ: We’ve seen the cold facts. Yemen war deaths, we’re told, will reach 377,000 by the end of the year, the UN says. The UN’s described it for years as the world’s worst humanitarian disaster. It’s difficult to convey or to get your mind around a place where a child is dying of starvation every 75 seconds. So first, we just sit with that.

But I wanted to actually start with where we’ve left off in our previous conversations, which is that when people see the suffering in Yemen, the message is not, “Please come and intervene and save us.” That’s not what people are asking for.

SA: Yeah, actually, the numbers that you mentioned, those were 377,000 deaths at the end of last year, 2021. So these deaths have just been mounting ever since. And even that number, I’m afraid, is a large underestimate, really, of the humanitarian toll, and the loss that Yemenis have experienced and have continued to experience for the last seven years.

But, absolutely, the ask here is not, “Oh, look at us, come save us from this big bad person, the Saudi Arabians and the UAE.” The ask here is to stop US intervention, to stop piling on to the invasion, the bombing, the starvation, this incredibly devastating war, an onslaught that Yemenis have undergone over the past seven years.

And it’s just mind-boggling to me that that simple ask, really, to just pay attention to what our own government is doing in Yemen, and to call for an end to that, is somehow less worthy of attention then calls to, in fact, save us and give us money, right.

I think it’s great that people are paying attention to the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. We should never support invasions or attacks on sovereignty. And yet, it seems that the attention to that conflict, even though it’s much more demanding, I guess, seems to be more easily given than the conflict in Yemen, where Yemenis are asking the US to stop intervening in this conflict and making things worse.

JJ: Biden came into office saying that the war on Yemen has to end. You had some questions about that early on, and I wonder how those have borne out. What sense do you make of the White House’s actions, not words but actions, on Yemen?
Biden Says He’s Ending the Yemen War—But It's Too Soon to Celebrate
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In These Times (2/4/22)
SA: This is the problem with the Biden administration, is when we had Trump in power, his actions were very much aligned with his words. And so he was saying that he wanted to continue bombing Yemen because it was great money for the US, because the Saudis paid in cash, right? It was a big business deal for the US to continue to support the Saudi Arabian military and the UAE military in Yemen.

But with Biden, even though this war began under the Obama/Biden administration, there was a lot of talk on his campaign trail to end the war. Like he said, “This war must end,” “I will stop selling weapons,” “I will make them the pariah that they are,” “They’re going and killing innocent women and children.” And these are quotes from his presidential debate in 2019.

And then his first foreign policy speech in February of 2021 was that he was going to put an end to this war. And he introduced this dichotomy that didn’t exist before, which is that he’s going to end “offensive operations,” and that he was going to review relevant arms sales.

And that’s what Sarah Lazare and I in In These Times picked up on on the same day that he made the announcement on February 4, 2021, questioning what this means and whether he’s just introduced these loopholes to continue, in fact, supporting the Saudi-led coalition, but instead calling it defensive instead of offensive.

And I’m sad to say that this is exactly what has panned out. The actions of the Biden administration are really no different than the actions of the Trump administration or the Obama administration. They continue to support the Saudi-led coalition. They continue to support with weapons and logistics and intelligence, but they’re just calling it defensive now, even though it makes absolutely no sense, and there have been no clarifications provided to Congress when they’ve asked. But it gives them this plausible deniability, I suppose, to say: “Well, we’re not actually involved in Yemen anymore. We’re just helping for defensive purposes.”

JJ: Right. Well, it’s interesting even to rhetorically gesture; to say, “I’m going to move to end the war in Yemen” suggests US centrality, suggests a US role there, which in terms of news media is not always acknowledged. It’s always a “Saudi-led war,” a “Saudi-perpetrated war.” And it’s not that the US role is denied completely, but the fact that a president can say, “I’m going to move to end this war” shows that he could do something to end the war. I’m not sure that media really always placed the US in that way. We’re seen as, not bystanders, but helping in some way or the other, but not as central as in fact we are. You wouldn’t think that the US had the power, actually, to end the war.

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Shireen Al-Adeimi: “Every step of the way, the US is helping and facilitating and enabling this coalition to continue bombing Yemen.”

SA: Absolutely. I mean, that statement is an admission of how involved the US is in this war. I just have to lay it out to the audience, in case they’re not aware: The Saudi and the UAE military, they are completely incompetent and entirely dependent on US support. And what I mean by that is they rely on US contracts with their militaries and air forces to train their pilots, to train their soldiers, to provide logistical support.

Up until 2018, which was during the Trump administration, late 2018, the US was providing mid-air refueling to Saudi and Emirati jets. We supply them with all of their weaponry, because they don’t manufacture anything, and they import everything that they have from mostly the US, about 70% from the US, but then also countries like the UK, Canada and other Western countries—not from Russia and China, because those weapon systems are different. They rely on Western governments to supply them with arms. Then there’s the intelligence sharing, and there’s support in the command room, choosing targets for them.

So every step of the way, the pilot who was flying a US-made plane has been trained by US personnel; his plane, after he dropped US bombs, ends up getting serviced, continues to get serviced, by US personnel. Spare parts are provided by the US. Those targets were chosen with the support of the US. So every step of the way, the US is helping and facilitating and enabling this coalition to continue bombing Yemen.

And then, of course, we’re not even talking about things like diplomatic cover at the UN and support for the blockade and things like that. And so, without the US, this war really can’t go on, and at least can’t go on in the way that it has been for the last several years, not to this extent. It couldn’t cause as much damage to the Yemeni people without US support.

And then, diplomatically, Biden can pick up the phone and speak to congresspeople who understand this; Biden can call up the Saudi crown prince and just say, “Listen, you need to end this war,” and the war will end, because the US has such leverage with the Saudis and the Emiratis.

But the fact of the matter is that the US is really a party to the war, and they don’t want to end this war because they are a party to the war. They’re engaged in hostilities. And yet they’ve enjoyed this PR campaign, essentially, of it being called “the Saudi-led coalition” and not “the US-led war in Yemen.”

