Peace in Yemen: Further than the Eye Can See

"When will peace ever be realized in this God forsaken country of ours?" asked Antar, as he drank his tea, as he and his friend waited for the high school history exam to begin.
His fellow student Murad from another school, sipped his tea also, but was obviously not glad that his tea was still hot, wiping off the heat from his lip, or so he thought. He then commented: "What is bugging you Antar? We are not at war with any other country?"
"You are right Murad", said Antar, continuing: "We are not at war with any other country. For the past three decades, we have been at war with ourselves, for no apparent reason except to make sure that we never have a peaceful transfer of authority in the country and change the leadership to a more peace loving one that can steer this country to progress and prosperity."
Murad was not sure if this conversation is going to be helpful for the history exam: "Look Antar, we are not going to help our situation much by getting into the political nitty gritty that is making a mess of the country. I know and you know that all these wars are not just for the political status quo to be maintained. They are also a substantial source of income for a lot of greedy people that never have enough of all the public funds and property they scavenge, as they claim to be protecting us from the 1,001 evils that are threatening the national well being of the country."
Antar asked: "What well being are you talking about? Come to think of it, what exactly does well being mean? Does it really exist? As far as I can see, the only well being one hears about is the tireless gibberish that the Government media keeps blabbing about all day in the radio and television – the publicly owned ones mind you, since it would not be for our well being, say our leaders, for the people to have their own broadcast channels! So all day the Government propaganda is describing how wonderful life is under the clear blue sky of our lovely land, which is scorched by a merciless sun that no clouds would now dare to challenge, even in the rainy season. All day, our meteorological authority gives warnings of heavy rains to fall in the next 48 hours, and the only rain one hears about is the rain of the tear drops of the relatives of the dead or missing foreigners, who our government has failed to protect from the other mysterious blood suckers of the state treasury or whoever is hiring them to do such dirty displays of Yemeni hospitality."
Murad had an interesting prognosis: "Look, my friend; we cannot continue to lie to the world that Yemen's values are the best in the world, when we know for sure that the last people that these values apply to are our leaders, sheikhs, military officers and the phony religious leaders, who sell their faith for the cheapest price."
"Now wait a minute Murad, what are you implying?" asked Antar, continuing: "Are you saying that we have a leadership that does not uphold our religious and traditional moral values?"
Murad almost cut in: "Well let me correct you a little bit while answering your question: The only values our leadership in all its manifestations upholds are the values of all the property they have accumulated as they continuously dry up the state coffers of any public funds that could be used to enhance the welfare of the citizenry, or maybe buy medicine to face up to the spread of swine flu, which the Government kept assuring us that Yemen was completely free of for months, until recently. The only reason it took them so long to come to grips with the reality of the disease's presence in Yemen, is because they wanted to see how much they could scrounge of the donors on the premise of combating swine flu, which is now a dangerous threat to Yemen! They have pretty much decided on how to divide the lucrative profits to be made on this front, just as they have pretty much decided on how to divide the profits from unleashing the Sixth War on the poor people of Sa'ada, who have forgotten what a good night's sleep was ever since they realized that the Sixth Round is eminent, now that the foreign hostage game has been well fixed on "the Houthis", by no other than the very people who are bound to profit from the next War on Sa'ada; namely the owners and editors of the newspapers and media that are working night and day to ostensibly mislead the world about the realities of life here in this God forsaken land of Sheba. Arabia Felix it is not and will not be until our leaders simply understand that the people of Yemen, north and south have really had enough of their tireless gambling by the Yemeni leaders with the lives of their subjects, and the absolute carelessness they display in conducting public affairs, just so they can continue to satisfy their greedy hunger for blood money. In such a venue, peace is further than the eye can see."

