Reality check on Yemen: Crippling bombing and blockade  
Autor: Mariângela Berquó | Publicado: 2017-04-16T00:03:00-07:00






Israel proibe cristãos palestinos de Gaza (e também da Cisjordânia) de celebrarem a Páscoa nos sítios sagrados.

People in the besieged Gaza Strip continue to be subjected to Israel’s rights violations. This time, the enclave’s Christian community has been deprived of their right to freedom of movement ahead of Easter celebrations. As Press TV’s Halla Alsafadi reports, many Christians in Gaza have been denied the travel permit to attend the celebrations in Jerusalem al-Quds or Bethlehem.

o



&nbsp;What Christians of the Arab world are facing this Easter&nbsp;


Excellent panel on Palestine, Syria and Yemen




O artigo de hoje é sobre o Yêmen, um dos países mais pobres do mundo e que tem uma das capitais mais bonitas que eu conheço - hoje, bombardeada como Aleppo. 
O Yêmen tem a falta de sorte de estar localizado do lado da Arábia Saudita, que gostaria mesmo era de anexar o lindo território litorâneo sem yemenitas dentro, de preferência. Este é um dos objetivos implícitos do bombardeio que dura desde 2015 com a cumplicidade dos Estados Unidos e dos seus aliados europeus Inglaterra e a França (de François Hollande, que como a de Marine Le Pen, não é bem a França).
Dir-se-ia que a Arábia Saudita tem conselheiros israelenses, tamanha é a semelhança entre a estratégia destrutiva dos dois agressores.
O bloqueio e os bombardeios sistemáticos de escolas, hospitais, terras cultivadas, rebanhos, do porto, enfim, da infraestrutura do país, condena a população à fome, explícita no que esta tem de mais deshumano: a imagem de crianças com a pele grudada nos ossos, deprimente.
Uma das diferenças do Yêmen com a Palestina é que o Estado Islâmico está aproveitando a brecha para marcar presença e estabelecer-se. Um pouco como na Faixa de Gaza, com o incentivo de Israel, mas o Hamas ainda consegue controlar a infiltração.
A outra diferença entre o Yêmen e a Palestina é que a definição de vilões não é tão nítida.
Na Palestina, tem um invasor e um ocupante, Israel, que está procedendo a uma limpeza étnica programada metodicamente contra uma população sem condições de defender-se militarmente. Nem diplomaticamente, já que só é observador na ONU.
No Yêmen, grande parte da população é armada - antes deste conflito atual começar, os homens já andavam de K47 de fabricação local pendurada no ombro, normalmente. E isto, combinado ao fato de que haver, realmente, uma guerra civil entre facções antes divididas entre Norte e Sul, aumenta o grau de violência. Um pouco como se os Estados Unidos tivessem bombardeado a Sérvia ou a Bósnia durante a guerra que levou à divisão da Iugoslávia.
O importante disso tudo é que, como a Faixa de Gaza estará em três anos - segundo os especialistas, a população do Yêmen está simplesmente definhando.
O que fazer?
Eu só posso informar,e esperar que alguma providência seja tomada.
Dito isto, considerando a importância estratégica da Arábia Saudita para os Estados Unidos, e a indiferença saudita para os direitos humanos e a vida em si, não há fim a vista.
Porém, denunciar é preciso.&nbsp; 