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FAIR.org (3/10/22)

JJ: Let me just ask you, finally, your work is about how people learn. And that brings us, I think, to news media in a way. And I think there’s an issue with just topic segregation. In other words, you can pick up a paper and see an empathetic story about Yemeni children, for example, about suffering. And then on a different page in the paper, you can find a story about MBS and how he’s a down-to-earth guy who loves dogs, about the Saudi leader. So there’s a separation in news media from things that might tug at heartstrings, might make you feel empathy, and then things that seem actionable, things that seem like something you can do.

I know that the attention that the war on Ukraine is giving to Yemen is kind of backhanded attention, but that doesn’t mean we can’t use the spotlight when we have it. And so what can people be for right now? What are places to push, for listeners to do, at this moment, who are concerned about the US actions in Yemen?

SA: And you know, I don’t blame the average person for feeling a certain way about Ukraine and not having that same empathy for Yemen, because, like you said, the media really manipulates the way we understand issues, and it decontextualizes so much of this stuff. And so somebody might be looking at this and not understanding that we are Putin in this case—we are, the Saudis are, like Putin, we are the aggressor, the US is the aggressor in this case, we are the people who are causing the starvation—because it’s so decontextualized. But we can walk and chew gum at the same time; we can pay attention to what’s going on in Ukraine and also not stall on our action toward Yemen, especially because, in this case, it’s not about different people fighting a war that we’re not involved in. We are central to the war, like we’ve discussed.

And so, right now, there’s some movements in Congress. It’s been really difficult to get Democrats energized in the same way that they were energized during the Trump administration, because I think they were giving President Biden the benefit of the doubt, but they understand now that the US is just as involved as they were before.

And there is a push by representatives Jayapal and DeFazio to introduce another war powers resolution. It wouldn’t end weapons sales, but it would force Biden to end US support for the war in Yemen. And I’m disappointed that it’s not getting as much attention, because, again, it seems like Ukraine is taking up a lot more attention. Again, we can pay attention to these things equally, given our role especially.

But I would love for listeners to call their representatives and urge them to support the Yemen War Powers Resolution, to come on as cosponsors when the bill is introduced, to really make these public statements of support for an end to the US war in Yemen, to understand that this is our responsibility, as citizens of the US, to continue to push our elected officials, to demand, really, from them to take a stance on this humanitarian crisis that continues to be a stain on US history,

JJ: We’ve been speaking with Shireen Al-Adeimi, assistant professor of education at Michigan State University. You can find her writing on Yemen and other issues, among other places, at InTheseTimes.org. Shireen Al-Adeimi, thank you so much for joining us this week on CounterSpin.

SA: Thanks for having me, Janine.

https://fair.org/home/just-pay-attentio ... -in-yemen/
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Re: Yemen

Post by blindpig » Thu Mar 31, 2022 3:05 pm

Ceasefire kicks off in Yemen proposed by Saudi Arabia

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Houthi rebels demand the lifting of the blockade on Yemen by Saudi Arabia. | Photo: EFE
Published 30 March 2022

The coalition indicated that the cessation of hostilities is intended to provide the necessary conditions for the success of the consultations in Riyadh on Yemen.

The Saudi-led armed coalition announced on Wednesday that it will stop its military operations against Yemen during the holy month of Ramadan.

"The Coalition Joint Forces Command announces the cessation of military operations in Yemen as of 6:00 am [3:00 GMT] on Wednesday, March 30, 2022," he said in a statement published by the news agency. Saudi press SPA.

From the coalition they indicated that the cessation of hostilities is destined to offer the necessary conditions for the success of the consultations in Riyadh on Yemen.


Upon learning about the ceasefire, the Houthi rebels proposed that the cessation of hostilities become permanent if Saudi Arabia lifts the blockade on Yemen, stops its air strikes and withdraws its forces from this country, which has been at war since 2014.

The Saudi-led coalition controls Yemen's air and sea space and only allows UN humanitarian flights to land at the airport in the capital, Sana'a.

The start of the ceasefire by the coalition coincides with talks in Riyadh sponsored by the Gulf Cooperation Council, which groups the six countries of the Arabian Peninsula. The Houthis declined to participate because it was held in enemy territory.


The war in Yemen has caused almost 380,000 direct and indirect deaths, two million displaced people and has placed a large part of the country's population on the brink of famine, in what the UN describes as one of the worst humanitarian catastrophes in the world.

https://www.telesurtv.net/news/arranca- ... -0006.html

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Seven years of Saudi atrocities on Yemen
The war in Yemen, backed by the US and the UK, has caused the death of over 110,000 people and completely destroyed the Arab world’s poorest country. Around two-third of its total population of nearly 30 million is now dependent on some kind of international humanitarian aid

March 28, 2022 by Abdul Rahman

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(Photo: SABA)

The Saudi Arabia-led war in Yemen has officially entered its eight year. To commemorate their resolve to defeat the Saudi-led invasion, thousands of Yemenis took to the streets of major cities including capital Sanaa on Saturday, March 26. The day is marked as the National Day of Steadfastness when in 2015, the Saudi-led coalition began its aggression.

Protesters on Saturday carried posters of Hussain Badreddin and Abdel Malek, leaders of the Ansar Allah (Houthi) movement which is leading the fight against the external coalition. The protests were addressed by regional governors and leaders of the movement. They asked for greater resolve to defeat the US and Israel, who they claimed are the real instigators of the war and backers of the enemies of the Yemeni people.

The speakers also highlighted the hardships caused by the war, particularly by the thousands of airstrikes carried out by the coalition forces killing hundreds of innocent civilians, and destroying homes and other infrastructure. In their addresses, Badreddin and Malek underlined the criminality of the comprehensive seven-year-long air, sea, and land blockade on Yemen imposed by Saudi Arabia and its allies, which has prevented crucial medical and food supplies from reaching the people. This has pushed millions to the verge of starvation and death due to lack of proper medical care.

Saudi attempt to create regional hegemony
The war in Yemen has been waged by Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and other allies since 2015 with the objective of creating regional hegemony. The people of Yemen have been punished for revolting against the inefficient and corrupt administration led by Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, a Saudi ally. Saudi Arabia and its allies have been actively backed by the US, the UK, and other western countries. They all still recognize Hadi as the Yemeni president and want to reinstate him in power despite his unpopularity. Hadi, who fled Yemen after the Houthis took control over capital Sanaa, now lives in Riyadh in exile. He is seen as a valuable ally who can deliver Yemen and its resources to serve the US and its regional allies.

