frome stop the war

Letter from Yemeni citizen to Ban Ki-Moon

Posted on by jjudithbbrown

This letter needs to be widely circulated.  Please can you send a copy to newspapers – if enough copies are sent it will create a media storm and make editors think again of their policies of silence on the war on Yemen.

His Excellency Ban Ki-Moon
Secretary-General of United Nations
United Nations Headquarters
760 United Nations Plaza
New York, NY 10017, US

Re: Stop the Saudi aggression

Dear Mr. Secretary-General,
Months have passed since the beginning of the coalition aggression on the Yemenis people led by the Saudi government and its allies with complete disregard to the lives of Yemenis and their wellbeing. The fatalities has passed the thousands mark, uncountable casualties, disastrous cities and towns with no sign for this aggression to halt.
The military alliance lead by the Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia has vowed to directly punish the Yemenis people by targeting their public sector such as Airports, sea ports, highways, food factories, schools and even hospitals. The so called collateral damages has become a common tone used by the coalition whenever a human loss was a direct result of their actions.
Al-Sabeen Maternity and Children’s Hospital, a key Yemeni hospital was on the brink of closure as airstrikes intensify on Sana’a according to Save the Children report on the 31 August 2015 (https://www.savethechildren.org.uk/…/key-yemen-hospital-bri…’), was once again directly hit few days later after that report on Saturday the 5th of September 2015 and buildings nearby had been leveled as explosions rang through the night and morning. At least 27 members of two families were killed and tens of casualties in critical conditions. The manager of Al-Sabeen Maternity and Children’s Hospital said it had been severely damaged and on the verge of collapse with its neonatal intensive care unit suffering the most from shortages of medical supplies and staff. The hospital has also appealed to the international organization to help evacuate the remaining patients as its Deputy Manager, Halel Al-Bahri, said three infant aged less than 10 days old and two aged three weeks old were among the fatalities as a result of the coalition aggression and that an urgent intervention is needed to stop this aggression.

The deafening silence of the international communities is unprecedented and the complete absence of regards to Yemenis lives by the wider community is unreal. Here in Yemen, babies are robbed from the warmth of their parents, the sound of human voice whispering, singing, and humming softly as they laid down to sleep. The happiness these babies have once brought to this nation are now converted to grieving parents and shocked country as they daily lying down their beloved ones on their final journey.
While human lives are equally valued, whether it is in Asia, Africa or Europe, a boy drowned off the shores of Europe or a baby aged three days old dying in his incubators in Yemen, many Yemenis around the world are deeply concerned about their beloved home and all have great concern about this unjust world.
Many Yemenis have come together to urge you and request an urgent involvement to lend a helping hand to the hospitals and medical staff and to stop the deterioration of living conditions in Yemen and to bring to justices the parties and individual responsible for all types of hostilities aggressions
Thank you so much for your precious time and for allowing us to bring to your attention our deep desire to see Yemen as a free nation, respected and uphold its values of human rights and dignity.

(from a Yemeni citizen).

Yemen, its historical sites, and war; Part 3.

Posted on by jjudithbbrown

Between 12th Century BCE and 6th Century BC Yemen was one of the leading dynasties in the world, it was known as ‘Arabia Felix’ or Happy Arabia. The dynasties included Ma’in, Qataban, Hadramaut, Aswan, Saba and Himyar.  The Himyarite kingdom was an important one for Yemen, because it located its capital in Sanaa, the same location as today’s capital city.  The remains of the Ghamdan Palace where the rulers lived are in the Old City in Sanaa, and that too was destroyed in an earlier war.  The Himyarite period was known to the Romans, the Greeks, and the Egyptians as the Homerite Kingdom, and it spanned from 110BC to 520h (1126).   There were many cities in Yemen at that time with over 5,000 inhabitants, which was large for that period of history.  Because of its importance to Yemen, a museum collected the artefacts which were used by scholars and researchers; they numbered over 10,000 artefacts. This museum and its contents have now been erased, no longer available for scholars researching ancient world history.

dhamar museum
Dhamar museum, which contained 10,000 artefacts from the Himyarite period.
museum after bombing raid
The remains of the Dhamar museum today

The Regional Museum was the main museum of the Dhamar governorate. It was built at Hirran, north of Dhamar city, in 2002. It had several exhibition halls, a lecture hall, a computer laboratory and storerooms. Its pre-Islamic collection comprised over hundred inscriptions of various provenance and period, whereas the section dedicated to the Islamic archaeology contains some decorated artefacts bearing Arabic inscriptions, in addition to jewels and other handmade products of traditional handicrafts in Dhamar. The most important object is the wooden minbar (pulpit) from the Great Mosque of Dhamar city, which was dated to the fourth century Hegira (11th Century). This was bombed on 18th June 2015.  I have also heard that another museum has been bombed in Zinjibar, Abyan province, but I cannot find confirmation.

