Thursday, May 30, 2013
John McCain in Yemen
Monday, May 27, 2013
John McCain and Drones
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Saudi executes five Yemeni men
Sickening! Saudi executed five Yemeni men suspected of criminality, & hanged them between two tracks, publicly. --->
Monday, May 20, 2013
Dear racist
Dear racist, just because I have colored skin, black AND curly hair, and I speak bad Swedish, that doesn't make me any less than you as a human being.
Coming rally in solidarity with shiekhism victims
A criminal sheikh
"Today, Yemen National Dialogue conference was shut down early in protest of the deaths of two youths allegedly killed by the son of sheikh Ali Abdo Rabbu Al-awadhi." - Adam Baron
Saturday, May 18, 2013
Yemen's women make their voices heard from revolution to constitution
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| Photo: Hani Mohammed/AP |
"Yemeni women are some of the fiercest women I have ever met. Through conflicts and famine, many have had to struggle for the survival of their families. The abject poverty afflicts Yemeni women in particularly harsh ways, yet they carry on and persevere. Still, their pride in their culture and love for their beautiful country always shines through. But in spite all of this I was still surprised when I saw footage of the protests that rocked the capital Sana’a in 2011." - Amina Semlali Read more
100th day of the hunger strike by prisoners in Guantanamo Bay
Today was the 100th day of the hunger strike by prisoners in Guantanamo Bay, and solidarity actions took place all around the country.
In D.C, CODEPINK co-founder Jodie Evans met with Valerie Jarrett, Senior Advisor to President Obama. She hand-delivered the Change.org petition with 300,000 signatures to Jarrett in addition to a letter from the mother of Yemeni prisoner AbdulRahman Al-Shabati.
v. - Rooj Alwazir
Friday, May 17, 2013
Yemeni Women Rock
"Yemeni Women Rock!" writes Yemen Times' editor in chief, Nadia Al-Sakkaf on her latest achievement in receiving the Business for Peace Award.
Nadia Does Rock!
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Yemen's children smuggled into KSA
Saudi Arabia - "Yemen's children smuggled into KSA and being exploited in begging work, at traffic points, in this hot weather. What criminal Yemeni gangs violating childhood!" - @1KsaNews1
Yemen marks the Nakba
Yemen marked the 65th anniversary of the Nakba or "Day of Catastrophe", yesterday, reports Sana'a-based Spanish journalist, Juan Herrero.
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
At Yemen's National Dialogue conference
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She's one of Yemen's prominent intellectuals and journalists - in the middle, Samia Al Aghbari.
How and when Yemen will ratify the Rome Statute in the international criminal court system?
"The Parliament voted 'Yes' about it in 2007, and then Saleh played under the table until the ratification was denied because the "Parliament wasn't full." Then, they delayed the next voting until it never happened which was a smart move on his side, it served him right during the revolution. The next voting should be held after the next President and new constitution is drawn." - Luai Ahmed
Change Square is empty but change is still needed
Originally published on the National.ae website.
When Sanaa's Change Square became the focal point for Yemeni pro-democracy protests in 2011, one of the first posters to appear called the demonstrations there the "first step towards our civil state". It was remarkable to find such a poster in a country that has always been known for its socio-tribal form of power structure. But that was a period of hope; Change Square was transformed into a collective of tents housing hundreds of activists.
Today, however, after two years as a habitat for protesters, the square has been cleared. And a civil state, the ideal once championed in the square, remains little more than a hope that is beyond reach. Before 2011, the square was just a regular large traffic space in front of Yemen's new Sanaa University campus.
No one imagined that it would become significant in one of Yemen's historic and political milestones. But Change Square became a heavily politicised space. As independent revolutionaries progressively lost influence with the main political opposition, they came to own the square. But as time went on, the independent change advocates could only watch as other, more influential political powers hijacked the square and, eventually, the uprising that it symbolised.
Last month, after President Abdrabu Mansur Hadi's decrees reshuffling the country's military structure, the Change Square Organising Committee - which is now affiliated with Yemen's opposition alliance, the Joint Meeting Parties (JMP) - announced that protesters' tents would be cleared and that the weekly Friday prayers would cease. Some of the oldest tents in the square belonged to Yemen's Muslim Brotherhood, to members of Al Islah political party, and to Nobel Peace Prize laureate Tawakkol Karman. She summoned reporters to a press conference about three weeks ago to declare that she was removing her tent and that she endorsed the whole move by the organisational committee.
"It's time to move to the next goal of the uprising, now that the restructuring of the army has been accomplished," she said. "Now our focus will shift towards monitoring and addressing corruption in governmental institutions across the country." Despite Ms Karman's stature, the dynamics of the change in Change Square are suspect. One of the square's core activists, Rathwan Al Haimi, thinks that the decision to evacuate the square did not represent what the uprising stands for.
The decision, he says, "was a result of an accord between the First Armoured Division and the JMP who long ago hijacked the revolution and transformed it into a mere political crisis. We independent youth revolutionaries had no say on this whatsoever". Further, Al Islah, which is very prominent in the opposition now, has had a big role in all the major developments in the square, largely because it has great financial capacity.
