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Frontline That Never Was

by Catherine Shakdam  April 10, 2015 No Comments 

This war in Yemen is not a religious one, but world powers are doing a really good ob

at turning it into one!

"n utter and #omplete $iolation o% international law, Saudi Arabia, the world&s most

$iolent and repressi$e theo#ra#y, de#lared war on its southern neighbor Yemen, on'ar#h 25, 2015, #alling on a broad military #oalition to lend its support! (ehind Saudi

Arabia stands )ordan, 'oro##o, (ahrain, *uwait, +atar, gypt, Sudan, the -A, the

-!S!, the -, and .akistan!

As unsuspe#ting Yemenis slept in their homes, Saudi Arabia and Co! unleashed a

deluge o% bombs onto the #apital, Sana&a, #aring little %or the millions o% #i$ilians

below, intent on #rushing their designated enemy, the /outhis!

The new obe#t o% the kingdom&s disa%%e#tion, the /outhis are a Yemeni rebel group

hailing %rom northern Sa&ada organied under the leadership o% Abdel'alek Al

/outhi and ha$e been a#ti$ely depi#ted in western and pro*SA media as the sour#eo% all e$il, a Shia rebel %a#tion in #ollusion with "ran, the new enemy to hate and,

abo$e all, the new target to destroy!

And while su#h a narrati$e #ould be easily #onstrued as politi#ally #harged, the mere

mani%estation o% Saudi Arabia&s paranoia# %ear that "ran might one day ambition to

dissol$e its mighty Arabian empire, labelling the /outhis as Shia and in%erring they

represent Yemen&s entire Shia #ommunity has only ser$ed to %uel negati$e se#tarian

sentiment while stripping all Shia in Yemen %rom their inalienable national #i$il rights!

The euation has been as %ollows3 /outhis are Shia and there%ore all Shia in Yemen

are /outhis! Sin#e all /outhis are in allian#e with "ran and there%ore inherently bad,

all Shia in Yemen should be treated with suspi#ion and e$entually neutralied!

4hile this rhetori# ser$es the kingdom&s rea#tionary religious stan#e, appealing to its

radi#al religious leadership, it has put Yemen and o% #ourse all Yemenis in the

#ross%ire o% a dangerous debate3 %reedom o% religion! 'ore importantly su#h a

redu#tion o% Yemen&s politi#al, so#ial, and religious makeup is as bias as it is

pro%oundly erroneous!

"n the words o% %amous "rish politi#ian, a$id Trimble, 6The dark shadow we seem to

see in the distan#e is not really a mountain ahead, but the shadow o% the mountain

behind7a shadow %rom the past thrown %orward into our %uture! "t is a dark sludge

o% histori#al se#tarianism! 4e #an lea$e it behind us i% we wish!8

So what happened in Yemen that the world has %elt #ompelled to re$ert to religious

labelling and shaming in order to ad$an#e its politi#al agenda on the ground9

The %irst element here that needs to be understood is that Saudi Arabia, the main

instigator o% $iolen#e and promoter o% hate, is itsel% de%ined within the parameters

o% religious radi#alism7 in essen#e, rea#tionary Sunni 4ahhabis are prone to ree#t

anything that does not %all in line with their understanding o% the di$ine! This trait

has been amply demonstrated by :iyadh in its brutal and o%ten bloody repression#ampaign against Shia rights a#ti$ists in the eastern pro$in#e o% +ati%!

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The arrest and subseuent senten#ing to death o% Sheikh Nimr Al Nimr stands as

testimony to Saudi Arabia&s intoleran#e towards whoe$er or whate$er is per#ei$ed to

represent a threat to its authority7religious, politi#al or otherwise!

(ut ba#k to Yemen;!

A lesson in religion: What is Zaidism?

To better understand what is at play and truly grasp the tragedy that is un%olding inthis on#e oyous nation o% southern Arabia, one needs to go ba#k to the so#ial

religious makeup o% Yemen!

Yemen is a 'uslim nation! And though "slam a#ts as the a<is upon whi#h the

#onstitution has been wea$ed, it is important to understand that unlike its northern

neighbor Saudi Arabia, Yemen is at heart a tolerant and religiously in#lusi$e #ountry!

Now, Yemen&s 'uslim population #an be broken down into two main religious groups3

the Sunnis to the south and the =aidis to the north!

=aidism, the oldest bran#h o% Shia "slam, #arries $ery little di%%eren#e to Sunnism7

at least not in the sense many might think! )ust as Sunni "slam is not Saudi Arabia,=aidism is not Shia "ran!

Now, about >0 per#ent o% Yemen&s total population is =aidi! Yemen&s =aidi tradition

dates ba#k to eighth #entury A, when the -mmah ?'uslim #ommunity@ was

e<perien#ing its %irst great s#hism!

"nspired by "mam /ussein&s grandson, =ayd, =aidis are also known as i$ers and are

di%%erent in their philosophy %rom the Twel$ers7mainstream Shia "slam!

4ith a religious tradition stret#hing ba#k a#ross the #enturies, Yemeni =aidis are

hardly an oddity or e$en a new religious phenomenon as some media ha$e attempted to

portray them to be! "% the world suddenly woke up to Yemen&s =aidi #hara#ter, it is

mainly be#ause the religious suddenly appeared as a potent politi#al #atalyst, a weapon

o% opportunity!

Came along the /outhis;! As it happens, the /outhis, a tribal %a#tion %rom northern

Sa&ada organied politi#ally under the denomination, Ansarallah, are =aidi 'uslims!

And while they ne$er hid this %a#tor %rom their identity, their a%%iliation to =aidi

"slam has been o% no #onseuen#e when it #omes to their politi#al demands!

