This article should cause concern.
THE JERUSALM FORMULA
US, Israeli Policies Drive Houthi – Hezbollah Defense Pact as Yemen Feel
Palestine’s Pain
Thanks to Israel’s recent onslaught in Gaza and to the freshly provocative US
policies in the region, the Houthis have joined ranks with Hezbollah and armed
Palestinian resistance in a defense pact that promises to change the strategic
reality in the region.
Mint Press News
by Ahmed Abdulkareem
June 17th, 2021
By Ahmed Abdulkareem
SANA’A, YEMEN — A young groom in his early twenties, Zaid Abdullah al-Shareif,
took to the stage adorned in traditional Yemeni wedding attire. He wasn’t just
announcing his marriage though. Zaid, holding a replica of the famous sword of
Ali Ibn Abi Talib, a historical figure revered for his character and
battlefield prowess, was addressing an audience at a massive protest known
locally as the Sarkhah, or the Scream. There he made a wedding-day pledge to
help liberate Jerusalem and the people of Palestine.
The Sarkhah is an annual tradition, a celebration of the independence of the
Ansar Allah (better known as Houthi) rebellion. During the U.S. invasion of
Afghanistan after 9/11, the Houthi movement’s founder, Hussein Badreddin
al-Houthi, is said to have shouted “God is Great! Death to America! Death to
Israel!” in a gathering in the mountainous area of Maran in northern Yemen.
Far from the genocidal call to arms it is often dismissed as, it was a cry for
territorial autonomy and relief from the destructive and deadly nature of the
U.S.-led “war on terror,” which has taken so many civilian lives in Yemen and
beyond. Since that occasion, hundreds of thousands of Yemenis have celebrated
the occasion and the Houthis’ de facto role as a stalwart against highly
unpopular American and Israeli policies in the region.
In the city of Sadaa, which lies within a stone’s throw of the Saudi border,
protest organizers addressed crowds of tens of thousands, warning of Saudi,
Israeli and U.S. designs on Yemen’s islands and coasts. Demonstrations took
place across Yemen’s provinces and major cities condemning America’s policies
in the region, rejecting the Israeli occupation of Palestine, and encouraging
an awakening and unification of the local people.
Disappointment, suffering and a louder scream
In fact, this year’s Sarkhah gained unprecedented momentum, and attracted a
slew of young new recruits like Zaid, thanks to Israel’s recent onslaught in
Gaza and to U.S. policies in the region, namely President Joe Biden’s broken
promise to end the humanitarian crisis in war-torn Yemen. “At a time when we
hoped Biden would alleviate our suffering, we are shocked today that he is
instead doubling it!!” Zaid shouted to a vociferous crowd of protesters. “Yes,
death to America!” followed. On Thursday, the United States added new sanctions
to 12 local currency exchanges, in a move that could have severe humanitarian
implications according to Yemeni economists.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)
said “ the United States will continue to apply pressure to the Houthis,
including through targeted sanctions.” The move came after an official Omani
delegation left Sana’a, where the Ansar Allah administration is based. The
delegation arrived at Sana’a on June 5, and met with Houthi leader Abdulmalik
al-Houthi, political council chief Mahdi al-Mashat, and Ansar Allah officials.
According to Ansar Allah officials, who spoke to MintPress on condition of
anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the talks, Omani negotiators made
significant headway in paving the path to a political solution to the war. Now,
officials fear that the Biden administration’s recent actions may hinder peace
efforts.
Reacting to the sanctions, Mohammed Ali al-Houthi said on Twitter:
The United States makes war a priority for Yemen, while pretending to seek
peace!” …The imposition of sanctions under the pretense of imposing peace is
itself an obstacle to peace. It is without any feasibility.” He called the
sanctions a “crime targeting the private sector after transferring the central
bank to Aden, stopping oil exports, hitting factories, starving Yemenis with
blockade, and stopping salaries. It is a systematic plan to destroy the
economy.”
The Jerusalem Formula
American policies in the region have indeed been counterintuitive in light of
ostensible U.S. goals and in fact have prompted a sharp turn towards the
so-called resistance, comprised of Iran, Hezbollah and certain elements in Iraq
and Syria that are opposed to U.S. policies in the Middle East. It is in that
context that Ansar Allah recently announced their intent to join an initiative
that would see the group challenge the military might of the United States and
Saudi-led Coalition in the Red Sea and Bab-el-Mandeb Strait with a
sophisticated arsenal of ballistic missiles, drones, mines, and high-speed
gunboats as part of the so-called Jerusalem (Al-Quds) Formula.
The formula, which was spearheaded by Lebanon’s Hezbollah and has already been
embraced by Palestine’s armed resistance, would also meet any hostile military
action by Israel with a collective response by all of the aforementioned
parties, risking an all-out war in the region, the Red Sea and the Bab
al-Mandeb Strait.
According to Ansar Allah military sources, any potential Yemeni military
operation that takes place as part of the initiative would include drone and
missile attacks on Israeli targets reminiscent of those that the group has used
so effectively against Saudi Arabia.
Digging deep into shallow pockets
Zaid saved for his wedding day for five years, putting away what meager funds
he could to treat his hundreds of guests to a meal, drink and live music, as is
tradition in Yemen. Instead, he pledged that money to the Palestinian cause,
telling the crowd of protesters, “I stand ready to sacrifice more than just
this donation.” Although Jerusalem stands some 2,500 km away from Sana’a, the
suffering of the Palestinian people under Israeli occupation continues to
endure in the collective hearts of Yemenis.
Despite over six years of the Saudi-led Coalition’s U.S.-backed war, a war that
has left the vast majority of Yemen’s population destitute, most Yemenis do not
hesitate to donate to Palestinians struggling under Israeli occupation. In the
north, in areas outside of the Saudi Coalition’s control, protests against
Israel’s recent onslaught on Gaza attracted hundreds of thousands of people and
were easily the largest in the Middle East.
In fact, over $4 million has been donated to Palestinian causes by Yemenis of
all political persuasions during the recent attacks on Gaza. In Sana’a alone,
more than $2 million was handed over to the Palestinian factions, including
Hamas, in the wake of the recent war.