Hani Al Junid, a socialist activist and journalist, explains how Al Islah attained dominance in the square: "They managed perfectly to get huge numbers of young people into the square and had an absolute grip of the square's dynamics, thanks to their money. The other opposition parties were there only for political decoration purposes, and they had hardly any real engagement in the decision-making."
Primacy in the square went to those with the most political and financial power, but then a new need emerged - to provide medical treatment to the hundreds who were injured in the 2011 protests against the new "consensus" government. The demand for medical care was met, after a fashion, but there were indications of preferential - not to say corrupt - distribution of aid. Dozens of protesters continued to suffer, with severe physical injuries untreated.
Now the square is empty, and whatever momentum existed there has been dissipated. Blogger and political activist Fatima Al Aghbri laments the evacuation of the square: "How can we say the revolution succeeded and simply abandon the square while there is so much to be done? They are killing the revolution slowly. "It's sad that the uprising has not succeeded yet," she continues. "Prisons are still full of political prisoners. Wounded protesters have not all been treated. Youth's voice is still marginalised. Half of the current government consists of remnants of the old regime. Opposition parties have been assigned to rule and have allowed immunity to murderers. I can't see any success achieved."
So what does Yemen look like after the end of rule by Ali Abdullah Saleh? It's evident that the new period has its own problems, added to the previously-existing grievances.
One young revolutionary, Waleed Al Amari, believes that only a new method can improve the situation. "The political system must focus on building valid institutions based on justice and competence." Mr Saleh, he says, kept the country divided for three decades, to rule it.
Now, he says, "the people must reinforce the desire to have a new system, so that leadership will no longer be inherited within one ruling family. They have to believe in full citizenship for everyone."
Change Square was the seed of Yemen's uprising and the momentum built up there was a driving influence behind the changes of the past two years. The scene in the square was extremely politicised and polarised, but it gave birth to a wonderful and outspoken political movement of people who are determined to continue the revolutionary work that they started.
"Just because the square was evacuated that doesn't mean we'll quit our political activism. The revolution lies within us," says Mr Al Junid. Despite such determination, the challenges are still enormous for those still dreaming of a civil state for Yemen.
Today, however, after two years as a habitat for protesters, the square has been cleared. And a civil state, the ideal once championed in the square, remains little more than a hope that is beyond reach. Before 2011, the square was just a regular large traffic space in front of Yemen's new Sanaa University campus.
No one imagined that it would become significant in one of Yemen's historic and political milestones. But Change Square became a heavily politicised space. As independent revolutionaries progressively lost influence with the main political opposition, they came to own the square. But as time went on, the independent change advocates could only watch as other, more influential political powers hijacked the square and, eventually, the uprising that it symbolised.
Last month, after President Abdrabu Mansur Hadi's decrees reshuffling the country's military structure, the Change Square Organising Committee - which is now affiliated with Yemen's opposition alliance, the Joint Meeting Parties (JMP) - announced that protesters' tents would be cleared and that the weekly Friday prayers would cease. Some of the oldest tents in the square belonged to Yemen's Muslim Brotherhood, to members of Al Islah political party, and to Nobel Peace Prize laureate Tawakkol Karman. She summoned reporters to a press conference about three weeks ago to declare that she was removing her tent and that she endorsed the whole move by the organisational committee.
"It's time to move to the next goal of the uprising, now that the restructuring of the army has been accomplished," she said. "Now our focus will shift towards monitoring and addressing corruption in governmental institutions across the country." Despite Ms Karman's stature, the dynamics of the change in Change Square are suspect. One of the square's core activists, Rathwan Al Haimi, thinks that the decision to evacuate the square did not represent what the uprising stands for.
The decision, he says, "was a result of an accord between the First Armoured Division and the JMP who long ago hijacked the revolution and transformed it into a mere political crisis. We independent youth revolutionaries had no say on this whatsoever". Further, Al Islah, which is very prominent in the opposition now, has had a big role in all the major developments in the square, largely because it has great financial capacity.
Hani Al Junid, a socialist activist and journalist, explains how Al Islah attained dominance in the square: "They managed perfectly to get huge numbers of young people into the square and had an absolute grip of the square's dynamics, thanks to their money. The other opposition parties were there only for political decoration purposes, and they had hardly any real engagement in the decision-making."
Primacy in the square went to those with the most political and financial power, but then a new need emerged - to provide medical treatment to the hundreds who were injured in the 2011 protests against the new "consensus" government. The demand for medical care was met, after a fashion, but there were indications of preferential - not to say corrupt - distribution of aid. Dozens of protesters continued to suffer, with severe physical injuries untreated.
Now the square is empty, and whatever momentum existed there has been dissipated. Blogger and political activist Fatima Al Aghbri laments the evacuation of the square: "How can we say the revolution succeeded and simply abandon the square while there is so much to be done? They are killing the revolution slowly. "It's sad that the uprising has not succeeded yet," she continues. "Prisons are still full of political prisoners. Wounded protesters have not all been treated. Youth's voice is still marginalised. Half of the current government consists of remnants of the old regime. Opposition parties have been assigned to rule and have allowed immunity to murderers. I can't see any success achieved."
