Houthis Oppress Protesters Rallying against Poor Living Standards in Sanaa

People demonstrate to denounce the deterioration of Yemen's economy and the devaluation of the local currency. (Reuters)
People demonstrate to denounce the deterioration of Yemen's economy and the devaluation of the local currency. (Reuters)
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Houthis Oppress Protesters Rallying against Poor Living Standards in Sanaa

People demonstrate to denounce the deterioration of Yemen's economy and the devaluation of the local currency. (Reuters)
People demonstrate to denounce the deterioration of Yemen's economy and the devaluation of the local currency. (Reuters)

The Iran-backed Houthi militias in Sanaa resorted on Saturday to all forms of oppression to suppress a protest against poor living standards in the Yemeni capital.

The rally was called for by activists and staged amid heavy Houthi security presence.

Sanaa residents told Reuters dozens were arrested on Saturday, including 16 female students.

The students were released at the end of the day after signing a pledge not to take part in demonstrations again, one of them said, asking not to be identified for fear of retribution. She said female Houthi supporters “attacked us with electric shock batons and clubs, supported by armed men”.

“They beat me until I fell to the ground and I received an electric shock in the back when I stood up again. I wasn’t able to move when they took me to the police station,” she said.

Saturday’s protest was yet another sign of the people’s mounting frustration with the Houthis’ oppressive and sectarian rule.

The Houthis had dispatched their members to the streets in an attempt to prevent the protesters from holding their rally.

Social media activists documented the Houthis’ oppressive tactics against the demonstrators. They showed footage of Houthi attacks against dozens of students at Sanaa University. They also said that more than 50 students were arrested and taken to a police station.

The poor living conditions in Sanaa is blamed on the militias’ corruption and looting of state institutions. This has led to the deterioration of the currency and spike in consumer goods prices.

Prior to the protest, the Houthis had launched a social media campaign warning the people against staging their demonstration.

Female activists in Sanaa were singled out and they were the victims of insults by Houthi leaderships, as shown in footage published by activists on social media.

The league of mothers of kidnapped Yemenis condemned these insults, saying they go against Yemeni norms and traditions that put women in high standing.

It demanded the unconditional release of all detainees and that the Yemenis speak up against the Houthis’ insults.

"Yemen society is conservative and we did not believe that the Houthis would arrest women, as it is a shame in Yemeni traditions and taboos, but they did,” said Ahmed, an anti-Houthi activist whose name has been changed for security reasons.

He confirmed to AFP that not only Houthi women but also fighters participated in beating the women, then took them to al-Gudairi police station in an armed vehicle.

"The Houthi fighters transported the women to the police station, then on to an unknown location and took their mobiles so we cannot contact them", Ahmed said.

Prior to its 2014 coup against legitimate forces, the Houthis had claimed to support protests against corruption and high prices in Yemen, saying that it was the right of all Yemenis.

Ever since their coup, however, the militias now view protests as a threat to their sectarian existence.

On Thursday, a militia leader said that protests against poor living conditions should take the shape of fighting on the battlefield, not demonstrations against the Houthis on the streets of Sanaa.

His suggestion was met by ridicule among the Yemenis, who blame the militias’ poor management of institutions for the current state of affairs in the country.



EU Urges Immediate Halt to Israel-Hezbollah War

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, left, meets with Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri, right, in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. (AP)
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, left, meets with Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri, right, in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. (AP)
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EU Urges Immediate Halt to Israel-Hezbollah War

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, left, meets with Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri, right, in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. (AP)
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, left, meets with Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri, right, in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. (AP)

Top EU diplomat Josep Borrell called for an immediate ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war while on a visit to Lebanon on Sunday, as the group claimed attacks deep into Israel.  

The Israeli military said Iran-backed Hezbollah fired around 160 projectiles into Israel during the day. Some of them were intercepted but others caused damage to houses in central Israel, according to AFP images.  

A day after the health ministry said Israeli strikes on Beirut and across Lebanon killed 84 people, state media reported two strikes on Sunday on the capital's southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold.

Israel's military said it had attacked "headquarters" of the group "hidden within civilian structures" in south Beirut.

War between Israel and Hezbollah escalated in late September, nearly a year after the group began launching strikes in solidarity with its Palestinian ally Hamas following that group's October 7 attack on Israel.

The conflict has killed at least 3,754 people in Lebanon since October 2023, according to the health ministry, most of them since September.  

On the Israeli side, authorities say at least 82 soldiers and 47 civilians have been killed.  

Earlier this week, US special envoy Amos Hochstein said in Lebanon that a truce deal was "within our grasp" and then headed to Israel for talks with officials there.  

In the Lebanese capital, Borrell held talks with parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri, who has led mediation efforts on behalf of ally Hezbollah.

"We see only one possible way ahead: an immediate ceasefire and the full implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701," Borrell said.  

"Lebanon is on the brink of collapse", he warned.  

Under Resolution 1701, which ended the last Hezbollah-Israel war of 2006, Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers should be the only armed forces present in the southern border area.  

The resolution also called for Israel to withdraw troops from Lebanon, and reiterated earlier calls for "disarmament of all armed groups in Lebanon."