 While all eyes are turned to Syria and, briefly, to North Corea, Aid agencies have warned that Yemen is “at the point of no return” after new figures released by the UN
 indicated 17 million people are facing severe food insecurity and will 
fall prey to famine without urgent humanitarian assistance.
A total of 6.8 million people are deemed to be in a state of emergency – one step from famine on the five-point integrated food security phase classification
 (IPC), the standard international measure – with a further 10.2 million
 in crisis. The numbers reflect a 21% increase in hunger levels in the 
Arab world’s poorest state since June 2016.
In a region beset by bloody and pointless conflicts, Yemen's is especially disgusting. And yet it has largely escaped people's attention, it being in a poorer and smaller and blacker part of the world than Syria, with less of the traditional Cold War appeal.
Yemen has been engulfed in what is nominally a civil war since early 2015. In fact, and much like Syria, to call it a civil war is to do truth an injustice; it is, rather, a world war in microcosm.&nbsp;
Local factions include (but are not limited to) the insurgent Houthi rebels, allies but not friends of the former President, Ali Abdullah Saleh, one of the lesser-known targets of the Arab Spring; government forces loyal to incumbent President Addrabuh Mansour Hadi; al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, and Islamic State.&nbsp;
The Houthi rebels have allied with the forces of the ex-President, and that side allegedly receives support from Iran, and Iran’s allies – principally Eritrea – in North Africa.&nbsp;
The government forces are backed by a military coalition led by Saudi Arabia, which includes Egypt, Morocco, Jordan, Sudan, the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain and others, and that coalition has been lent military, logistical, tactical and financial support by the United States, the United Kingdom and France.
 The conflict lacks traditional Cold War appeal, yet in truth it is reminiscent of the worst aspects of that conflict.&nbsp;
Whilst Russian influence is subtle and slight when compared to the role it plays in Syria, Putin has been a reliable ally to Iran.&nbsp;
On the other hand, the support lent by the USA to the Saudi-led support of the Sunni regime complete the homage.&nbsp;


Actually, Yemen, like so many before it, is being pulled apart by competing foreign interests.
 That the world is so easily enraged by atrocities and war crimes being committed in Syria is somewhat surreal to those of us who strive to go into more depht, to look for the hidden lion on the grass, to search the conflict for the missing points, and for you, to look beyond the headlines.
As the Palestinians, the people of Yemen can tell many stories of ordeals at least as cruel and vicious as those inflicted upon the Syrians.&nbsp;&nbsp; 


Mainstream media and UNESCO World Heritage sites' concern for the destruction of historical monuments in Syria, should be extended to Yemen, particularly its capital. The views of the Old City of Sanaa from the rooftop restaurant at the Burj Al Salam Hotel was spectacular. Mosques and minarets jostle for space in this “city within a city”, with multi-tiered buildings of compacted earth and bricks forming intricate geometric white patterns often compared to wedding cakes are crammed together along narrow streets. Small gardens add splashes of green.
Inhabited for more than 2,500 years, Sanaa’s Old City was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1986. Its roughly 6,000 houses and more than 100 mosques were built before the 11th century. The structures have housed families for many generations. Yet it is all now at grave risk.
Almost as grave as the human drama of Yemen's citizens.&nbsp;



Some 80% of Yemen’s population are thought to qualify for humanitarian assistance. 17 million people, out of a population of 28 million, are judged by the UN to be one step away from famine, a disaster for which the war is almost certainly the sole cause. As of March this year, the UN's appeal&nbsp; for relief funding had amassed just £20 million of the estimated £1.6 billion required to redress the crisis. Even if these figures are inflated, as they often are in appeals for charity, it is impossible to underestimate the scale of the disaster; a disaster about which we know little and say nothing.&nbsp;
It is a conflict to which we should be offering nothing but condemnation.
Accusations of war crimes have been levelled against all sides, yet particularly at the Saudi-led coalition – the people the USA, France and Britain fund, support, arm and assist. Given its actions, this is not surprising. This is the coalition which declared the whole of Saada governorate (population 838,000) a military target, which routinely bombs hospitals and medical facilities, humanitarian convoys and refugee camps. Again – and I’m not at all sorry to bang on about this – they do so with our bombs, our planes, our training, and our guidance.
Saudi Arabia’s war on Yemen has created a huge humanitarian crisis. That much we know. Maybe that's why Donald Trump is seeking an even closer relationship with the Saudi Monarchy, which is an important part of Washington’s goal of dominating the Middle East for its natural resources, one that benefits its corporations that range from arms manufacturers to big oil companies.&nbsp;
One other important factor to consider is Israel’s interests which play an important part of U.S. foreign policy&nbsp;in the region. Saudi Arabia is a vassal state, one that has a long history of supporting terrorists such as the Islamic state, al-Qaeda and others who have wretched havoc across the Arab world killing innocent men, women and children. Saudi Arabia is also one of the worst human rights violators in the world especially against women.
Despite all that, mainstream media support the coalition and demonize the little help Hithous receive from Iran because Western relationship with Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies is economically lucrative.&nbsp;
Indeed it is, for the time being. However, it is not moral at all.