Peace in Yemen

"When will peace ever be realized in this God forsaken country of ours?" asked Antar, as he drank his tea, as he and his friend waited for the high school history exam to begin.
His fellow student Murad from another school, sipped his tea also, but was obviously not glad that his tea was still hot, wiping off the heat from his lip, or so he thought. He then commented: "What is bugging you Antar? We are not at war with any other country?"
"You are right Murad", said Antar, continuing: "We are not at war with any other country. For the past three decades, we have been at war with ourselves, for no apparent reason except to make sure that we never have a peaceful transfer of authority in the country and change the leadership to a more peace loving one that can steer this country to progress and prosperity."
Murad was not sure if this conversation is going to be helpful for the history exam: "Look Antar, we are not going to help our situation much by getting into the political nitty gritty that is making a mess of the country. I know and you know that all these wars are not just for the political status quo to be maintained. They are also a substantial source of income for a lot of greedy people that never have enough of all the public funds and property they scavenge, as they claim to be protecting us from the 1,001 evils that are threatening the national well being of the country."
Murad asked: "What well being are you talking about? Come to think of it, what exactly does well being mean? Does it really exist? As far as I can see, the only well being one hears about is the tireless gibberish that the Government media keeps blabbing about all day in the radio and television – the publicly owned ones mind you, since it would not be for our well being, say our leaders, for the people to have their own broadcast channels! So all day the Government propaganda is describing how wonderful life is under the clear blue sky of our lovely land, which is scorched by a merciless sun that no clouds would now dare to challenge, even in the rainy season. All day, our meteorological authority gives warnings of heavy rains to fall in the next 48 hours, and the only rain one hears about is the rain of the tear drops of the relatives of the dead or missing foreigners, who our government has failed to protect from the other mysterious blood suckers of the state treasury or whoever is hiring them to do such dirty displays of Yemeni hospitality."
Antar had an interesting prognosis: "Look, my friend; we cannot continue to lie to the world that Yemen's values are the best in the world, when we know for sure that the last people that these values apply to are our leaders, sheikhs, military officers and the phony religious leaders, who sell their faith for the cheapest price."
"Now wait a minute Murad, what are you implying?" asked Antar, continuing: "Are you saying that we have a leadership that does not uphold our religious and traditional moral values?"
Murad almost cut in: "Well let me correct you a little bit while answering your question: The only values our leadership in all its manifestations upholds are the values of all the property they have accumulated as they continuously dry up the state coffers of any public funds that could be used to enhance the welfare of the citizenry, or maybe buy medicine to face up to the spread of swine flu, which the Government kept assuring us that Yemen was completely free of for months, until recently. The only reason it took them so long to come to grips with the reality of the disease's presence in Yemen, is because they wanted to see how much they could scrounge of the donors on the premise of combating swine flu, which is now a dangerous threat to Yemen! They have pretty much decided on how to divide the lucrative profits to be made on this front, just as they have pretty much decided on how to divide the profits from unleashing the Sixth War on the poor people of Sa'ada, who have forgotten what a good night's sleep was ever since they realized that the Sixth Round is eminent, now that the foreign hostage game has been well fixed on "the Houthis", by no other than the very people who are bound to profit from the next War on Sa'ada; namely the owners and editors of the newspapers and media that are working night and day to ostensibly mislead the world about the realities of life here in this God forsaken land of Sheba. Arabia Felix it is not and will not be until our leaders simply understand that the people of Yemen, north and south have really had enough of their tireless gambling by the Yemeni leaders with the lives of their subjects, and the absolute carelessness they display in conducting public affairs, just so they can continue to satisfy their greedy hunger for blood money. In such a venue, peace is further than the eye can see."

