San‘â
I know I have complained a lot on this blog over the last two years about the stupidity and sheer evil of American war policy in Yemen: for example, here, here, here, here and here. Come to think of it, I’ve been complaining about it since 2014. I am also all too well-aware that such complaining actually has a tendency to produce fatigue and despondency. We have only so much ‘bandwidth’ for suffering before we shut down. And the way in which our news media inundates us with this suffering and outrage actually lessens our capacity for empathy. For my own part in this – and it is a part I fully admit I have played; I am as guilty of it as any other person with a keyboard, an Internet connexion and an inflated opinion of himself – I am sorry, and I beg my gentle readers’ forgiveness for it. I have been swayed by and contributed to this outrage fatigue.
That said, if we were to pick and choose something to be outraged by, this would have to be it. There is something wrong with a person who is not moved to pity and rage by the starvation of over ten million people. And if it were at the hands of our government and being committed in our names…! Because – let us be perfectly clear – the complicity in this starvation belongs overwhelmingly to the side that is blockading the port at al-Hudayda where food is supposed to arrive (still); that is turning clinics into targets; and that is bombing sources of clean water. Any drop or spot of blood that the Houthis have on their hands, is dwarfed by the utter deluge of it for which the Saudis, the Emiratis, and their allies – we Americans – must answer for.
Still, we should not give into despair. We should not throw up our hands and give Yemen up as hopeless. God does not turn His back on the poor or stop His ears to their prayers, and neither should we. The very first thing the Yemeni people need is for the bombs to stop falling, and for the Saudi-led blockade to end. As I have said before, there are several political pressure groups committing to achieving precisely this. In addition, we can also hold our elected officials accountable for this in a more direct way. E-mail them. Call them. If your Senator voted ‘yea’ here, particularly if they are Democrats, tell them you will withhold your vote for them unless they volte-face. The bombs have to stop falling – which means that we have to stop backing the Saudis. That’s the only way the humanitarian crisis in Yemen gets solved.
In the meantime, there are two very good, accountable local organisations that are helping families in Yemen get enough food, clothing, clean water, medicine and other basic supplies. They are running day to day and month to month, and can always use more financial assistance. These are Share Aid Yemen run by Qasim Ali al-Shawea, and Human Needs Development run by Adel Hashem. Please consider giving what you can. It will go to good use.
And, of course, pray for Yemen always. The elderly and the young; the orphans and the widows; the sick and the suffering; the sorrowing and the afflicted; the captives and the needy poor – the Orthodox Church commends all of these people to our prayers and to our actions. But, please, don’t despair.
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