Taiz and Hodeidah governorates, home to almost 25% of Yemen’s 28 
million-strong population and the scene of intense conflict since the outbreak of civil war in 2015 and Saoudi Arabia heavy bombing campaign, are at particularly heightened risk of famine.

At the beginning, as Saudi Arabia
 began pounding the rebels with airstrikes, countries from the Middle 
East to Pakistan were said to be prepared to commit troops for a ground 
assault.
The US was providing “logistical and intelligence support” to the 
Saudi-led forces attacking the rebels and the Saudi-owned Al Arabiya news channel said the kingdom had 
lined up 150,000 soldiers in preparation for a ground offensive, with 
Egypt, Pakistan, Jordan and Sudan also ready to commit troops.
Later, in a sign of the broadening scope of Barack Obama’s intervention 
across the region, officials in Washington said the US was establishing a
 “joint planning cell” with Saudi Arabia to co-ordinate the air strikes 
on the Houthi forces seeking to overthrow the Yemeni government. Al Arabiya also said planes from Egypt, Morocco, Jordan, Sudan, 
Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain were taking part in 
the operation.
Iran, which "discreetly" backs the Houthis, demanded an immediate halt to the operation and said the airstrikes were a “dangerous step” that would worsen 
the crisis.
Unlike the attacks in Iraq and Syria, Obama's administration said none of its 
planes or troops were engaged in Yemen but insisted the action was a legitimate response to the advances made by the insurgents.
The fact is that neither of these foreigners should have intervened in Yemen.&nbsp;
The fact is that once again, the US backs the Sunnis against the Shias without any knowledge of the country's history and culture. &nbsp; 
The fact is that USA backed coalition was and is targeting intentionally food 
production, not simply agriculture in the fields,” said Martha Mundy, a 
professor emeritus at the London School of Economics. &nbsp;
An the U.N. warns: "An entire generation could be crippled by hunger," as war leaves 14 million Yemenis short of food.
Emphasising the role of conflict in the escalation of the crisis, Save the Children's Yemen spokesperson Mark Kaye said funding for Yemen – subject of a Disasters Emergency Committee appeal that has raised more than £20m as well as a call for $2.1bn (£1.6bn) by the UN – was only part of the solution: “This crisis is happening because food and supplies can’t get into the 
country. Yemen was completely dependent on imports of food, medicine and
 fuel prior to this crisis. You have one party delaying and 
significantly preventing food from getting into the country, and another
 on the ground who are detaining aid workers or preventing aid and food 
from getting to areas they don’t want it to go to. The international community need to open up the 
ports, need to ensure that enough food and aid is getting in.

Aid groups and senior UN figures have repeatedly urged the Gulf 
States to acknowledge that any attack on the port would have devastating
 consequences for Yemen’s food crisis. Before the conflict began, 80% of
 imports to Yemen came through the port, and 90% of food was imported.
In its defence, Saudis claimed the UN should visit the port to inspect how Houthis in 
breach of UN resolutions are using it not only to allow the import of 
food, but also to strengthen their war effort. Thet also claimed many NGOs and UN agencies critical of the 
campaign waged by the Gulf States are over-reliant on Houthi sources for
 their information about the nature of Saudi air attacks.
Which is not really true. Basmah Almolaiki, an activist who has been distributing food in Ibb 
for the past two years, warned that people in the city are facing 
starvation: “The humanitarian situation in Ibb is very bad, 80% of people are suffering from lack of food and they are starving,” she said.“It’s not only internally displaced people who need humanitarian aid,
 others who have been living in Ibb need that too. [But] 20% of people 
in Ibb feel shy to ask for food because they are used to not asking from
 others, they are dying in silence without anyone knowing. We started to
 know these people, we give them food at night so that no one finds that
 out. The situation is exacerbated by the increasing number of people who 
come here. The simplest daily life support does not exist in many 
houses. Humanitarian organisations left Ibb when the war began, and now 
only Unicef is distributing blankets, but no food.
Oxfam’s head of Yemen programme, said: “Urgent 
action is needed to get food into the country and move it from port to 
plate, along with vital fuel and medicines. All parties to this crisis 
must understand that the real enemy is famine. Efforts to avert a famine
 need to be backed up by political action to help end the fighting.”



