Here is what we said about Yemen!

 Rasha Almaqaleh
 Anis Albasha

Being in touch with many Germans in Norderstedt, the city where we live, we came to realize that they knew very little about Yemen and about the ongoing conflict there.  So, we thought that we should do something to shed some light on our country and the current war. The staff of the Public library of Norderstedt helped us to establish an event under the title ‘Old Home, New Home. We agreed on the date, 28^th of May, and then a month ahead, the library staff prepared an announcement and distributed it wherever possible.






One of the local journalists read the announcement of the event and wrote an article titled ‘Yemen…the forgotten land’ in Hamburger Abendblatt.  In his Article, he quoted some parts of our article ‘who is burning Yemen?’  which we published in our blog, Drabzeen. At the end of his article,  he informed the readers of our upcoming event. Many of our German acquaintances and friends contacted us to tell us that they saw the article. A friend of us brought us a copy of the newspaper. We were glad that we could get people here to talk about Yemen.

The event took place on the 28^th of May, in the public library. We divided it into two parts; cultural and political. In the cultural part, we talked about the history and culture of Yemen and some of the differences we have to adapt with here in Germany. In the political part, we talked about our opinion on the current conflict and the reasons behind it.

The Cultural part

At first, we told them about the word ‘Mocha’ and its origin. This word is very well known around the world but nobody here knows where it originally came from. It is a name of a Yemeni port city which is located on the Red Sea coast. The story of Coffee being introduced to Europe and the whole world all started from this small port. Many people do not know that Yemen was a major coffee player in the 17th and 18th centuries. It was the first exporter of coffee.  Mocha, the city’s name, has become somehow synonymous with the coffee beans themselves. We asked the audience to remember Yemen each time they drink a cup of ‘Mocha’ coffee!

Then, we gave them a quick overview of the history of Yemen and how it is considered to be one of the oldest civilizations in the region and the world. We mentioned the kingdom of Sheba which was established at the 9^th century BC and lasted until 275 AC. This ancient kingdom is mentioned in the Old Testament. It is also described in Quran as ‘the land of the two heavens’ . Due to its complicated irrigation system  along with the fertile soil, Romans of that time called it ‘Arabia Felix’ or ‘Happy Arabia’.

We also talked about the Jews of Yemen and how they were an essential part o the Yemeni history and how they had a great influence on the Yemeni culture. They had expertise in a wide range of trades such as silver-smiting, pottery, shoe making and tailoring. Most of the Jewish population was evacuated over a period of six months in 1950 to the newly established state in Palestine, ‘Israel’.

One of the major differences that we have to deal with here is the weather. Therefor, we had to talk about the weather in Yemen and how different it is from the weather in Germany. Unlike Germany, it’s sunny most of the year in Yemen. Surprisingly,  a sunny day in Germany is a happy day, while in Yemen it’s just a usual day! It also rains a lot in Germany while in Yemen the rainfall is limited and this makes a rainy day in Yemen a happy day while in Germany it’s just a usual day!

And of course we couldn’t talk about the Yemeni culture  without mentioning Jambiya, the Yemeni dagger whih is a major part of the Yemeni traditional clothes.  we had to explain its parts and its uses. After that, we talked about the beautiful and colorful traditional clothes of Yemeni women and how they don’t wear them anymore due to the increasing influence of the Wahabbi strict lifestyle that came to us from Saudi Arabia, the neighboring country.

After that we showed pictures of Yemeni cuisine. We had to mention ‘Saltah’, the national dish of Yemen which is served only in lunchtime. We explained its ingredients and we showed some pictures of the special pot in which Saltah has to be prepared and served.


We talked about another traditional dish which is called ‘Bint al-Sahn’. If we translated the name literally into English, it would be ‘Daughter of the plate’! It is a strange and funny name but we Yemenis really don’t know the reason behind it. Bint al Sahn is a dessert that is mainly served right after lunch and it’s made of layers of pastry. On the top of it, we add Nigella seeds and honey. 