Both Saudi Arabia and the US have tried to justify their war in Yemen by giving it a regional angle, calling the Houthis an Iranian proxy. The US and the UK, which have benefited from the war by selling weapons worth billions of dollars to Saudi Arabia and the UAE, have accused Iran of supplying weapons to the Houthis. Both Iran and the Houthis have accepted their common cause of ideological opposition to the US and Israeli presence in the region, but have rejected claims of an alliance between them. Nevertheless, the media in the West continues calling the war in Yemen a “proxy war” without any substantial basis.

The UN, apart from maintaining humanitarian assistance in the war-affected regions, has failed to pressure the Saudi-led coalition to end its war in Yemen. Due to the US support, the UN has also failed to hold Saudi Arabia accountable for its air strikes in civilian areas and other human rights violations, despite UN investigators providing enough proof for the same. Under pressure from the coalition and their allies, the UN was forced to disband the team of investigators in Yemen last year. This has given Saudi Arabia and its allies a free hand to carry out indiscriminate attacks killing more civilians than ever before.

Yemeni resistance
Despite their apparent weakness vis-a-vis the coalition alliance of over a dozen countries, the Yemeni people led by the Houthis have been able to inflict substantial costs on the aggressors. Last week, Houthi-fired drones were able to hit Saudi oil refineries in Jeddah, affecting oil production. This was the third major attack on Saudi facilities since the 2019 attack on its Aramco facility which disrupted oil production for over a week. Similarly, the Houthis were able to penetrate the UAE’s defenses in January and attack an oil storage facility and an airport in Abu Dhabi in a rare operation.

The Houthis have also been able to withstand the combined armed forces of Hadi loyalists and the Saudi-led coalition on the ground. They control the majority of the densely populated regions in the north and west and have been able to repel Saudi attempts to attack from across its border in the north.

The resistance has forced Saudi Arabia to come to the negotiation table on various occasions. However, all talks have failed to bring any decisive agreement due to Saudi insistence on Hadi’s reinstatement. Meanwhile, the resistance has also caused rifts in the Saudi-led coalition with some countries withdrawing from it, like Sudan in 2019. The Southern Transitional Council (STF) which has been backed by the UAE, Saudi Arabia’s closest ally in the coalition, has revolted against the Hadi-led forces on several occasions causing serious infightings.

https://peoplesdispatch.org/2022/03/28/ ... -on-yemen/
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Re: Yemen

Post by blindpig » Sun Apr 03, 2022 1:35 pm

Truce in Yemen
April 2, 16:50

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Truce in Yemen

Important from Yemen. After several years of almost non-stop war, a truce was signed there for 2 months. The last straw for Riyadh was the successful strikes of the Houthis on the oil industry of the kingdom (the air defense units built around the Patriot air defense system frankly cannot cope), which prompted Riyadh to accept the Houthis' proposal for a mutual cessation of bombing. It is worth recalling that the Houthis initially stated that they would bomb Saudi Arabia until Saudi Arabia stopped bombing Yemen. So, de facto, this strategy gave Yemen a two-month respite, if the agreement is of course implemented. Although both sides say that the truce was concluded for humanitarian reasons. A kind word and a kamikaze drone/ballistic missile can accomplish more than just a kind word.
( Collapse )

Ceasefire between the Houthis and the Saudi-led coalition UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg

announced a truce between the movement -truce_1243906.html?__cf_chl_f_tk=8YvSQxSv8JbqKzEQj0Noy_CoMSDXHunJD82VAJbVYuA-1648896170-0-gaNycGzNFf0) Ansar Allah and the Saudi-led coalition.

The two-month break agreement will come into effect on Saturday at 19:00 local time and can be extended with the consent of both parties.

The agreements concluded imply the following:

🔹Cessation of any offensive military operations and cross-border attacks.

🔹Permission for ships to enter the Yemeni port of Al-Khodeida for refueling.

🔹Resumption of commercial flights on predetermined routes.

https://t.me/rybar/30270 - zinc

If we take the military component, then the Houthis and at the beginning of 2022 could not achieve the strategic goals of the offensive in Marib (which began on February 9, 2021), in the last months before truce, in addition to successful attacks on Saudi Arabia, achieved an important victory in the defensive battle for Harad.
Whether the truce will be temporary or will be a prologue to something more, we'll see.

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Re: Yemen

Post by blindpig » Thu Apr 07, 2022 3:54 pm

Saudi Arabia pulls back in Yemen
colonelcassad
April 7, 13:46

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Saudi Arabia continues to lose ground in Yemen.

1. After the attacks of the Houthis on the objects of the oil industry in Saudi Arabia, as well as the recognition that it is impossible to completely cover them from attacks (despite the presence of expensive American air defense systems), Saudi Arabia agreed to a two-month truce with mutual refusal to strike - the Houthis stopped their campaign of drone and ballistic/cruise missile strikes against Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia stopped bombing Yemeni cities. Considering the fact that the Houthis had stated several years ago that strikes against Saudi Arabia would continue until Saudi Arabia stopped strikes against Yemen (which Riyadh did not want to do until recently), we can say that the Houthi strategy has brought success and they achieved their goal of forcing Saudi Arabia to stop bombing.

2. In addition, Mansour Hadi recently resigned, for the sake of which in 2015 Saudi Arabia unleashed a war in Yemen, trying to return Hadi to power on foreign bayonets. For 7 years of the war, this has not been done. The Houthis did not recognize the power of Hadi, and a split was outlined within the Saudi coalition - the forces controlled by the UAE pursued a separate policy. Hadi's departure means Riyadh's abandonment of one of the main strategic goals of the war - to plant a dependent puppet in Sana'a. This was not achieved by military means, despite the huge material superiority over the Houthis.

