12/24/2023, Dayenu. All rights reserved.
<aside> <img src="/icons/forward_gray.svg" alt="/icons/forward_gray.svg" width="40px" /> In November 2023, Yemen’s militant organization the Houthis, backed by Iran, started attacking ships in the Red Sea to support Hamas in its war against Israel. ****We bring you a review of their activity and its impact.
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Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea
The Houthis are Zaydi Shiites whose doctrine and beliefs differ from the other Shiites who dominate in Iran, Iraq, and elsewhere.
Zaydis make up roughly 35% of the population of Yemen. They originally appeared in the 9th century, and, for the next thousand years, fought for control of Yemen with various degrees of success. They fought against both the Ottomans and the Wahhabis in the 18th and 19th centuries.
After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, a Zaydi monarchy called the Mutawakkilite Kingdom took power in North Yemen. In 1962, an Egyptian-backed military coup overthrew the Mutawakkilite king and established an Arab nationalist government with its capital in Sanaa. A Zaydi republican general named Ali Abdullah Saleh came to power after a succession of coups in 1978.
The Houthis, named after their charismatic leader Hussein al Houthi, emerged as a Zaydi resistance to Saleh and his corruption in the 1990s. The group also officially called itself Ansar Allah, or supporters of God.
<aside> ⚠️ The movement's slogan is "Death to America, Death to Israel, Curse the Jews, Victory to Islam.”
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After Saleh was replaced by the Sunni ruler Hadi in 2011, the Houthis briefly joined forces with Saleh to begin another civil war in 2014. Their coalition did not last long (the differences between the Houthis and Saleh’s group were too great, and in 2018, the Houthis killed Saleh), but the war is still going on almost a decade later, and almost 400,000 people have been killed in it to date. All sides of the war are credibly accused of war crimes.
Incidentally, according to the Brookings Institution, the war in Yemen costs Houthi-supporting Iran a few million USD per month, while it costs Saudi Arabia, which opposes the rebels, $6 billion per month.
“After nearly two years of civil war in Yemen, the armed Houthi movement still controls the main towns and cities in the north, including the capital Sanaa, but have steadily lost ground to troops loyal to the government based in Aden.” (Reuters, 2017)
Supported not only by Iran, but also by the Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis now control large parts of Yemen. Over time, they began attacking ships in the region. With the start of the war between Israel and the militant Islamist Hamas, such attacks have spiked.
Saudi Arabia chose to support Hadi and prevent the Houthi-Saleh rebellion from gaining control of the country, partially because they believe the Houthis to be Iranian proxies. They forged a coalition including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and other traditional Saudi allies. Two countries refused to join: Yemen’s neighbor Oman and Pakistan, whose parliament voted unanimously against the war. The US sided with the Saudis.
After first joining forces to fight the Houthis, Saudi Arabia and the UAE are now supporting rival groups. Tensions have bubbled between the two Gulf Arab powers on and off the Yemeni battlefield for years. But growing calls by UAE-aided Yemeni separatists for a break-off state in the south have infuriated Saudi Arabia which wants Yemen to remain intact.
The Biden administration is alarmed by the row and fears it will strengthen Iran and scuttle a key foreign policy goal: ending the almost decade-long civil war that has claimed almost 400,000 lives and become a political liability for the US.
The Houthis have declared solidarity with Hamas and have been attacking Israel since October 7th. They attacked from the south of the Arabian Peninsula with drones and missiles, hitting the southern Israeli city of Eilat. A U.S. destroyer also intercepted several drones in attacks on cargo ships.
The attacks fit the Houthis' anti-Semitic and anti-American rhetoric and their hope to gain broader recognition as part of Iran's "Axis of Resistance."
<aside> ⚠️ The Houthi militias present themselves as victims of a conspiracy between Israel, the USA and Saudi Arabia. This makes them popular with the Yemeni population.
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