Bike any other politi#al groups in Yemen, the /outhis ha$e de%ined themsel$es

through their demands, not their %aith, as the Saudis and the world would do %or

them

4hile all /outhi tribesmen7not to be #on%used with the group&s politi#al arm,

Ansarallah, sin#e the %a#tion now in#ludes within its ranks Sunnis7are =aidis, not all

=aidis are /outhis! The /outhis are merely a tribal group within YemenD they do not

speak or represent the whole o% Yemen&s =aidi #ommunity! And while the /outhis

#arry immense weight within Ansarallah, not all Ansarallah members are /outhis!

'any o% Ansarallah leaders7Ali Al Amad, %or e<ample7do not belong to the /outhi

tribe!

"t is this #on%usion that has %ed the wa$e o% abuses that has be%allen Yemen =aidisand to a greater e<tent Yemen&s broad Shia #ommunity!

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As noted by /awra =akery, a rights a#ti$ist with Shia :ights 4at#h, 6Considering the

in#reasing antiShia mo$ements in 'iddle ast, it is #riti#al that politi#ians and media

outlets di%%erentiate between militant groups and maority o% Shia populations in

order to present this minority in a more realisti# pi#ture!8

She added, 6The /outhis themsel$es say to aim to speak %or the Yemeni people and

represent the Yemeni people&s aspirations, beyond religious dogma and su#hdi%%erentiation is #riti#al!8

The Shia boogeyman

Shia "slam stands now the boogeyman, the twisted religious ideology that e$eryone is

so $ery s#ared o%! Thing is, no one really knows why! And therein lies an interesting

uestion indeed!

4hy is it, %or e<ample, that the /outhis #ontinue to be labelled as this 6Shia rebel

group8 when other groups do not enoy the same %lurry o% ade#ti$es9 Not e$en Al

+aida! 4hy not des#ribe Al +aida as this Sunni radi#alE4ahhabi terror group9 Fr

would that be upsetting %or Saudi Arabia9 4ould that automati#ally entails paintingo%% all 4ahhabis and Sunnis %or that matter, under the terror brush9

A#tually yes it would And o% #ourse that would be un%air, preudi#e and abo$e all

sel%de%eating!

.laying religion to %uel negati$e sentiments and somewhat rationalie $iolen#e will only

lead to more senseless $iolen#e and bloodshed!

And while the world remains at war with Yemen, Shia :ights 4at#h has rung the

alarm, #alling on world powers to honor their #ommitments to international law and

human rights and #hange the per$asi$e narrati$e whi#h is tearing Yemen apart %rom

the inside out!

6reedom o% religion is an alienable right! Yemen&s Shia #ommunity should not be

turned into a politi#al target so that to %it %oreign powers& agenda! .eople should not

ha$e to %eel threatened in their religious identity and be turned into easy targets o%

hate, shun by so#iety as they are members o% a minority,8 said S:4 in a statement!

S:4 a#tually argues that groups su#h as Al +aida and "S"S ha$e bene%ited %rom the

rise o% antiShia sentiments, both in Yemen and the broader region, as redu#ing the

debate to a %ramework o% Sunni $ersus Shia %its dire#tly into its politi#oreligious

narrati$e! The rights groups ha$e not been alone in this assessment!

'arwa Fsman, a politi#al analyst and #ommentator with :T stressed earlier this April

that Saudi Arabia&s antiShia #ampaign will #arry hea$y reper#ussions throughout the

'iddle ast!

 6The $iolen#e in Yemen began this month on 'ar#h %ourth when a #ar bomb e<ploded

outside a stadium in (eitha,8 wrote S:4 in its 'ar#h report, 6whi#h resulted in the

death o% 10 Shias and the wounding o% 50 more! This was only the beginning o% the

#asualties as 1GH Shias were murdered, and >00 were inured! 1>I o% the deaths and

I50 o% the inuries took pla#e on 'ar#h 20th when the "slami# State terrorists

per%ormed %our mosue bombings! This is the %irst month this year that Yemen hashad reported antiShia in#idents, but the in$asion by neighboring Jul% States may

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bring more #asualties! The Arab #oalition %or#es ha$e already begun ra#king up the

#i$ilian #asualties, whi#h in#lude a re%ugee #amp, and the in$asion #annot end well!8

'ore troubling yet, Yemeni =aidis ha$e been turned away %rom hospitals in the

#apital, re%used #are by do#tors on a##ount o% their =aidism o$er the past %ew

months7yet another mani%estation o% this new rising hatred politi#ians and media

ha$e %ueled and %ed!/ossam Al /amdi, an administrator at one o% Sana&a hospitals said he personally

witnessed two in#idents when =aidi patients were told to lea$e the premises and seek

treatment elsewhere! 6There&s been a great deal o% tensions within the #ommunities

as a lot o% people ha$e trans%erred their politi#al antipathy o% the /outhis onto all

Yemeni =aidis ; This is really a worrying de$elopment as Yemen has ne$er

e<perien#ed su#h problems be%ore!8

4hile Yemen su%%ered many woes o$er the years, de#ades and #enturies,

se#tarianism was ne$er part o% the euation! Are we to belie$e that Yemen =aidi

#ommunity, whi#h #ommunity has been around sin#e the eighth #entury suddenlybe#ame a potent threat to national se#urity9 Fr is it that politi#ians would mu#h

rather e<ploit religion to rationalie $ery worldly ambitions3 money and power!

This war in Yemen is not a religious one, but world powers are doing a really good ob

at turning it into one!

Bet us all remember why Saudi Arabia sent the hea$y #a$alry in Yemen3 oil and #ontrol

o$er the world oil route!