Are Several Muslim Countries being Unjust to Ansar Allah and the People of Yemen?

Here, it should be remembered that Ansar Allah is the leading political force of Yemen now and has a much greater claim to representing Yemen than the recognized government aligned closely to Saudi Arabia’s rulers (the so-called ‘Presidential Leadership Council’—a big name indeed for an entity with a small and decreasing real-life presence at the ground level).

Once this fact is appreciated, a more important question is why Saudi Arabia’s military backers and allies are not instead trying for peace on the basis of equal engagement with the Saudi rulers and Ansar Allah, keeping in view the most essential concerns of both sides?

Here, it should be remembered that in earlier hostilities between the two sides which had erupted in 2015 and continued until 2021, very heavy damage had been caused and a very large number of Yemeni civilians had been killed in Saudi Arabia’s attacks. According to widely quoted estimates, nearly 377,000 people of Yemen were killed in this war. In these attacks even wedding gatherings and busy marketplaces were assaulted, even though there were no military targets nearby. Several of these attacks were clear violations of international humanitarian lawInternational Humanitarian Law (IHL)A set of rules that seek to limit the effects of armed conflict for humanitarian reasons. It protects persons who are not or are no longer participating in hostilities and restricts the means and methods of warfare..

So, all people committed to peace heaved a big sigh of relief when the fighting stopped in 2021. However, this year (2024), war was renewed by a Saudi attack targeting an airport where one particular airplane was about to land, bringing back Yemenis from Iran (who had gone in the context of mourning for national and religious leaders who had died in USA/Israeli attacks). Clearly, this was a grave provocation that was entirely avoidable, keeping in view how much harm had been caused by the earlier cycle of hostilities. A very serious humanitarian crisis has emerged in Yemen, on top of the fact that it is regarded as the poorest country in the Arab world.

Now, if you look at the attacks by both sides on each other in recent weeks, it appears that Saudi Arabia has targeted civilians much more compared to the other side. To the extent that I could follow this war so far until October, Ansar Allah’s attacks appear to be targeting energy sites and those of military importance more clearly. Yes, airports have been targeted too, and civilians can die there. This is tragic, but Ansar Allah often gives previous warnings of evacuation before such attacks, showing concern for saving the life of civilians. While civilians may have died on both sides, it is clear that, as in the previous war, the Saudi attacks are much more indiscriminate in terms of harming civilians. In addition to inter-country attacks, deaths and injuries also result when rival sides are involved in fighting each other within Yemen. All this is tragic, and the sooner the war ends, the better.

Despite the immense distress suffered by the people of Yemen, it must be remembered that they, and in particular the Ansar Allah, have been in the forefront of coming to the assistance of the people of Gaza. Leaving aside Hezbollah, which has anyway been in inter-border conflict with Israel for a long time, the Ansar Allah has been the only force in the entire Muslim and Arab world that came forward to defy and challenge the great military power of Israel and the USA to try its best to help the people of Gaza as they could by entering the fight and willingly making many sacrifices, despite their many difficulties and lack of resources. The significant military powers of Turkey, Pakistan and Egypt did nothing of this kind. Should they now do something which is even much worse by opportunistically joining hands together against the very force that had offered this resistance to imperialism to protect the most threatened and oppressed people? How can they ignore the distress and problems of people in the poorest Arab country by siding with the richest one?

Clearly, it is time for these countries to re-assess their positions and priorities in this war and opt instead for a justice-based peace approach, helping to end the war on the precepts of justice and then following this with a large-scale reconstruction, rehabilitation, and humanitarian aid effort in Yemen.