How Houthis leverage Palestinian cause for Arab street cred
The Houthis of Yemen would have us believe their attacks on ships in the vital Red Sea shipping lanes are an act of solidarity with Palestinians, who they call their “steadfast brothers in Gaza.”
Edmund Fitton-brown, former U.K. ambassador to Yemen, is having none of it.
“This is not a liberation movement,” he counters, calling the group that controls much of Yemen, including its capital, “feckless thugs.”
It’s a ruse. He should know; he was at the table with the Houthis for several years, trying to negotiate a ceasefire in Yemen. Now, he’s a counterterrorism, counter-extremism and international security expert.
I spent a lot of time in the country, initially as an oil company executive and later, training local professionals, before al-qaida made travel to Yemen nearly impossible for foreigners in 2009. Over the past month, I’ve spoken with many Yemeni friends and colleagues living in the Middle East. What I’m hearing is disconcerting.
While all of them know the Houthis as a brutal and callous rebel force, accountable for hundreds of thousands of civilian deaths, they stand in solidarity with the Houthi acts of aggression in the Red Sea. (To assure the safety of their family members still residing in Yemen, I will use fictitious names — Ali and Ahmed — to share their perspectives.)
“The Houthis are using the Red Sea to mobilize the masses, and it’s working,” Ali reports. “People are speaking favourably about the Houthis in the Muslim world.”
The Hamas-israeli clashes in Gaza have given the Houthis legitimacy, beyond their wildest dreams; it’s been transformative for them, he continues, describing how hundreds of thousands of protesters across the Muslim world — Algeria, Morocco, Jordan — chant, “‘we are Yemeni ... we are Houthi.’ ”
Ahmed’s experience is much the same: “You know, in Jordan ... people know I’m from Yemen and they want to give me free Uber rides and free meals and everything else and come and shake hands and say, you guys, the Yemenis, are the only ones doing us right, raising our heads, giving us back the dignity, really standing up for what is happening.”
All this popularity, Ahmed reports, has elevated the Houthi from a local and regional player, to an international actor.
If much of the West sees Israel as being forced to defend itself after Hamas’ brutal attack on civilians, much of the Arab world sees things very differently.
“Even (Yemeni) people opposing them, ethically, can’t oppose them anymore,” Ali asserts with a hint of stridency.
“I would argue for the vast majority of Yemenis, the action that the Houthis are taking is good,” Ahmed explains. But it’s a mixed feeling for Yemenis, he says.
My heart stops. How can this be? I tell him: The Houthis brought your country to its knees, their corruption continues to exploit ordinary Yemenis. You speak in anger of how the Houthis impose punishing taxes on the basics — fuel, medicine, every chicken a Yemeni family eats. There may be a ceasefire in Yemen but people are still suffering.
Ali agrees, wholeheartedly.
“The Houthis are corrupt up to their neck, and use religion to market their agenda ... believing they have sacred lineage that gives them the right to rule.”
What will deter their attacks on ships in the Red Sea? Their aggression is hurting everyone, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt and other regional players. Twelve per cent of international trade transits the Red Sea and the Suez Canal; that’s more than $1 trillion worth of goods.
Ali’s response makes me squirm: “It was the U.S./U.K. military response to Houthi attacks in the Red Sea that galvanized the Muslim world ... it didn’t neutralize the situation.”
The Houthis are motivated to sustain the fight, he continues.
“They will fade away as a result of peace, not war.”
And Ali can’t resist repeating what I’ve heard time and time again: “The West ignored Yemen for a while, and now it’s coming back at them. Over 350,000 Yemenis died in the civil war ... and the Houthis suppress other political voices.”
That, I don’t deny.
“All across the Arab world, in the streets,” Ahmed describes, “everyone is saying, the U.S., everyone else, we’re not willing to move an inch for all the thousands and thousands of people who are dying in Gaza. But as soon as the Houthis threaten Israeli ships, everyone moves.”
But Ahmed’s not denying the Houthis’ double standards, pointing to those on social media who remind us the Houthis are the people laying siege to Taiz, a coastal city in Yemen, “at the same time they are saying, you know, killing children and all that in Gaza is not right.”
These discreet conversations with Yemeni friends are disquieting. For nine long years, Houthi rebels were like a biker gang, brutalizing innocent citizens in Yemen and making their lives living hell.
Fitton-brown is convinced the Houthi aggression in the Red Sea has little to do with the Palestinians. It’s a false narrative, a ruse, an act of blackmail that prevents regional players from objecting.
Yemenis, especially those who know firsthand of Houthi brutality, don’t necessarily disagree. But they’re in no position to say so.