Peace In the Middle East: Can Mr. Obama Really Do It? 2/2

Judging from the recent visits by George Mitchell to and from the Middle East and the visits of Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister and his Foreign Minister – the ultra extremist Zionist Avigdor Lieberman to Washington clearly indicate that the Israelis have no intention or desire to enter into any peace settlement whatsoever in the Middle East. They insist on fulfilling the Zionist agenda of expanding the Hebrew state from the Nile to the Euphrates, and no peace initiative is going to stop that, even if Barack Obama insists that the Israelis must sit down and "negotiate" a settlements with the Palestinians and eventually the rest of the Arab States, who have not signed on the dotted line for a peace agreement with the Israelis.
We are not sure how Obama exactly is going to come to terms with an ally, who insists that peace must be a word thrown in the air to see who can catch it time and again, without any chance of having that peace settle down and become a fact of life in the region. If Israel had wanted peace, it would realize that it cannot lie to itself and the rest of the world that it must have peace on its terms, which means that Israel can continue to steal Palestinian land and destroy Palestinian property, including all that sits atop that property, such as a humble dwelling or olive or orange trees that provide a meager livelihood for their owners, since the Israeli occupier is preventing the produce from getting to market in due time, before half of it has rotted. Israel insists on becoming the sole owner of the Holy Land and insists on turning the entire Holy Land area as solely Jewish haven with full control of all the religious holy sites of 3 Billion people (Moslems, Christians and Jews). Why are the Israelis reluctant to enter into any meaningful talks leading to a real peace? Because Israel cannot survive on peace. Peace means that Israel will not be able to embezzle Europe in compensation for the crimes of Adolf Hitler and will not be able to squeeze out US $ 10 Million Dollars a day (according to Jimmy Carter, former President of the United States) from the United States to insure the "security of the Jewish State" against its "hostile" neighbors.
The observer is aware that George W. Bush had left an awful mess in the region and start talking peace more seriously while translating this desire for peace on the ground: Israel must stop building settlements in territories it illegally occupies in the first place; Israel must withdraw from all the occupied territories in the West Bank; Israel must show real genuine respect for the dignity and honor of the Palestinians and recognize that they have been at the short end of the stick ever since the illegitimate state of Israel was "declared independent"; Israel must remove all barriers that prevent the Palestinians from getting their provisions and their goods from reaching their required destinations inside and outside of Palestine as the case may be; Israel must cease its belligerency and recognize that the people of the Middle Ears region have just as much a right to peace and tranquility without fear of any imminent attack from the trigger happy Israeli Offense Forces, whenever the Israelis feel that it is time to put on a display of their lethal capacity and maintain the aura of dearth and destruction, as proof of their ability to safeguard their illegal presence; Israel must compensate the victims of its initial and subsequent aggression and recognize that their right of return is endorsed by the International Community and all the international conventions and agreements dealing with displaced persons; and finally Israel must recognize that the American people are not in a position anymore to dole out tens of billions of dollars to a spoiled country that does not opt for peace with its neighbors; Israel must stop and works diligently to prevent any such peace from coming to the surface, so that it can create new realities on the ground that foster further expansion of its domination of the Holy Land from the Nile to the Euphrates; Israel must tear down the ugly and mischievous "security" wall, which have for all intents and purposes forced the West Bank Palestinians into pockets of prisons and almost distorted any chance of forming a viable state in the West Bank and Gaza; Israel must release the thousands of Palestinians prisoners it is holding, most of whom were arrested without due process and due cause.

On the Kidnapping and Murder of the Hostages
One thing that is clear from all that has been said about this most tragic of events in the history of Yemen is that the Government has not handled the tragedy well. From the start, the Government seemed to be treating the Sa'ada kidnapping as merely "games people play" and expects the tragedy to legitimize its obvious desire to end the Houthi insurrection once and for all. The fact is that the Government will not be able to end the Houthis and will not be to prevent the people of Sa'ada from worshipping the Lord as they see fit.