3. The new interim council (which will govern the occupied part of Yemen) in its composition also demonstrates the weakening of the role of Saudi Arabia and the strengthening of the role of the UAE, where the figure of Tarek Saleh (the son of the ex-president of Yemen who was killed in an unsuccessful coup attempt against the Houthis) stands out.
It is quite possible that he will be carefully promoted as the main figure in the long term.

4. Now it will be obvious to take a course on agreements with the Houthis in order to try to share power with them in Yemen and avoid a repetition of the Afghan scenario, when the Taliban simply rallied and dispersed everyone, including the cowardly fleeing interventionists.

5. It cannot be ruled out that the surrender of Saudi Arabia is due to pressure from the United States, which seeks to conclude a nuclear deal with Iran and stabilize the oil market (which attacks on Saudi Aramco facilities will not help), even by concessions to unfreeze assets and indulge Iran's strategy in Yemen through pressure to Saudi Arabia. Stable supplies of oil from Saudi Arabia, as well as the entry of Iranian oil into the market, may complicate Russia's strategy of using rising oil prices to weaken the US and its satellites.

Whether all this will lead to the end of the war, which has been going on for more than 7 years, is still unclear. Nevertheless, the Houthis are confidently moving towards becoming the Yemeni counterpart of Hezbollah, with ballistic missiles in their arms.
Nevertheless, one can already say that Iran's tough stance has borne fruit - its positions in Yemen will clearly strengthen, and the nuclear deal will open up new opportunities for it to expand its influence in the region and strengthen the country's economy. Israel is trying to oppose this with all its might, but the United States in this case prefers to ignore Israel's demands.

https://colonelcassad.livejournal.com/7545050.html

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**************************************

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Yemeni Military Source: Saudi Coalition Continues to Violate Armistice
April 6, 2022

A military source in Sanaa reports that the Saudi coalition bombed sites of the army and the popular committees in several provinces in Najran.

Saba news agency reported today Sunday citing a Yemeni military source that the Saudi-led coalition continues to violate the armistice in Yemen.

The source stated that forces of the Saudi coalition continue their violations of the armistice by bombing the positions of the army and committees in Najran with a number of artillery shells, amid the flight of armed reconnaissance drones.

The source confirmed that 86 violations of the Saudi coalition forces have been recorded on the fronts in the southern coastal province of Al-Hudaydah, in the west of the country, noting that multiple formations from the coalition have erected combat fortifications in Hays south of Al-Hudaydah, in conjunction with the flight of 8 reconnaissance drones.

It added that the Saudi coalition forces bombed the areas controlled by the army and the committees south of Al-Hudaydah with 14 missiles and artillery shells.

An armistice between the Saudi coalition and the Sanaa government entered into force at 7 pm yesterday, Saturday, local time and Al-Quds Al-Sharif time.

The UN envoy to Yemen, Hans Grundberg, announced that “under this truce, all offensive military operations, by land, air, and sea, will cease.”

Yesterday, Saturday, Yemeni armed forces spokesman, Yahya Saree, announced that the humanitarian and military truce has entered into force, stressing the commitment to a comprehensive cessation of military operations, as long as the other party is committed to this.

https://orinocotribune.com/yemeni-milit ... armistice/
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Re: Yemen

Post by blindpig » Fri Apr 08, 2022 1:36 pm

Saudi-Backed Yemeni President in Exile Steps Down

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Yemen’s President Steps Down, Hands Power to Presidential Council. | Photo: Twitter @QEDaily1

Published 8 April 2022

Having failed to stay in power over the course of a seven-year-long civil war, Hadi added that the country is now entering a “transition period,” during which the Council will have to negotiate a final political solution with Houthi rebels.

Exiled Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi has resigned, handing full authority to an eight-member council led by the country’s former interior minister, Rashad al-Alimi.

“I irreversibly delegate to the Presidential Leadership Council my full powers, in accordance with the constitution and the Gulf Initiative and its executive mechanism,” Yemen’s former leader declared on Thursday.

Having failed to stay in power over the course of a seven-year-long civil war, Hadi added that the country is now entering a “transition period,” during which the Council will have to negotiate a final political solution with Houthi rebels.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE, both major stakeholders in the Yemen conflict, have welcomed the transition of power and announced their decision to allocate $3 billion to support Yemen’s economy. Additionally, Riyadh will spend $300 million to fund the UN-initiated humanitarian response plan aiming to “alleviate the suffering of the Yemeni people.”


The announcement comes days after a UN-brokered ceasefire was agreed between the Saudi-led coalition and Houthi rebels. The truce coincides with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. All hostilities, including on the ground, air, and sea, have been suspended since Saturday.

In January 2015 a civil war broke out in the country, when armed Houthi rebels toppled Hadi’s government, forcing the president to flee to Saudi Arabia. Still recognized by the global community, Hadi has attempted to regain power by resorting to foreign aid. The Saudi-led coalition, backed by the U.S. and the UK, has extensively bombed the war-torn nation.

An estimated 233,000 people have lost their lives in this conflict. The war in Yemen has led to what the UN labeled as “the world’s worst humanitarian crisis,” with 20 million people suffering from hunger and malnutrition.

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Sau ... -0003.html
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Re: Yemen

Post by blindpig » Sat Apr 09, 2022 1:33 pm

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Silent Killer: The Siege of Yemen
April 8, 2022
By Richard Medhurst – Mar 31, 2022

A new report reveals the shocking extent of the Saudi-led blockade on Yemen. Fuel shortages have led Yemen’s inflation to skyrocket 40%, deepening the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

• Despite announcing a ceasefire on March 30th, Saudi Arabia has not lifted its siege on Yemen
• A new report exposes the shocking extent of the embargo, which was imposed in 2015, and intensified in 2021
• The Saudi-led coalition is preventing fuel ships from reaching Hodeida, Yemen’s largest port and main lifeline to 80 percent of the population
• Ships are detained by the Coalition and held for almost a year on average, causing fuel prices to rise exponentially
• Fuel ships forced to reroute to other ports are faced with new obstacles: fuel trucks must travel greater distances, increasing transportation (and thereby fuel) costs
• Trucks must go through roadblocks where armed groups such as Al Qaeda impose taxes on them; money that goes toward funding terrorism and prolonging the conflict
• Because of the intensified siege, fewer fuel ships are coming to Hodeida. Only one ship for public consumption has come so far in 2022
• 80 percent of Yemenis, who live in one of the poorest countries in the world, had to pay a staggering $644.4 million in additional costs last year (for gasoline and diesel products alone), due to a massive increase in fuel prices caused by the Hodeida blockade
• According to the IMF, Yemen’s inflation rate increased by an unbelievable 40 percent in 2021
• Already underfunded and at reduced capacity, hospitals are now shutting down operations due to fuel shortages. Yemenis cannot afford cooking gas, electricity, and Yemen’s agriculture, industry and service sectors are in tatters