So what does Yemen look like after the end of rule by Ali Abdullah Saleh? It's evident that the new period has its own problems, added to the previously-existing grievances.
One young revolutionary, Waleed Al Amari, believes that only a new method can improve the situation. "The political system must focus on building valid institutions based on justice and competence." Mr Saleh, he says, kept the country divided for three decades, to rule it.
Now, he says, "the people must reinforce the desire to have a new system, so that leadership will no longer be inherited within one ruling family. They have to believe in full citizenship for everyone."
Change Square was the seed of Yemen's uprising and the momentum built up there was a driving influence behind the changes of the past two years. The scene in the square was extremely politicised and polarised, but it gave birth to a wonderful and outspoken political movement of people who are determined to continue the revolutionary work that they started.
"Just because the square was evacuated that doesn't mean we'll quit our political activism. The revolution lies within us," says Mr Al Junid. Despite such determination, the challenges are still enormous for those still dreaming of a civil state for Yemen.
White superiority in Yemen
The white superiority lies within the Yemenis' eyes, it doesn't come from white people themselves. I see how Thomas Friedman is way welcome in Yemen because he is a white, well-established journo, and by default well-quailfied person. While genius local journalists are legally threatened, kept in jails or even "accidentally" killed by some unknown armed men, and only very few who realize that. It's not that Yemenis must be superior but at least let's aim for equal evaluation; for the white and the local. That's all.
One of the Yemeni Salon's seminars
Yemeni researcher, Atiaf Al Wazir was one of the key speakers in "The Uprising of Arab Women" seminar co-organized by The Yemeni Salon,Amnesty International, Olof Palme International Center, and Arbetarnas bildningsförbund on May 6, 2013. The event was a success thanks to the wonderful crowd who attended; influential agents from Sweden's civil society's NGOs and international institutions graced our event. It was a good opportunity to widen understanding on some of the MENA region's affairs.
We thank you all and promise you that there are even more greater events ahead. Please stay tuned!
Photo by Gustav Elliot
Almaqtary wonders about Islamic leftism
"Are we heading to an Islamic leftism?! or undefined Leftism? .. it's not that I'm against Sharia legislation, but I'm questioning how one of the new terms of the Socialist Party to be Islamic Sharia as the source of all legislations! That must be reconsidered," says Yemen's Socialist party's member, writer Boushra al-Maqtary during a seminar held in Sana'a, May 8, 2013.
Queen Sheba
Ethiopian traditional paintings describing "Queen Sheba" story
- who's believed that she has ruled Yemen/and Ethiopia.
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
An airplane crushed down
Over the phone, few minutes ago:
******
Teacher: Afrah, I'm very sorry to tell you your SFI exam was today, not tomorrow as the paper you were given stated. I'm very sorry, you missed the exam today. You have to wait one more month.
Me: hahah..it's alright. That's not a problem.
Teacher: you must be angry. It's a problem.
Me: hahah..you know what, yesterday an airplane crushed down in the middle of a street in my home city, Sana'a! There're definitely bigger problems in the world. I can gladly wait one more month!
******
Teacher: Afrah, I'm very sorry to tell you your SFI exam was today, not tomorrow as the paper you were given stated. I'm very sorry, you missed the exam today. You have to wait one more month.
Me: hahah..it's alright. That's not a problem.
Teacher: you must be angry. It's a problem.
Me: hahah..you know what, yesterday an airplane crushed down in the middle of a street in my home city, Sana'a! There're definitely bigger problems in the world. I can gladly wait one more month!
Sunday, May 12, 2013
In response to Thomas Friedman's "the Yemeni way" piece
"The good news is that — for now — a lot of Yemenis really want to give politics a chance," Friedman writes. For God's sake! since ancient times, Yemenis have always been into politics. This in not the first time we made a revolution or have political movements. Did he read history books about Yemen?
What would have been nice of him to write is how the Yemeni way is still struggling to nail a dictator who still enjoys an absolute immunity by the US and Saudi Arabia. Or, it could have been nicer to mention that president Hadi was elected in the most undemocratic way, a way led by, again, the US and Saudi Arabia.
Saturday, May 11, 2013
Yemen Marks Massacre of Cabinet While Justice Unserved
Yemen marks the 2nd anniversary of what's known as, Massacre of the Cabinet, today. On May 11, 2011 - anti-government peaceful protesters rallied in Sana'a towards Yemen's cabinet and were attacked by security forces who used live ammunition, killing at least 12 people and wounding 200. In Taiz, on the same day, there was another rally towards polices offices and that ended up by the security forces' crackdown, killing 3 people and wounding dozens. One protester was killed in Hodeidah city as well.
The following two clips are dated from that day, in Sana'a:
The following two clips are dated from that day, in Sana'a:
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