After that, we had to shed some light on the Yemeni social life and the differences between Yemenis and Germans in socializing. Unlike Germany, men in Yemen don’t hang out with women and vice versa unless they are family. We showed some pictures of the typical sitting room of a Yemeni home, which is called ‘Diwan’ in the Yemeni dialect. It’s the place where Yemeni people gather to chew Qat. Even though Qat chewing is a very negative tradition, it has become a major part of the Yemeni social life. Qat is a plant which originally came to Yemen from Africa. Now Yemeni farmers grow it, cultivate it and sell it to the local markets. Every day, n the early afternoon, Yemeni men start chewing qat. They cut the leaves of the plant and stuff them inside their cheeks, forming a wad which could be as big as a tennis ball. Under the influence of Qat, people turn into a talkative mode. So, is Qat a drug or not? Actually, the world health organization, WHO, classified Qat as a “drug of abuse” which means “it causes mild to moderate psychological dependence but less than tobacco and alcohol”.  But wither Qat is a drug or not, Yemeni people don’t really care! If you don’t chew Qat in Yemen, you will be socially excluded and no one likes that!

We talked about Arabic Jasmine and how men and women wear a crown or a necklace of this scented flower in a variety of social occasions such as weddings. This flower was not native in Yemen. It came to the country probably from Southeast Asia.

We also talked about candles in the Western culture and how they use them for aesthetic purposes such as the nice view and the lovely scent. While candles are used in Germany to creat a warm and romantic ambience, they are used in Yemen basically for illumination because of the frequent electrical power failures.

Finally we drew the audience’s attention to a wrong common impression that most Western people have about Yemen; they think of Yemen as a desert. The truth is, unlike the Gulf countries which are full of sands, Yemen is mountainous country. It also enjoys a fertile soil and farmers can grow a large number of different crops.

The Political Part

We initiated the political part with the question ‘Who is burning Yemen?’
We first referred to the repercussions of what has become known as the "Arab Spring" which took place in Yemen in 2011. We explained how hundreds of thousands of Yemenis went on demonstrations in Sana'a and in other major cities calling on Saleh, president of Yemen for more than 33 years, to step down. We talked about the clashes which were erupted between the security forces and the demonstrators and how they left hundreds of people dead. Eventually, Saleh stepped down and Yemeni parties signed on what was called the GCC Initiative, an initiative presented by the Gulf countries and supported by the West. Saleh's vice president, Hadi, was picked by the international community to lead during a political transition of 2 years.

Then we talked about the National Dialogue Conference (NDC) which was launched on March 2013. The aim of the Conference was to draft a new constitution and to hold democratic elections in February 2014. However, instead of holding a new presidential election, the NDC extended Hadi's presidential term for another year under the justification that the transition period was not enough. In addition to that, during the NDC’s talks, there was a sudden shift to discuss a proposal of "federalism" which was, and still is highly provocative. 

The tension erupted again among the different effective parties in Yemen, especially in Sana’a. The situation was escalated with the advent of the Houthis, the new arising power which comes from the north.  Houthis entered Sana'a on September 21, 2014 and placed Hadi under house arrest. Hadi sent his resignation to the Parliament. Despite the turmoil, the U.N. mediated talks continued under the auspices of the U.N. Special Envoy Jamal Bin Omar. Mr. Benomar announced a breakthrough in the talks, saying parties agreed to form a new transitional council. Hadi fled to Aden and retracted his resignation. Houthis, aided by Yemeni military factions that still loyal to Former President Saleh, entered Aden and Hadi fled again, ending up in Saudi Arabia on March 25, 2015.

On March 26, 2015, Saudi Arabia announced a coalition of 10 countries and started a war against Yemen. And according to the UN Special Envoy, Yemeni political deal was close before Saudi airstrikes began!