METHODOLOGY

• This work is strictly independent, investigative journalism. All the economic data, put together by former World Bank economist Amir Althibah, is sourced from the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), and other international organizations and open-source data.
• These sources were specifically chosen to avoid any potential accusations of bias— even if it means using deflated or conservative figures.
• Note: “Besieged Yemenis” refers to Yemenis living in areas under control of the Sana’a government, which make up the bulk (around 80 percent) of the total population.
• “YPC” refers to Yemen Petroleum Company in Sana’a, a non-profit public company that distributes fuel products local markets and population under control of the Sana’a government.

CONTEXT
This week marks 7 years since the Saudi-led coalition began its bombing campaign against Yemen, in March 2015. As a result, Yemen has become one of the poorest countries in the world.

17.4 million people— the majority of the population— are food insecure. According to UNICEF, 20 million people live in extreme poverty.

Yemen experienced one of the world’s worst cholera epidemics in recent history, with over 2.5 million cases. All the bombings, famine, disease, and destruction, have led the United Nations to describe the situation in Yemen as the world’s worst humanitarian disaster.

The majority of Yemenis live in areas controlled by the government in Sana’a, also known as the Houthis or Ansarullah. The Saudi coalition, on the other hand, supports the government in Aden which was overthrown in 2014. It is the internationally recognized government of Yemen (IRG).

In order to crush the Sana’a government, the coalition began bombing Yemen, with training and logistical support from Britain and the United States. These countries and their partners have profited immensely from the war in Yemen, selling Saudi Arabia hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of weapons.

During the rare occasions when the war in Yemen is discussed, people and media outlets mostly talk about the bombings or the famine. There is, however, another major aspect to the war that no one talks about; a silent killer that is just as bad if not worse than the bombs: the blockade.

The Saudi-led siege on Yemen prevents fuel ships from docking in the port of Hodeida, causing further damage that ripples through Yemen’s economy.

The fuel shortages and prices are so high that Yemenis cannot afford cooking gas, electricity, medicine, and the country’s inflation has skyrocketed. One of the poorest countries on earth is being forced to pay hundreds of millions of dollars extra for fuel— for absolutely no reason.

All over the world people are experiencing rises in fuel prices. Many Americans have expressed dissatisfaction with having to pay US$4 per gallon at the pump.

Currently, the blockade forces Yemenis to pay almost $9.5 per gallon ($2.5 for one liter of gasoline). This is significantly higher than what the richest nations pay for the same commodity.

The Saudi coalition claims there is no embargo on Yemen; that Yemenis are free to import food, fuel and all sorts of commodities. But the part that they leave out, is that they’re not allowing imported fuel to reach the port of Hodeida or local markets.

This report seeks to explain in fine detail exactly how the siege functions, where the additional costs come from, who is profiting from the blockade, and how it amounts to economic warfare, impacting the people that are already suffering from the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

IMPORTING FUEL THROUGH HODEIDA

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“The Obstacles of Importing Fuel Via Hodeida Port Due to the Siege of Yemen”. Credit: Richard Medhurst © 2022
Attempting to deliver fuel to Yemen is nothing short of impossible.

Any ship wishing to enter Yemen must first get permission from the United Nations Verification and Inspection Mechanism for Yemen (UNVIM). Ships headed to Yemen must stop in Djibouti where their cargo, place of origin, and source of funding are inspected. Once inspection and verification are completed, vessels are issued a clearance certificate by the UN, such as this:

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This ship was cleared by the UN in January 2022, but is still in detention by the Saudi coalition, as we’ve documented below. Credit: Richard Medhurst

Despite being inspected and granted a clearance permit from the UN, once fuel ships attempt to dock at the port of Hodeida in Yemen, they are intercepted by the Saudi-coalition navy, which reroutes them to the so-called “Coalition Holding Area”, located in the Red Sea, near the coast of the Saudi city, Jizan.

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Coalition Holding Area (CHA), located near Jizan, in the Red Sea, indicated by a red dot. Credit: Sana’a Center for Strategic Studies
In the shipping industry, when a vessel fails to discharge its cargo, the owner of the chartered ship can charge a fine. This is known as a demurrage cost.

By detaining the ships indefinitely, for months on end, their demurrage fines increase dramatically.

In 2020, UN-cleared ships going to Hodeida were detained by the Saudi coalition for a total of 4683 days. These ships paid 85 million dollars in demurrage fines— costs that are passed on to the consumers in Yemen.

In 2020, each ship coming through Hodeida paid $1.2 million in demurrage fines, on average. That number increased by 164 percent the following year, to $3.2 million per vessel.

Since 2021, the blockade has intensified, resulting in even higher fines and fuel prices

These are vessels meant for public consumption, meaning once again, that Yemenis are the ones who end up paying these costs at the fuel pump.


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In 2021, ships headed to Hodeida, carrying fuel for public consumption, were detained on average for 158 days. Each vessel, on average, paid $3.2 million dollars in demurrage fines.

These long periods of detention mean:

• The price of fuel on board increases dramatically (due to higher demurrage costs)
• The lack of fuel triggers shortages, leading to higher prices for all products and services in Yemen

This domino effect can be lethal. Even Yemenis who don’t own vehicles or power generators are forced to pay higher prices for basic items, such as food and medicine.

As a result of the intensified blockade, fewer ships are coming at all.

This year in 2022, only one ship has brought fuel for public consumption to Hodeida. This steep decline in numbers can be observed below:

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Total number of fuel ships (diesel and gasoline) for public consumption released to Hodeida port (2019-2022). Credit: Richard Medhurst.
There are generally two kinds of fuel ships coming in to Hodeida.