The matter of the fact it that the coalition of Gulf countries led by Saudi Arabia and armed and supported by the U.S created what the United Nations has characterized as one of the worst humanitarian catastrophes in the world.
And it was the blockade imposed by Saudi Arabia that has further exacerbated this crisis, pushing hunger-stricken Yemen to the brink of famine. “An entire generation could be crippled by hunger,” a World Food Program official warned this month.&nbsp;
No matter what Saudi Arabia and the US say, it is happening because the coalition went out of its way to target food sources in the desperate country - in its battles to topple Yemen’s Houthi movement, which seized power in late 2014 - in order to restore to power the former pro-Saudi leader Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who had been appointed president in 2012 after an ostensible election with no opposition candidates.
In the first three months of the war the targets were largely military, but when surrender did not result, the pattern of targeting changed, deliberately targeting Yemen’s tiny agricultural sector in a campaign which, if successful, would lead a post-war Yemeni nation not just into starvation but total reliance on food imports for survival.
Yemeni government statistics and the Yemen Data Project lists show that roads and trucks carrying food were repeatedly targeted by the coalition. A degree of targeting that can’t be accidental comes through both the data sets on targets of coalition bombing.
On Aug. 12 2016, the coalition bombed and destroyed the main bridge to Sanaa, the Yemeni capital, on a road where roughly 90 percent of U.N. food and other aid is transported from the port city Hodeidah. After the attack, Oxfam issued a statement warning that the bridge’s destruction “threatens to leave many more people unable to feed themselves, worsening an already catastrophic situation in the country.” The main road between Sanaa and Hodeidah has also been repeatedly hit as part of a larger intentional strategy.


The U.N. and various human rights organizations have accused Saudi-led forces of numerous war crimes, documenting scores of coalition attacks on a wide array of civilian areas, including hospitals, schools, homes&nbsp;and refugee camps.
Agricultural infrastructure has been targeted in particular. Given that Yemen is still a largely agricultural nation, with more than half the population reliant on farming in some way, the bombing has had a horrific impact.
At least 357 agricultural targets have been bombed in Yemen’s 20 provinces. In addition to markets, stores, factories and food trucks, the Western-backed coalition has bombed farms, animals, water infrastructure and agricultural&nbsp;banks.
At least more than 7,600 people have been killed
 and 42,000 injured since March 2015, the majority in air strikes by the 
Saudi-led multinational coalition that backs the Sunni government. The UN has also repeatedly reported that the U.S.-backed, Saudi-led coalition is responsible for nearly two-thirds of the 4,100 civilian deaths, whereas Houthi rebels and allied militias loyal to former Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh have been responsible for less than one-fourth of civilian deaths. Extremist groups like al-Qaida and ISIS, which have been strenghtened by the war, were responsible for the rest.
Yet these are tallies of&nbsp;deaths caused by warring parties; they could pale in comparison to the possibly enormous number of Yemenis who might die from starvation and malnutrition.
Since June 2015 nongovernmental organizations&nbsp;have warned that more than 80 percent of Yemen’s population&nbsp;(at least 21 million people) is&nbsp;in desperate need of humanitarian aid, including food, water and medicine. The Saudi blockade has made the already disastrous effects of the bombing even worse.







