University law students Address Crisis in Yemen

Dozens of University of Windsor students and faculty and members of the community gathered in the damp windy cold Tuesday night to draw attention to the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Yemen.

The vigil, organized by Aadil Nathani of the Muslim Law Association at the University of Windsor, was aimed at raising awareness about the ongoing conflict between Saudi Arabia and Yemen and the crisis affecting millions of innocent Yemeni civilians, including children. “Everyone that came out, I think, took something away from it,” Nathani said after the event, attended by about 45 people. “Everyone had a moment to reflect.”

Nathani urged those in attendance to consider Canada’s role in the conflict and suggested they contact their members of parliament, participate in food drives or donate money.

“I have no personal stake in the region itself, I just see it as a major humanitarian crisis that the world seems to be ignoring right now because we have 14.5 million people who are in dire need of humanitarian assistance and who are currently starving. And no matter how many reports the UN releases, no one seems to be doing anything,” said Nathani. “I also think it’s a point where we can be critical of our own state actions and with the $15-billion arms deal that we’ve made with Saudi Arabia, which is directly fuelling and arming the conflict there.”

Nathani said he “personally (doesn’t) believe we should be arming conflict anywhere in the world.”

Yemen has been ravaged by a brutal three-and-half-year war between a Saudi-led alliance and Shite rebels known as Houthis. “Millions of lives are at stake here and there are horrific statistics,” Nathani said. “Right now, because of the embargo imposed at the ports, every 10 minutes a child in Yemen is dying of malnutrition … And I don’t think we can be sitting around in the rest of the world, as the developed world, and be OK about that happening anywhere in the world.”

Nathani has also set up a GoFundMe page with hopes of raising $1,000 toward relief efforts in Yemen.

It can be found at gofundme. com/windsor-law-students-foryemeni-relief ?member=1157926.

NICK BRANCACCIO Members of the Muslim Association during a vigil Tuesday. Vigil speakers Aadil Nathani, right, Mariam Jammal and Mariam Rajabali were joined by students outside the University of Windsor’s faculty of law building.