Protecting the IL-legitimate government

Once again, the Middle East has been hit with yet another plot. The so-called flag-bearers of democracy once again shown the world that they have no moral objection to supporting oppressive, autocratic rulers in the Gulf to suppress a democratic revolution if these rulers protect their interests in the region. If the suppression of the popular uprisings in Bahrain is not an adequate enough example of the double-standards of Western governments and the Arab monarchies they ally themselves with, then a conscientious global citizen need only examine the situation in Yemen. In Bahrain, the same group of nations – among them are the United States of America, Britain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, and Egypt – prevented the people from overthrowing the brutal, sadistic, oppressive, autocratic, monarchical, undemocratic al-Khalifa dynasty. For more than 4 years, the armies of Gulf States – with sophisticated weaponry purchased from Western “democracies”, of course – have unsuccessfully attempted to silence the collective voice of the Bahraini people. Something similar is happening in Yemen.

The situation in Yemen has unveiled all the curtains of deceit. When Yemeni Houthis, with the support of the majority, managed to gain control of their country after it was left in turmoil by former President Hadi, Saudi-Western hegemony was in jeopardy. The Houthis had announced before taking power that Yemen would be an independent country in the strictest sense of the word: without the intervention of foreign powers. As soon as the country was in their hands, however, the United States Foreign Secretary John Kerry issued a statement in which he called on the Saudi government to play a major role in solving what he termed the “crisis” in Yemen. Upon receiving the blessings of their masters in Washington, Saudi Arabia launched a surprise attack on the innocent people of Yemen. The warplanes and forces consisted of 10 different nations, out of which five were Gulf monarchies. The aggression by the United States-backed Arab coalition has already resulted in the deaths of thousands of men, women and children, and the destruction of large sections of the country’s infrastructure.

The nauseating irony of what is happening in Yemen is this: that a group of countries without an inch of democracy in their political infrastructure, which are ruling kingdoms with oppression, where women are not even allowed to drive, where governing bodies are not elected, have, under the pretext of “restoring the legitimate government”, invaded a country that is being ruled by a popularly elected party. The strongest supporters of this aggression is the United States of America, self-declared “Leader of the Free World” and most vocal proponent of democracy. American support for the Saudi-led aggression in Yemen is one among numerous examples proving that the American invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan – which left millions dead – were not conducted in order to spread democracy or the liberation of a downtrodden and oppressed people; on the contrary, these invasions were undertaken to spread American hegemony in the region and to expand its global empire. What other reason could there be for condemning democratic movements in Yemen, Bahrain and Palestine as terrorism?

The Arab coalition has left many speechless on how low these dictators and butchers can stoop. In order to maintain their influence on a sovereign country, they have aligned themselves with the usurping, illegitimate apartheid government occupying Palestine. With the help of the Zionist regime, the Arab-coalition has been conducting – and continues to conduct – crippling aerial attacks in Yemen. These so-called defenders of human rights have never uttered a word against Zionist aggression in Palestine; on the contrary, they have gone out of their way to hinder the Palestinian resistance. The same establishments were complicit in the massacre of Bahrainis when they demanded their rights. Despite the blatant nature of their crimes, they have the audacity to claim that they are defending the “legitimate” government in Yemen, which, in fact, was an unelected dictatorship.

As mentioned in earlier blogs, the Houthis in Yemen have a tough road ahead of them; the Gulf autocracies will do everything in their power to stop Yemen from becoming an independent and free nation. Regardless of the steps these countries take, however, history has proven time and again that, sooner or later, oppressors are overthrown and defeated defeated. It is up to us, the free masses, to become the voice of the oppressed. What role must we assume if we are to effectively stop the heinous crimes that are being committed in Yemen and the rest of the region? How will we become the voice of the oppressed? How will we stop our establishments in taking part in the indiscriminate slaughter of a people? Although Western establishments have never bothered to listen to the masses, although they have committed crimes on their own people, we should still collectively rise to the occasion and, at the very least, strongly condemn this madness caused by Western-backed Arab monarchies. After all, not every free voice can be silenced.