• Private sector (for companies to run their factories), or UN ships. UN ships are not subject to delays.
• Public consumption (via YPC). This is fuel meant for hospitals, farmers, gas stations, civilians, etc.

What is astonishing, is that ships carrying fuel for public consumption are subject to more punitive measures.

Notice in the table below, how the ships meant for public consumption (highlighted in blue) are held by the Saudi coalition for longer, and also end up paying higher fines.

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Blue: fuel ships meant for public consumption (e.g. gas stations, YPC sales/distribution), White: fuel ships imported by private sector (to power their own factories). Source: YPC and UNVIM

In total, two ships detained by the Saudi coalition spent over a year (438 days) in detention.

By comparison, the heaviest fines paid by a ship carrying private sector fuel was $390 thousand, compared to $3.2 million for the average paid on public sector fuel vessels. (The public sector ships are the ones that matter most—their fuel is sold at the pump, to farmers, hospitals, etc.)

To give you an example of the detention in real-time, I obtained the UN clearance permit for a fuel tanker called the “Splendour Sapphire”. It was cleared by the UN on January 3rd, 2022.


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A search of the vessel on marine traffic shows that it is still in detention, almost 4 months later, near Jizan.

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Map showing the location of fuel tanker “Splendour Sapphire”, still in detention near Jizan, as of March 30th 2022. Credit: Marine Traffic
I received additional confirmation from a crew in the Red Sea, that despite the announcement of the Saudi “ceasefire” on March 30th, they have not been cleared to proceed to Hodeida.

This shows that people’s impression that the war is over is misguided. The siege and famine, which are the biggest killers, continue.

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A list showing the fuel vessels still in detention as of 31/3/22. Source: YPC.

IMPORTING FUEL THROUGH ADEN INSTEAD OF HODEIDA

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“The Difficulties of Importing Fuel Via Aden”. Credit: Richard Medhurst © 2022

For ships that are unwilling to make the journey to Hodeida and risk being detained indefinitely, the alternative is to import fuel through non-embargoed ports such as Aden or Mukalla. These ports are under the control of the Saudi-backed government (IRG).

This poses several problems.

1. These ports are located far away from Sana’a and the areas where most Yemenis live. This means that fuel trucks must travel greater distances, which increases transportation and breakage costs.

Under normal circumstances, anyone importing fuel to Sana’a would never go through Aden or Mukalla because it makes no sense. They would likely go through Hodeida, because it is Yemen’s largest port and the country’s lifeline. Hodeida is close to the capital and near the bulk (80 percent) of Yemen’s population.

2. Ports like Aden and Mukalla are more expensive than Hodeida. Anyone attempting to import fuel through there is slapped with higher taxes and arbitrary fees. This includes a large list of things such as: customs fees, commissions to the refineries, security fees, intermediary office fees, higher transport costs, transport damages…

As an example, this ship named the “Sea-Heart” brought gasoline to Yemen last month. These are the extra fees that it had to pay by discharging at Aden:

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Source: http://www.ypcye.com/Show_News.php?id=2186

These “import duties” result in Yemenis being taxed twice for the same fuel imports: first by the Saudi-backed government (IRG), which taxes them at Aden or Mukalla, followed by another tax once the fuel trucks reach the Sana’a controlled areas.

As a result of this increased traffic, the IRG’s tax revenues on fuel imports in 2021 increased more than fourfold[1] — taxing the very population it is waging war against, with the help of the Saudi coalition.

The IRG taxes fuel imports on the basis that it is the legitimate government of Yemen. It is the internationally recognized government of Yemen at the UN and other international organizations.

It moved the central back to Aden, and took full control of Yemen’s natural resources and oil exports. As the legitimate government, however, it pays no salaries to public servants and government employees in the Sana’a-controlled areas – despite taxing the people there for their fuel imports.

ROADBLOCKS & FINANCING TERRORISM
In addition to higher import taxes, fuel trucks must travel longer and more dangerousroutes, before they reach Sana’a, Hodeida, and the areas where most Yemenis live.

Fuel trucks have to take an enormous detour that extends up to 1300km (highlighted in yellow). In comparison, the journey from Hodeida to Sana’a, would be just 226km (in green).

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Map showing transport routes for fuel tankers in Yemen. Source: YPC
This causes two problems:

1. It increases the cost of transportation. Trucks must travel a greater distance, increasing their fuel consumption, other incurred fees and potential breakage costs.

2. Along this alternative route, trucks are stopped by various armed groups, including Al Qaeda, who set up random roadblocks. When the fuel trucks try to pass, the militias shake them down for money. If the drivers don’t pay, they may be killed. This money often goes towards financing terrorism and prolonging the conflict.

The number of roadblocks is growing steadily as armed groups looking to make a quick buck install one checkpoint after the other, adding 5 percent to the transport cost here, another 10 percent there, another 5 percent there, etc.

The burden of both costs (higher transportation + roadblocks) is once again shifted onto the shoulders of Yemenis at the pump.

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“Example of Arbitrary Costs in USD per Metric Ton of Gasoline Imported Via Aden”. Credit: Richard Medhurst © 2022

NOT ENOUGH OIL

Even if besieged Yemenis in Hodeida could somehow afford the higher prices, there isn’t enough fuel coming in.

In 2020, Yemenis living in areas under control of the Sana’a government only consumed half of the gasoline and diesel that they actually needed from Hodeida port. That means a -49% deficit in consumption for 2020. The following year, the deficit reached an astonishing -90%.

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“Comparison between the actual requirements and fuel quantities released by Hodeida ports in 2019 – 2021”. Credit: Richard Medhurst © 2022

THE BLACK MARKET

Like all countries impacted by siege warfare, the embargo has led to the creation of a black market.

While official prices are low, there simply isn’t any oil to sell. That means consumers have to turn to the black market, where price-gouging is rampant. People are forced to pay several times more, out of necessity.