Another UNESCO site that has been damaged is the Al Ashrafiyya Mosque in Taiz.

The Al Ashrafiyya after its recent restoration
The Al Ashrafiyya after its recent restoration

One of the beautiful minarets of al-Ashrafiyya Mosque has been hit by tank shelling. It tooks more than 10 years to the Yemeni-Italian restoration team to complete the intervention and restore the original beauty of this holy place and they were ready to begin with the project for the restoration of nearby Al-Muzaffar complex, which now is unlikely to proceed.  It was damaged on 18th June 2015.

The damage to the minaret
The damage to the minaret

The south west corner of Yemen is indeed suffering considerable damage as several militias are fighting and it is also subjected to overhead bombing by the Saudi coalition.  The city of Lahj has been destroyed, mostly by militia activity.

(photos of Lahj from Fatema need downloading from phone and inserting.

Parts of Aden have suffered extensive damage.  The oldest district, Crater, is indeed built in the crater of an extinct volcano. Most of the buildings are relatively recent, but there was a pretty mosque that was used to illustrate stamps during the British occupation of Aden, called the Aidrus mosque.

aidrus mosque
Stamp depicting Aidrus Mosque

This mosque is believed to date from the end of the 15th Century. It was damaged during the 1994 civil war, when old Qu’rans were burned by Yemeni troops from the north, and it has been destroyed in May this year when Houthi militias burned down many of the buildings in Crater, including the Aidrus Mosque. I have no photographs of the mosque post damage  but this is a view of Crater at the time of the arson attack, which does not give me confidence that it has survived.

crater 006
Crater after arson attack by Houthi militias

Another building in Aden has suffered damage from bombs, this is an old Ottoman fort overlooking the harbour known as Seera Castle. This grand citadel was in excellent condition when I visited it in 2011, and commands extensive views of the sea and harbour. I understand it suffered extensive damage on 22nd June, although I have no photographs of the damage.

seera castle7
Seera Castle, Aden, now damaged by bombs.

I also understand that the port area has suffered considerable damage, but have no other details. The port has the remains of grand and imposing buildings erected during the British occupation of Aden, which were badly in need of loving care but not damaged or altered in any way, and after restoration could have been made the area into an attractive area for visitors. Also near the port was the attractive guesthouse of the Sultan of Lahj, or the Sultan of Abdali, who ruled Yemen in the Ottoman period and remained on good terms with the British during their occupation. Indeed, despite the long and bitter campaign to make the British forces leave, Adenis now remember the British occupation in positive terms and feel a strong allegiance with British people. The statue of Queen Victoria remained in place, and a small church damaged once by Al Qaeda and restored, were always treated with respect by Aden people.  I fear for these buildings that reveal a significant part of Aden’s 19th and 20th century history will be lost, and with it, the potential for developing tourism in this part of Yemen.

What makes me feel so sad is that everyone has lost, and no-one has gained.  This is a man made war that cannot be won by military means. In the end, Yemeni and Saudi people will have to sit down with people they hate and make painful compromises. They could have done this without the loss of life, the suffering, and the loss of Yemeni, and world, architectural and historical heritage.

Another day in Yemen.

Posted on by jjudithbbrown

yemen women

I am on the phone to a friend in Sanaa, when a bomb blast rocks her house. It is a bomb in a mosque 100 yards from the house where I used to live in Al Qaa. Today I read it is one of four mosque bombs, for which Islamic State claims responsibility. More victims. And more evidence of the spread of extremist Sunni militias in Yemen.  It is only a few days since I first heard of Islamic State’s activity in Yemen. Now it is a new and frightening phase in the civil war in Yemen.