Despite this conflict that has been raging in Yemen since 2015, the desperation in the region is such that people from Somalia, Ethiopia and Eritrea remain undeterred to thread on the perilous routes only to encounter dangerous conditions when they get there. To paraphrase the Somali-British poet Warsan Shire, they continue to flee their lands, as home won't let them stay.
Just how dangerous this journey can be was made clear last month, when the coalition forces attacked a boat carrying 150 Somali refugees, hit by a helicopter and a military ship near the Yemeni port of Hodeidah. At least 42 were killed.
Since 2013, nearly 290,000 refugees and migrants have landed on the Yemeni coast. Nearly 80 percent of these were Ethiopians, and most of the rest were Somalis. Most journey to Yemen in the hope of using it as a transit point, while others look to stay in Yemen, often unaware of the dangers. 
Between January 2006 and April 2016, more than 700,000 persons reportedly crossed from the Horn of Africa to Yemen, with Somalis mostly staying in Yemen as refugees and Ethiopians travelling onwards to Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries, in search of work. 
So why are people from the Horn still trying to reach a conflict-ridden country and what should be done to stop them from embarking on such a dangerous journey?
Even awareness of the danger don't change decisions.&nbsp; 
The Ethiopian state of emergency that was declared October 2016 continues to fuel outward displacement, and Ethiopian asylum seekers refer to the unrest as a key reason for their migration out of the country.
Somalis cite a number of reasons for migrating including economic opportunities, tribal conflict, poverty and hardship and conflict between the government and al-Shabab - an extremist jihadist group based in East Africa, tied to al-Qaeda.
Two reasons for attempting the journey that most people from the Horn share are a sense of responsibility to their families and positive perceptions of migration.
Various agencies have been campaigning to raise awareness of the dangers of embarking on the journey to Yemen. UNHCR launched the "Dangerous Crossings" campaign (video above) in February 2017 featuring a song with prominent musicians from the region. The song is promising in that the various languages of the region are incorporated and the message "thinking carefully before deciding to cross to Yemen" is emphasised.
But how many people thinking of leaving their countries have TV or internet access in order to see the campaign's message? The majority of them receive information primarily through their communities: friends, families, relatives, churches and mosques, radio stations, coffee shop gatherings, et cetera.
They are also more likely to value the opinions of people personally known to them rather than celebrities. There is little relation between the would-be asylum seekers and artists featured in this campaign.
The campaign also doesn't give details of what the "dangerous crossings" entail. It is void of practical details and real-life examples of what people can expect from this journey. The likelihood of the campaign having a trickle-down effect is therefore quite slim.
That being said, these efforts are unlikely to stem migration. As long as the political crises, conflict and security issues, economic, environmental and social problems persist in the region, people will continue to look outwards for better prospects.
It is known that a high percentage of new arrivals on the shores of Yemen from the Horn every month are repeat asylum seekers. Approximately 25 percent are estimated to have tried to make the journey to live and work in Yemen or to move through to Saudi Arabia.
These findings suggest that informing people about the risks through awareness-raising campaigns may not act as a deterrent, indicating a clear need for a long-term strategy for finding solutions and viable alternatives for a better quality of life.
That also being said, awareness campaigns are still important because they allow people to make informed decisions and equip them with a full understanding of what lies ahead.




To make a long story short, Yemen, one of the Arab world's poorest countries, has been devastated by a war between forces loyal to the Saoudi-Western backed government of President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi (whose election was not very democratic) and those allied to the Houthi insurgent movement.

The conflict and a blockade imposed by the coalition have also triggered a humanitarian disaster, leaving 70% of the population in need of aid.
The conflict in Yemen has its roots in the failure of the political transition that was supposed to bring stability to Yemen following an uprising that forced its longtime authoritarian president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, to hand over power to Addrabuh Mansour Hadi, his deputy backed by Saudi Arabia, in November 2011.
Hadi had no popular legitimacy and he was not strong enough to deal with a variety of problems, including attacks by al-Qaeda, the Houthi separatist movement in the south, the continuing loyalty of many military officers to Saleh, as well as corruption, unemployment and food insecurity.
The Houthi movement, which champions Yemen's Zaidi Shia Muslim minority and fought a series of rebellions against Saleh during the previous decade, took advantage of the new president's weakness by taking control of their northern heartland of Saada province and neighbouring areas.
Disillusioned with the transition, many ordinary Yemenis - including Sunnis - supported the Houthis and in September 2014 they entered the capital, Sanaa, setting up street camps and roadblocks.
In January 2015, the Houthis reinforced their takeover of Sanaa, surrounding the presidential palace and other key points and effectively placing Hadi and his cabinet ministers under house arrest.
The president escaped to the southern port city of Aden the following month.
The Houthis and security forces loyal to Saleh then attempted to take control of the entire country, forcing Hadi to flee abroad in March 2015.
That would have been the end of Yemen's internal affairs. However, unwilling to allow a Shia administration in power, Saudi Arabia and eight other mostly Sunni Arab states began an air campaign aimed at restoring Hadi's government. Directly, the coalition received logistical and intelligence support from the US, UK and France. Indirectly, from the Islamic State.
All the problems in the Middle East begin with Western interference.