In just little over a year, from December 2020 to March 2022, the price of diesel on the black market shot up 300% (from 350/liter to 1400/liter)

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Here’s the monthly average of gasoline prices in Sana’a per litter per Riyal. The same trend can be observed: black market prices continue to rise, putting unbearable pressure on Yemen’s economy and people. While the official price (in blue) is low in comparison, there is no oil to sell.

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Turning to the black market means buying oil derivatives that are often of poorer quality, as they are not subject to controls and quality checks by the authorities. Yemenis not only have to pay more but end up consuming oil that is damaging to the environment, to the consumers, their property and equipment.

CONSEQUENCES OF THE SIEGE

The consequences of this blockade are absolutely blistering: Last year, Yemen’s inflation rate skyrocketed an astronomical 40%. By comparison, a country like France’s inflation rate went up a mere 1.96% in 2021.

The burden this puts on Yemeni consumers, industry and public institutions is hard to encapsulate.

Fuel shortages doesn’t just mean that people can’t drive their cars. It means no electricity, hospitals unable to function, disrupted agriculture, industry, and service sectors. The entire economy in shambles.

In a statement, the Federation of Yemeni Private Hospitals said that quote “blocking fuel from entering Yemen has caused the death of many patients in intensive care units, emergency and operations departments, as well as the hospitals’ inability to save and store medicines for chronic diseases…”

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Statement from the Federation of Yemeni Private Hospitals, warning of the dangers fuel shortages pose to Yemen’s hospitals and health infrastructure, 21/02/22.

As a result of the siege and country’s deteriorating conditions, the United Nations raised its estimate of Yemenis that are food insecure from 13 million in December 2020, to 17 million in December 2021 (and estimated to increase 19 million by June this year). [2] Over 82 percent of the total food insecure population is living under siege, suffering from the effects of the blockade and fuel crisis.

Yemen has been under bombardment since 2015. During this time, its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has continued to shrink. Yemen’s GDP went from $957 in 2015, declining to $552 in 2017, and now sits at just $359 per person in 2020[3], making it one of the poorest countries in the world. This shows again that it is not just bombardment, but also the siege which has contributed to Yemen’s ongoing economic suffering.

As a direct result of the blockade, besieged Yemenis had to pay a staggering 644.4 million US dollars extra for fuel (diesel and gasoline) in 2021 alone; incurred costs that are entirely man-made, avoidable, and serve no purpose.

These costs are a direct result of the fuel ships being indefinitely detained, undermining the entire purpose of the UN verification; costs that are a direct result of ships being forced to dock further way, pay higher taxes to the Aden government, fuel trucks travelling greater distances, and being robbed at various checkpoints.

This siege has resulted in a decline in purchasing power of Yemeni households, who are left unable to cover basic needs, from electricity to cooking gas. In Sana’a there are zero hours of public electricity. What most people have are solar panels or private grids, the high costs of which are linked to the cost of fuel on the black market.

Based on this evidence, it is clear that the siege on Yemen is a very effective means of economic warfare.

The fuel shortages not only cause the price of fuel itself to rise, but affect everything else that depends on fuel, from food to hospitals, farming, and industry.

While most people might think that Yemenis are dying primarily from bombs, it is actually the blockade and famine that are primarily responsible for the loss of life and economic destruction.

Similar effects of siege warfare on a civilian population (through naval blockade or sanctions) can also be observed in Syria and Venezuela.

Given that the siege is the most destructive factor in the war on Yemen, Saudi Arabia’s announcement of a ceasefire— which many have misunderstood as an “end” to the war— is far from the end, as they made sure to leave the blockade in place.

Needless to say, the Coalition’s practice of detaining fuel ships on their way to Yemen undermines the entire purpose of the UN verification process in Djibouti, not to mention maritime law and Yemenis’ human rights.

Although sending aid is important, it is not a solution.

Every year, countries get together to raise money for Yemen. This year’s donor conference couldn’t even meat the stated goal, raising only $1.7b of $4.27b. Ironically, many of the top donors are the same countries responsible for the siege and bombing of Yemen.

The damage caused by the blockade is so great, that no amount of aid could remedy it. Yemen’s inflation rate has hit 40%. The price of diesel has shot up 300% on the black market in little over a year. 350,000+ Yemenis have already died, the majority of them from siege warfare, not bombs.

Theoretically, even if foreign aid were to cover all the higher fuel costs, Yemenis would still continue to suffer, because there isn’t enough fuel coming in to Hodeida to begin with, precisely because of the blockade.

The lack of fuel and higher fuel prices mean that the entire economy is in shambles. Agriculture, industry, and services cannot function, as everything comes to a grinding halt— hence the inflation rate skyrocketing.

As long as fuel ships continue to be blocked from docking at Hodeida, the crisis will only get worse. Detaining these vessels indefinitely—after they’ve already passed UN inspection—only serves to increase the total of demurrage fines.

Even the ships that don’t go through Hodeida end up being slapped with higher import duties at Aden and Mukalla ports. Then the fuel trucks have to travel greater distances, adding to transportation costs, and taking an enormous detour before reaching Sana’a and Hodeida.

And on top of all this, terrorist groups and militias stop the trucks to demand money— in what is literally highway robbery, which doesn’t only mean added costs at the fuel pump, but also funds terrorism and prolongs the conflict.

To make matters worse, the war in Ukraine is leading wheat and fuel prices to soar even higher, as Yemen imports 40% of its wheat from Russia and Ukraine.

This siege of Yemen is not only man-made, but completely preventable, illegal, causing Yemenis to suffer for no reason on an unimaginable scale. It should be lifted immediately.

[1] http://www.skynewsarabia.com/middle-east/1490722

[2] https://www.ipcinfo.org/ipc-country-ana ... /?iso3=YEM

[3] Yemen Central Statistical Office.





Amir Althibah graduated from Oxford, worked as an economist at the World Bank for over a decade. He is based in Yemen and has over 20 years of country and international work experience in economic development.

Featured image: File photo


https://orinocotribune.com/silent-kille ... -of-yemen/
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Re: Yemen

Post by blindpig » Mon Apr 11, 2022 2:10 pm

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Over 3 Million Cluster Bombs Dropped on Yemen since 2015
April 9, 2022

Yemen is the country with the highest number of cluster bomb victims in the world, reported the Executive Center for Mine Action during an event in Sana’a, Yemen, on Monday, April 4. The event was organized on the occasion of the International Day for Awareness of the Risks of Mine and Cluster Bombs under the slogan “Mines and cluster bombs are a humanitarian disaster.”