It is a problem getting through to friends, due to the erratic electricity supply. In parts of Sanaa they have had no electricity for seven days.  When the electricity is turned on, everyone rushes to charge their phones and get to the nearest pump with their containers to get water.  “You can live without electricity,” my friend says “but we are getting worried as it is impossible to manage without water.”  Like many Yemeni families, hers are thinking they might have to travel overseas to seek refuge.  Her parents own their own house, and other properties which they rent out as a source of income. At the moment, they are hosting three other displaced families in their home. Once they leave their house, they know it will be difficult to claim their own property back. Their choice is not an easy one. My friend tells me the water situation has been eased a little as some wealthy Yemenis have paid for water tanks to be delivered to the poorer areas of Sanaa, so they think they might stay a bit longer and see if things improve.  One of the water tankers was delivering water and a bomb was dropped on them, killing the two drivers and injuring men and children who were queuing to fill their containers.

This friend, who has a degree in English and a Master’s degree in education, asks me if it would be possible for her to find work anywhere in UK.  She is worried about the insecurity of travelling without work, and with limited savings, and she doesn’t want to be a refugee – she is a proud and industrious single woman, who worked as a translator and Arabic teacher even as a student to help pay her way through university; that was how I first met her. She has been in full time employment for more than fifteen years. I tell her that there is no chance of her working anywhere in Europe. She understands.

I get an email from a British friend who lives in Dubai with her Yemeni husband. He is worried about his sister and her family who live in Sanaa, and they have been trying to get them to Dubai. Jackie and her husband have their own company, and they have been applying for their relatives to get a visa. I wanted to hear the result of their efforts, because I too have residency in Dubai and I had been thinking I could try to get a work visa for my friend Sameera’s son.  If Jackie has been successful, then I might try too. But no, they cannot get a visa.  They have made many attempts, trying to be inventive to find a route that will unlock the door to Dubai.  The answer is always no.  Another avenue closed.

So I have to ring Sameera, whom I call her my sister – she is now living in a small flat in Tarim with 18 other displaced people – I tell her this news.  She works for UNHCR, the refugee arm of the UN.  The office in Aden is closed down, but she still gets updated on the situation there, and works on the Internet when the electricity allows.  She tells me that the situation in Aden is critical. People are dying of starvation, dehydration, disease and conflict. There are no humanitarian agencies there because it is too dangerous.  We discuss what her family will do next. She says that her son and son-in-law might travel to Malaysia, the only country that has offered three month visas to Yemenis escaping the war.  We discuss whether her daughter, now pregnant because of the lack of available contraception, should go with them. I suggest to Sameera that she should go too – the whole family should travel together. I tell her, as an experienced doctor, she is the one who is most likely to find work, and her family need her.  She is surprised at my suggestion, but after a few moments, I can tell that she is considering it. Once she leaves Yemen, her job with the UN will be terminated, and she will have no income at all; it’s risky. We discuss how her three children whose degree courses have been terminated due to the war can get qualified; they were studying dentistry, medicine and engineering. I promise to continue working on it; with little electricity and poor Wi-Fi, they rely on me to contact universities throughout the world.

In a text when she fled from Aden, Sameera said “My dear, for the first time, I feel so fragile and helpless. I can’t think, act or plan, all I do is cooking and wait for what tomorrow will bring. (War????? Peace????? Victory?????) My mind is completely paralysed. But God has sent me you to do the thinking, the planning, and the support”.  This woman, who has single-handedly brought up a family of four amazing children and ensured that they all went to university, who worked in a senior post with the UN, who scrimped and saved to build her own beautiful house – now destroyed, who has lobbied and fought for the human rights of refugees, of women – to change laws so that they could have contraception without the permission of their husband, to prevent female genital mutilation. This woman; who set an example to other Yemeni women by just living her life; demonstrating that Yemeni women did not have to stay in violent or unsatisfactory marriages; they could be single and independent mothers, useful members of society, who are respected and loved.

I tell her, you will get through this, you will have a very different future, but it will still be happy and worthwhile.  She says, if I travel to Malaysia, can you come to visit me?  Of course.

I ring her daughter; she was due to take her final exams this year as a dentist. She is working as a volunteer, today assisting a surgeon who is working on the face of someone who had sustained severe injuries in the conflict. It was very interesting, she said. We discuss courses that she might be able to take in UK – she has had to accept she will never be a dentist now, as her faculty has been destroyed and she cannot get verification for nearly five years study. I have a positive lead for a Master’s degree in Public Health; she is pleased.  We discuss her pregnancy. She is still feeling very sick; she thinks the nausea is aggravated by stress. If the baby is a girl, she is going to be named after me.

Another day for courageous and generous Yemenis, forced to make such difficult choices and just get on with living.  And another day for one of the many people who have loved ones in Yemen.  We will prevail.