Despite a swell of public support for the Palestinian cause, governments have been stubborn to shift their stance. But Yemen’s Houthi government stands as the solitary one confronting Apartheid Israel’s genocide in the Gaza Strip.
The Iran-backed Shia group took control of much of Yemen after a brutal civil war, including the capital Sana’a. Leveraging this position, they have begun targeting Israeli-linked vessels navigating through the Red Sea in protest against the terrorist Israeli regime’s actions in the besieged enclave.
“What we’re seeing now with the Houthis is a sense of solidarity with the Palestinians. Now that the Houthis are victorious, they’re using that space to assist the Palestinians as best they can,” said Ashraf Patel, research associate at the Institute for Global Dialogue (IGD), in an interview on Salaamedia.
SMread: Multinational force to be deployed to Red Sea
Red Sea attacks by Houthis
The tide of the Red Sea is turning against large shipping companies engaged in business with the occupation state. At least a dozen companies were forced to suspend operations amidst a spate of attacks launched by the Houthis, before the USA announced a coalition to counter the group’s actions.
Patel said attacks by the Houthis should be considered “against the backdrop of a genocide where all kinds of resistance is developing and evolving amidst this Nazi-like genocide of the Palestinian people”.
“The pockets of resistance [are] quite encouraging for the oppressed and the global south,” he added.
He noted military actions by the Houthis were solitary acts of solidarity in a peninsula of nations either too silent or complicit in the genocide that has killed more than 20 000 Palestinians.
“The other Muslim nation states are generally neutral. They have very little power or influence in the Middle East region and in many ways are actually complicit in the genocide of the Palestinians.”
The well-trained Houthis in recent weeks launched several attacks on cargo ships bound for Israel. The Red Sea thoroughfare sees approximately 12% of global trade pass through, making it a strategic part of the global stage. According to a report by Al Jazeera, Israel’s southern port of Eilat ground to a halt in the wake of the attacks by the Houthis.