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YEMEN TIMELINE: History and Insurgency


610/620s:  Muhammad’s ministry
661:  Caliph Ali assassinated
736:  Zaid, great-great-grandson of Muhammad, rebels
864:  First Zaidi state formed in northern Iran
890s:  Zaidi state set up in Yemen
1500s - Ottomans absorb part of Yemen into their empire but are expelled in the 1600s.
1635:  Yemeni/Zaidis defeat Ottomans
1839 - British take over Aden, and when the Suez Canal opens in 1869 serves as a major refuelling port. 
1849 - Ottomans return to north, but later face revolt. 
1870-1918:  Second Ottoman occupation
1918 - Ottoman empire dissolves, North Yemen gains independence and is ruled by Imam Yahya. 
1948 - Yahya assassinated, but his son Ahmad beats off opponents of feudal rule and succeeds his father. 
1962 -
 Imam Ahmad dies, succeeded by his son but army officers seize power, 
set up the Yemen Arab Republic, sparking civil war between royalists 
supported by Saudi Arabia and republicans backed by Egypt.
1962:  Republican revolution in North Yemen
1962–70:  Civil war in North Yemen 
1967:  South Yemen independent from UK. Formation of People's Republic of Yemen, comprising Aden and former Protectorate of South Arabia. 
1969
 - Marxists take power in south, rename state People's Democratic 
Republic of Yemen and reorient economy, society and foreign policy 
towards Soviet bloc. 
1971 - Thousands flee to north following crackdown on dissidents. Armed groups formed in bid to overthrow government. 
1972 - Border clashes between two Yemens, ceasefire brokered by Arab League. 
1978 - Ali Abdallah Saleh becomes president of North Yemen. 
1979 - Fresh fighting between two Yemens. Renewed efforts to unite the two states. 
1982 - Earthquake kills 3,000. 
1986 -
 Thousands die in south in political rivalry. President Ali Nasser 
Muhammad flees the country and is later sentenced to death for treason. 
New government formed. 