Director of the Executive Center for Mine Action, Brigadier General Ali Safra, stated, “Yemen is the leading country in terms of registering cluster bomb victims in the world, according to the report of the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the reports of humanitarian and international organisations.”

Safra pointed out that Yemen has been suffering from the problems of mines since 1961, and they have represented a social and economic challenge at all levels.

“Despite the efforts to get rid of mines that were made through international support, and planning to declare Yemen free of mines in 2017, the six wars in Saada and the Abyan war have worsened the tragedy,” he said.

“The aggression against Yemen since March 26, 2015 has undermined all the efforts of the National Committee and its executive body and the achievements made during the past 20 years, as cluster bombs have spread in all provinces and districts without exception due to their excessive use,” added the brigadier.

Safra informed that the number of cluster ammunitions that were collected and removed from the affected provinces amounted to 3,133,036 ordnances, while the number of raids in which cluster bombs were used reached 2,500.

He pointed out that the Executive Center for Mine Action has monitored and documented the use of 15 types and models of cluster bombs—nine types of US production, two British and four Brazilian types, and three unidentified types of bombs.

Human losses in Yemen due to the Saudi-led coalition’s use of cluster bombs, as of March 30, 2022, amounted to 3,921 civilians, including 119 children, 39 women, and 879 men killed, while 2,884 civilians have been wounded, which include 257 children and 76 women.

During the past seven years of aggression, cluster bombs destroyed and damaged 155 roads, 11 networks and communication stations, 16 power stations and generators, three ports, 37 water tanks, a water supply network, and 423 homes in Yemen. Cluster bombs have also caused destruction and damage to seven schools and an institute of higher education, 809 agricultural fields, 547 grazing areas, three mosques, five airports, 23 fishing boats, and six bridges. Such bombs have also destroyed and damaged 12 factories, nine commercial markets, 87 vehicles, 180 animal farms, and 15 chicken farms.

Safra informed that Saada province was the region that has registered the highest bombardment using cluster bombs, as it was subjected to 824 air raids targeting 14 districts, leaving 366 dead and 816 wounded. Saada was followed by Hajjah province with 317 cluster bomb-raids targeting six districts, leaving 297 dead and 1,045 wounded, and Sana’a province with 294 raids targeting five districts, leaving 50 dead and 146 wounded.

The use of cluster bombs is illegal under international law and is considered a war crime.

Featured image: A cluster bomb in a field in Yemen. File photo.

https://orinocotribune.com/over-3-milli ... ince-2015/

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Re: Yemen

Post by blindpig » Sat Jun 04, 2022 1:55 pm

Yemen's Warring Parties Reach Agreement to Extend Truce

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Human rights activists protest against the war in Yemen. | Photo: Twitter/ @Muhabarishaji

Published 2 June 2022

The truce marks the first breakthrough in years to end the war in Yemen that has killed tens of thousands of people and pushed the country to the brink of starvation.

Efforts exerted by the United Nations succeeded in convincing Yemen's warring sides to initially accept a proposal of extending the recent two-month nationwide truce.

Both warring sides expressed their initial agreement during their meetings with the UN envoy to Yemen, Hans Grundberg, who suggested the extension of the truce for additional two months. Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) informed the United Nations of its agreement to renew the truce but laid down a number of conditions.

The PLC agreed to extend the truce until Aug. 2 if certain conditions were met, including opening the blocked roads and ending the Houthi siege on the strategic city of Taiz.

On Tuesday, UN Secretary Antonio Guterres had a phone call with Rashad Al-Alimi, president of PLC, to discuss the implementation of the truce. The UN chief also made a pledge to persuade the Houthis to implement the previous terms of the truce including opening the blocked roads for Taiz and preparing for an inclusive political settlement in the country.


An official announcement will be issued by Grundberg in the upcoming hours to extend the UN-brokered truce in Yemen. The negotiating team of the Houthi rebel militia also expressed their leaders' initial agreement to extend the truce, which expires on June 2.

Starting April 2, the internationally-recognized Yemeni government and the Houthi group have been largely observing the UN-brokered two-month cease-fire despite sporadic armed confrontations.

The truce marks the first breakthrough in years to end the war in Yemen that has killed tens of thousands of people and pushed the country to the brink of starvation.

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Yem ... -0006.html

Yemen: Weapons Manufacturers Complicit in Saudi War Crimes

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Weapons sellers are accused of being liable for Saudi war crimes in Yemen. Jun. 2, 2022. | Photo: Twtter/@ulaknews

Published 2 June 2022 (12 hours 5 minutes ago)

A group of NGOs accuses three French arms manufacturers of being responsible for the Saudi coalition's war crimes in Yemen.

On Thursday, Amnesty International France, Sherpa, the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR), and Mwatana for Human Rights filed a lawsuit in the Paris judicial court against Dassault Aviation, Thalès, and MBDA France for their complicity in war crimes in Yemen due to their arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Human rights groups in France have repeatedly demonstrated that Paris' tacit support for the so-called Saudi coalition against Yemen has fanned the flames of conflict and resulted in a major humanitarian disaster in Yemen.

Riyadh's brutal campaign of violence against Yemen, backed by the U.S. and certain Western countries, started in March 2015 to restore fugitive former Yemeni president Abdu Rabu Mansur Hadi to power, resulting, after eight years of war, in the worst humanitarian crisis in the world today, turning the impoverished Arab country into a "hellhole."

"Coalition airstrikes have caused terrible destruction in Yemen. The weapons produced and exported by European countries, and in particular by France, have enabled these crimes," clarified the director of the Yemeni organization Mwatana for Human Rights, Abdulrasheed Al-faqih.


According to the four NGOs, the aforementioned French factories have supplied ammunition and maintenance services, worth more than 8 billion euros between 2015 and 2020, to Saudi Arabia and its allies.

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Yem ... -0021.html
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