Peace In the Middle East: Can Mr. Obama Really Do It? 1/2

The events that unfolded in the United States over the last decade have been at best unpredictable and at worst tragic. America can be said to have witnessed one of the worst periods in its history since a combination of both the Post Civil War period and the period of the Carpetbaggers, and the period of the Great Depression. In addition, the George W. Bush epoch of calamity and despair, with its unabashed and unrelenting execution of the designs of the Conservative New Right and the highly active prodding of the Zionist lobby led by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and its puppets within the Bush-Cheney Administration have actually created an unpleasant venue for any President to work in. Mr. Barack Hussein Obama put forth all the aspirations of the American people in a sweeping campaign for the highest political office in the country. When the campaign for the Presidency of the United States began, there were actually no indications that Mr. Bush was going to leave his office with his country in a total mess politically, economically and socially. While no one had any illusions that Mr. Bush was a flip-flop in all the sense of the word, it is really distressing to hear the former constituencies in the Republican Party rush to point out all the errors and failings of the ''Obama" Administration. Even veteran politicians in the Congress are quick to point out that Mr. Obama has been untrue in his assessment of his own strengths. "He promised this and he promised that! Well where is it folks?" they say.
All one can say is that there is simply no fairness in these people. An American who recently came to Yemen was heard by this observer trying to explain to a few Yemenis, who had some knowledge of English in varying degrees that "Mr. Obama has actually spent in his first 100 days in the White House more than all the money that George W. Bush spent in all his eight years in the White House". I could not help but wonder why all this effort to undermine the Presidency of a man, who for the first time rose to the Presidency without the moral, financial and political backing of any of the icons of the American socio-economic and political establishment. Mr. Obama arose from the grass roots, by the grass roots and for the grass roots of the American people, who were the hardest hit by the follies of the Bush Administration. Never mind that the latter was guided more by the "security of Israel" and the "ability of Israel to defend itself" from the totally repressed victims of an ongoing aggression and occupation that has been slowly chewing at all the fabric of the Palestinians, who have not yet been driven to the Diaspora of the refugee camps, emigrant communities and graves of the thousands of innocent victims that were targeted by one of the most violence prone regime since that of Adolf Hitler, who they claim is their raison d'être. Of course many of these in the grassroots of the American social fabric, had no idea that Israel was in the end going to cost thousands of American lives, trillions of US Dollars and the credibility and reputation of the United States as a fair and just broker of peace and international stability. Yet it is a fact that the Israelis were not mindful of what comes out of all this calamitous behavior that characterized the Bush Administration, as shown recently by the visit of Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House. The latter had the audacity to come to urge the White House to start pointing its guns at Iran "before Iran's nukes become the world's greatest danger to the western world". Never mind, that Mr. Obama has a haunting economic crisis to overcome. Never mind that Israel itself has over two hundred nukes at its disposal and its human rights record has not justified at all the right to possess such an arsenal, especially when considering that the Arabs for all practical purposes do not pose any military threat to speak of to Israel, and are far from annihilating the mutant state that was implanted in their midst. The Israeli Prime Minister's Brooklyn mentality actually made him believe that he could put Mr. Obama to the first Zionist challenge of his Presidency: either you go by what AIPAC dictates or we will show you what the the instruments of the Israeli lobby can engineer against an unyielding American President. Thus the right wing conservative political machinery and AIPAC worked diligently to block the closure of Guantanamo Bay, even with the backing of the majority of the American Democrats in the Senate. This is how the Zionist lobby works even against those ideals that are what Obama considers to be the backbone of American political philosophy: America will not have torture camps, etc. For AIPAC and friends that is anathema to the entire social and political rhetoric upon which Zionism thrives and insists others should accept. With 11,000 Palestinians locked up in Zionist Concentration Camps, it is understandable why AIPAC and its friends would rather hold off the closure of Guantanamo Bay. Does this make sense? There is more on this to follow.


Hassan Al-Haifi may be blogged at: http://com-senfromyem.blogspot.com/

The tide against misguided extremism is turning: The Moslem World needs to assess the damage of extremism (2/2)

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It is not clear how the offensive in Pakistan against Taliban Pakistan is going, but it is for certain that there is no turning back now for the extremists of the Wahhabi genre have shown that they are way behind in their outlook towards the modern world and in their attitude towards humanity in general. The experience with the Taliban in Afghanistan has shown that extremism only begets a violent culture that has zero returns for its proponents and a very dangerous backlash against the entire Moslem world in general. The menacing threat posed by the Taliban to the peace and stability of Pakistan was really a threat that the entire Moslem World could do without. The bloody murder of Mrs. Benazir Bhutto in December 2007 had shown the Pakistanis that Taliban was out to destroy all hopes of Pakistan ever joining the modern slate of nations that respect human life, tolerate all religious persuasions and look towards the progress and tranquility of humanity in general and the Moslem World in particular. This observer recalls when Mrs. Bhutto became Prime Minister of Pakistan in 1988, some of the Salafi preachers in Yemen were actually alarmed that “the Pakistanis could not find among them a man to become Prime Minister of the country that they had to elect Benazir to the post.”