1990 May - North and South Yemen unite as Republic of Yemen with Mr Saleh 
as president, as Soviet bloc implodes. Tension between former states 
endures.
1992 - Food price riots in major towns. 
1993  April - Coalition government formed, made up of ruling parties of former north and south. 
1993  August
 - Vice-President Ali Salim al-Baid withdraws to Aden, alleging that 
south is being marginalised and southerners are being attacked by 
northerners.
Attempted split. 
1994 May-July - Saleh 
declares state of emergency and dismisses al-Baid and other southern 
government members following political deadlock and sporadic fighting. 
Former armies that failed to integrate square off on old border.&nbsp;
Al-Baid declares independence of Democratic Republic of Yemen. 
Northern forces capture Aden, southern leaders flee abroad and are 
sentenced to death in absentia. 
1995 - Yemen, Eritrea clash over disputed islands in Red Sea. Al-Qaeda attacks
2000  October - US naval vessel USS Cole damaged in al-Qaeda suicide attack in Aden. Seventeen US personnel killed. 
2001  February - Violence in run-up to disputed municipal polls and referendum, which back extension to presidential term and powers.&nbsp;
2002 February - Yemen expels more than 100 foreign Islamic clerics in crackdown on al-Qaeda. 
October
 - Al-Qaeda attacks and badly damages oil supertanker MV Limburg in Gulf
 of Aden ,killing one and injuring 12 crew members and costing Yemen 
dear in lost port revenues. 
2003 April - The 10 chief suspects in the bombing of the USS Cole escape from custody in Aden. Two are re-captured in 2004.
2004 June-August - Hundreds die as troops battle Shia insurgency led by Hussein al-Houthi in the north.  Current war starts.
August - Court sentences 15 men on terror charges, including bombing of Limburg tanker in 2002.
September - Government says its forces have killed dissident cleric Hussein al-Houthi, the leader of a revolt in the north.
2005 March-April - More than 200 people are killed in a 
resurgence of fighting between government forces and supporters of the 
slain rebel cleric Hussein al-Houthi. 
May - President
 Saleh says the leader of the rebellion in the north has agreed to 
renounce the campaign in return for a pardon. Minor clashes continue. 
July
 - Police and witnesses say at least 36 people are killed across the 
country in clashes between police and demonstrators protesting about a 
cut in fuel subsidies. 
December - More than 60 people are killed when a landslide destroys a mountain village around 20km from Sanaa. 
2006 March
 - More than 600 followers of slain Shia cleric Hussein al-Houthi who 
were captured following a rebellion he led in 2004 are released under an
 amnesty. 
September - President Saleh wins another term in elections. 
2007 January-March - Scores are killed or wounded in clashes between security forces and al-Houthi rebels in the north. 
2007 June - Rebel leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi accepts a ceasefire. 
July - Suicide bomber attacks a tourist convoy killing eight Spaniards and two Yemenis in the province of Marib. 
August - Citizens banned from carrying firearms in Sanaa. Demonstrations without a permit are outlawed. 
October - Volcano erupts on the Red Sea island of Jabal al-Tair where Yemen has a military base. 
November
 - Clashes between Yemeni tribesmen and army personnel protecting a 
Ukrainian oil company leave 16 people dead in the south-eastern Shabwa 
province. 
2008 January - Renewed clashes between security forces and rebels loyal to Abdul-Malik al-Houthi. 
March-April - Clashes with troops as southern Yemenis protest against alleged northern bias in state job allocation. One man killed. Series of bomb attacks on police, official, diplomatic, foreign 
business and tourism targets. US embassy evacuates all non-essential 
personnel. 
September - Attack on US embassy in Yemeni capital Sana'a kills 18 people, including six assailants. Six suspects arrested. 
October - President Saleh announces arrest of suspected Islamist militants allegedly linked to Israeli intelligence.
November
 - Police fire warning shots at Common Forum opposition rally in Sanaa. 
Demonstrators demand electoral reform and fresh polls. At least five 
protesters and two police officers injured. 
2009 February - Government announces release of 176 al-Qaeda suspects on condition of good behaviour.
Saudis bomb Yemen rebels
August
 - The Yemeni army launches a fresh offensive against Shia rebels in the
 northern Saada province. Tens of thousands of people are displaced by 
the fighting. 
November - Saudi Arabia says it has regained control of territory seized by Yemeni rebels in a cross-border incursion. 
December
 - Yemen-based branch of al-Qaeda claims it was behind failed attack on 
US airliner. The government calls on the West for more support to help 
it combat the al-Qaeda threat.
2010 February 2- Government signs ceasefire with Houthi northern rebels, which breaks down in December.
September - Thousands flee government offensive against separatists in southern Shabwa province. 
October - Global terror alert after packages containing explosives originating in Yemen are intercepted on cargo planes bound for the US.
2011 January - Tunisian street protests encourage similar demonstrations in other countries, including Yemen. President Saleh pledges not to extend his presidency in 2013 or to hand over to his son.
February 3: More than 20, 000 anti-government protesters gathered in Sanaa for a "day of rage" demanding president Saleh's resignation.
February/March: Huge protests in the capital Sanaa and across the country continued despite the presidential announcement.
March 7: Reports of deaths and injuries after security forces open fire on detainees
 as they gathered in the prison's courtyard in Sanaa to show their 
solidarity with the people who want to overthrow the government.
March 12: Crackdown on protesters&nbsp;leaves tens of people dead.
March 18:&nbsp;Armed men kill over 40 protesters in the capital.&nbsp;President Saleh announces a state of emergency.
March 20: President Saleh fires his entire cabinet.
 But even his own tribe calls for his resignation. Also&nbsp;the Yemen 
ambassador to&nbsp;the UN&nbsp;quit in protest at the use of force against 
protesters.
March 21:&nbsp;- Several top military commanders defect
 and troops and tanks are deployed in Sanaa to protect the 
anti-government protesters.&nbsp;Yemen's ambassador to Syria also resigns 
from his post to support the anti-government movement demanding Saleh's 
resignation.
June - After months of mounting protests, President Saleh is injured in rocket attack and flown to Saudi Arabia, returning home in September. 
September - US-born al-Qaeda leader Anwar al-Awlaki is assassinated by US forces.
November - President Saleh agrees to hand over power to his deputy, Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi. Unity government including prime minister from opposition formed.
2012 February - Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi inaugurated as president after contested elections.
September - Defence Minister Muhammad Nasir Ahmad survives car bomb attack in Sanaa that kills 11 people, a day after local al-Qaeda deputy head Said al-Shihri is reportedly dead in the south.
November - A Saudi diplomat and his bodyguard are shot dead in Sanaa. Security officials say the assailants, who opened fire on the diplomat's convoy, were dressed in police uniforms.&nbsp;
2014 January - National Dialogue Conference winds up after ten months of deliberation, agreeing a document on which the new constitution will be based.
February - Presidential panel gives approval for Yemen to become a federation of six regions as part of its political transition.
July - Tribesmen blow up the country's largest oil pipeline, disrupting supplies from the interior to a Red Sea export terminal.
August - President Hadi sacks his cabinet and overturns a controversial fuel price rise following two weeks of anti-government protests in which Houthi rebels are heavily involved.
Northern rebels, known as Houthis or Ansar Allah (Partisans of God), adhere to a branch of Shia Islam known as Zaidism. Zaidis ruled North Yemen for almost 1,000 years until 1962. They took control of Sanaa in 2014
September - Houthi insurgents take control of the most of capital Sanaa.