We explained the supporting role of both the United States of America and the United Kingdom to the Saudi led-coalition. Saudi Arabia claimed that the war was waged to support the "legitimacy" represented in the fugitive President Hadi.We clarified that the Saudi allegation of supporting Hadi as a legitimate president has no legal base, simply because Hadi's presidency was legally over on February. Saudi Arabia claims that the war was waged to save the Yemenis, we told the audience that we would pretend to believe this claim and would try to see whether it is true or not through the actual events during a year of aggression against Yemen. 

By displaying statistics which have been released by some international sources, we clarified that Saudi led-coalition killed and wounded thousands of Yemeni civilians, including hundreds of children and women. The coalition bombed hundreds of houses, schools, hospitals, roads, bridges and even dairy and poultry farms. The coalition also targeted more than 136 archaeological and tourist sites in Yemen. We talked about the use of internationally prohibited weapons by the Saudi-led coalition, such as cluster munitions. We also referred to the explosion that took place in Sana'a on the 20^th of May, 2015. According to nuclear weapons experts, that explosion is by very high probability a neutron bomb.

We talked about some of the massacres which were committed in Yemen by the Saudi led-coalition. We clarified how the Saudi jets brutally attacked residential units and neighborhoods, wedding halls, schools, and local markets.

We talked about the Saudi Arabia's support of terrorism in Yemen and how it is noted that, in addition to the human cost of the war in Yemen, the Saudi operation allowed al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula to gain more grounds in the south of Yemen. In addition, for the first time since the beginning of this war, ISIS has gained a foothold in Yemen. Throughout almost a year of heavy airstrikes by Saudi Arabia warplanes on various parts of Yemen, these warplanes did not target the areas controlled by either al-Qaeda or ISIS.  We talked about the Results of more than a year of Saudi aggression against Yemen. We cited an unpublished U.N. report which highlighted some of the main atrocities the coalition has committed since the start of the operation.

After all those atrocities and infrastructure destruction, it is hard to believe the Saudi intentions to save Yemen. We then posed a new question, 'why Saudi Arabia is doing this?'

The aggression of 2015 could be seen as the first 'military' intervention by Saudi Arabia in Yemen but Saudi Arabia has been interfering in Yemen since long decades in many different ways. We mentioned the famous story of the founder of Saudi Arabia Kingdom, Abdul Aziz Al Saud, who warned his sons (64 males and 38 females), while on his death bed, from a strong and unified Yemen. He recommended his sons to keep Yemen weak. We talked about what is known as 'the Special Committee' which was established by Saudi government in 1962. This Committee pays regular monthly salaries for a number of tribal and political figures in Yemen to guarantee their loyalty and to use them as fifth columns.

We mentioned the former Yemeni President Ibrahim al-Hamdi and how he tried to stop the Saudi influence and intervention in Yemen. He tried to establish a strong and independent state, but he was assassinated at the hands of some Yemeni parties with the support of Saudi Arabia.

Then we talked about the huge arms deals that Saudi Arabia gets from USA and Europe. We talked about the many demands of international organizations that call for a cessation of sales and transfers of all weapons and military-related equipment to parties to the conflict in Yemen. However, Saudi Arabia along with the other countries which participate in the war against Yemen are getting more and more arms.  It seems that the war in Yemen is a good opportunity to revive western economies.

We criticized the double standards policy adopted by western countries and how some European countries not only export arms to Saudi Arabia, but also honor its leaders! We gave an example when the French President handed the Legion of Honor to the Saudi crown prince in 2016!

We concluded the political part by saying that the situation in Yemen is far worse than other places such as Syria or Iraq, simply because nobody talks about it. According to the U.N., an astonishing 82% of the Yemeni population needs humanitarian assistance, 21.2 million people in Yemen, compared with 12.2 million in Syria!

We cited the statement made by the Head of the International Red Cross, Mr. Peter Maurer who said that "Five months of war in Yemen has wrought destruction similar to that seen in Syria after five years."

Unlike Syrians, Yemenis are stuck and besieged in Yemen. They cannot escape their country and look for a safer place. 

At the end of the event, the audience's reaction was positive. The attendees thanked us for shedding some lights on a country they had no idea about before.  We were content because that was the least we could do for our people.