The Taliban and Wahhabi genre do not accept any form of democratic rule and they certainly do not recognize women yet as human beings not just worthy of becoming Prime Ministers of their country, but worthy and deserving of a good education. This observer also recalls that Benazir Bhutto was one of the few who recognized the danger of falling into the Saudi financial assistance deal in return for the spread of Wahhabism in Pakistan. The Saudis had promised to provide ample assistance to Benazir’s Government if they allowed Wahhabi Madrasas to be built throughout Pakistan. Of course, Benazir Bhutto recognized that these madrasas were the breeding grounds for scientifically reared Islamic youth who then become human lethal ordnances laden with TNT blowing up people left and right without any clear strategic objective or even human logic. She went on to build 7,000 schools a year in Pakistan to make sure that there was no excuse for having to succumb to Saudi pressure of this sort.

While we are on the tie-up of the Wahhabi Establishment in Saudi Arabia with the international flare up of terrorism, it is not surprising to find that the Saudis are not at all sure as to how to confront the recent backlash against the spread of Taliban or other militant groups that are as far away from Islam as any criminal gang could ever be. The Saudi press lately, especially the English versions pursued concerted efforts to associate Al-Qaeda either with Iran or with any form of Shiism in the world. This kind of association is somewhat puzzling to most Moslems of the world and it is not clear who the Saudis are trying to convince of this logic.

Some observers are quick to suggest that the Saudis might be fearful that the United States might indeed start sifting through the past relationship that Saudi Arabia has had with terrorism, notwithstanding the efforts by the Saudi press to disassociate with terrorism altogether. In the Moslem World, wherever one goes, all mainstream Moslems are quick to point out the great harm that the extremism of the Wahhabis genera has caused to the image of Islam as a religion of peace and tolerance and human cohesion, as well as a forward looking religion that insists that the attainment of knowledge and scientific progress is tantamount to living a worthy life for any Moslem and thus it is not clear why Wahhabi clerics (note that these clerics tend to behave like medieval monks of the Catholic Church who despised learning and had Christian husbands have their women tied up in chastity belts).

Surely, the likes of Abu Sayyaf or Abu Sayyaf or any of these not so recognized Moslem pious figures have raised eyebrows with their gun-toting images in front of the video cameras (there was one shooting this observer recalls in which Zarqawi was actually unable to get his automatic rife to shoot!). But these images are the kind of images extremists of the Wahhabi genre like to project. They saw in this as being appealing to the uneducated innocent pious Moslems and thus went out of their way to show how such extremists are the right protectors and defenders of the Moslem faith. However, they have now been worn out and with the bad results that these extremists have succeeded in achieving, not to mention the gory death that has always been associated with militants of this genre, many Moslems are no longer accepting extremism of any kind and surely not that of the Taliban genre. Thus from the reading of the Saudi press, one senses that the Wahhabi Establishment and their political and military backers, the House of Saud, are on the defensive. Even their press campaigns find areas of conflict between them. For example there was an article in Al-Shark Al-Awsat (aawsat.com/ english/news.asp?section=2&id=16758) last week that stated that Al-Qaeda fighters were heading towards Sa’ada to engage with the Houthis. Yet in an article in Al-Hayat, they said that Al-Qaeda was allied to the Houthis (www.daralhayat.com/portalarticlendah/17469). The former and the latter all were not slow in trying to associate some linkage of Al-Qaeda to Iran, but they did not show consistent thoughts or logic and thus indicate a sense of desperation within the religious and sovereign establishments in Saudi Arabia.



Hassan Al-Haifi has been a Yemeni political economist and journalist for more than 20 years. He may be blogged at:

http://com-senfromyem.blogspot.com/