2015 January - Houthis reject draft constitution proposed by Hadi. 
February - Houthis appoint presidential council to replace Hadi, who flees to Aden southern stronghold. 
March - Islamic State carries out its first major attacks in Yemen - two suicide bombings targeting Shia mosques in Sanaa in which 137 people are killed.
Houthi rebels start to advance towards southern Yemen. President Hadi flees Aden.
Saudi-led coalition of Gulf Arab states launches major air strikes and imposes naval blockade. 
June - Leader of Al-Qaeda in Arabian Peninsula, Nasser al-Wuhayshi, killed in US drone strike in Yemen.
September - Hadi returns after Saudi-backed&nbsp; government forces recapture the port city from Houthi forces and launch advance on Aden.
2016 April - Start of UN-sponsored talks between the government on one side and Houthis and former President Saleh's General People's Congress (GPC) on the other. 
May-June - Islamic State group claims responsibility for a number of attacks, including a suicide car bombing that killed at least 40 army recruits in Aden.
October - Airstrike by Saudi-led coalition hits a crowded funeral in Sanaa, killing 140 mourners and injuring 500.
To be continued... 


Para não dizer que não falei na Síria. Eis um debate interessante.

Norton &amp; Max Blumenthal:&nbsp; Is Trump Rescuing Al-Qaeda's 'Heartland' in Syria?


Empire Files:&nbsp; Anti-Black Racism Reveals Israel’s White Supremacy   


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PALESTINA

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Schedule of Events: Actions around the world for Palestinian Prisoners














&nbsp;Washington Report on Middle East Affairs 2017&nbsp;
Khalil Jahshan - The Fake Peace Process&nbsp;          



&nbsp;Hanan Ashrawi:




Ilan Pappe 




Below, in
 a rare, candid conversation, Abby Martin interviews a former Israeli 
Army combat soldier who served as an occupier in Palestine’s Hebron 
City.&nbsp;

Eran
 Efrati spent years as a sergeant and combat soldier in the Israeli 
military, but has since become an outspoken critic of the occupation of 
Palestine and Israeli apartheid.&nbsp;

Efrati
 gives explosive testimony on the reality of his service and explains 
how war crimes are institutionalized, as well as how systematic the 
oppression against Palestinians really is in a war of conquest that will
 no-doubt be accelerated under the Trump Administration.







&nbsp; 
Israel "has lost" the bodies of 250 Palestinians...






.Second Palestinian boy dies weeks after soldiers shot up car.&nbsp;
. Trading with Israeli settlements is against the law.&nbsp;
. Crowdfunder for Gaza writer's library gets support from Pollitt, Chomsky.&nbsp;
.Amnesty International: Israel must end 'unlawful and cruel' policies towards Palestinian.&nbsp;
&nbsp;OCHA: Concern about collective punishment.&nbsp;
Foto:Belém/Bethlehem. Man known as “Behimish” (which means “I don’t care”) blocks an Israeli military jeep from reaching protesters. Palestinos conhecido como "Behimish" (que significa "Não tô nem aí) bloqueia veículo militar da IDF para que este não ataque uma passeata pacífica. 
OCHA


PCHR: Weekly Report - One Palestinian dead; 71 abducted by Israeli troops last week.


International Solidarity Movement – Nonviolence. Justice. Freedom



B'Tselem




Breaking the Silence



BRASIL

DIRETAS, JÁ! 






Caros Amigos&nbsp;

PIAUÍ 

The Intercept Brasil



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Golpista Michel Temer, com imunidade, é alvo de uma das acusações mais graves da Lavajato