لو لم اكن مصريه لوددت ان اكون مصريه , فحمداً لله شاءت الأقدار و "النصيب" أن اكون مصريه ... و أفتخر بذلك. شعور الانتماء هذا ليس مقصور علىِّ فقط لأني حاصله على الجنسيه بل هذا شعور كل عربي يحب و يعتز بمصر. يحز في نفسي اني لم اكن في مصر اثناء قيام الثوره وللأسف لست هناك كذلك اليوم ايضاً لأشارك في الذكرى الأولى للثوره و لكني هناك قلباً و وجداناً إن لم اكن متواجده قالباً. مصر عامره بشعبها الثائر الأبي الذي سيظل يكافح حتي يحقق الأهداف التي قامت من أجلها الثوره و إنتصار ثورة مصر هي نصر لكل العرب.
اليوم ليس إحتفال بل يوم ذكرى و تكريم للشهداء والمفقودين الذين ضحوا بأرواحهم و يوم شكر للجرحى و المصابين الذين دفعوا بدمائهم، واعينهم و لكل الثوار الذين قدموا كل ما يملكون من اجل العيش والحريه والعداله الاجتماعيه و لا يزالون يقدمون الكثير.
لقد كانت كلمة النائب أكرم الشاعر المؤثره في مجلس الشعب ابلغ رساله لما نطالب به في مثل هذا اليوم ... العداله و القصاص للشهداء الذين لن ننساهم
الفاتحه على ارواح الشهداء و لا تزال الثوره مستمره ... حتى يسقط النظام ... و يسقط يسقط حكم العسكر.
SupportYemen: Silence Kills Yemen's Youth speak out to the international community, emphasizing their resistance to the attacks of government forces and their determination to continue demanding what they originally set out to achieve - equal rights, liberty, freedom from oppression and a dignified life.
SupportYemen: For Liberty In silent remembrance of the hundreds of lives lost in the youth's peaceful uprising against Saleh's regime. Friends and loved ones left behind continue their fight for freedom, justice and equality.
SupportYemen: What Would You Do? Some take basic human rights for granted, but for us, Yemenis, they are aspirations. We march for better education, better healthcare, freedom of speech, real democracy, for justice, and for dignity.
The children are our future and in Yemen children represent more than 50% of the population, which is 24 million, thus amounting to more than 12 million. They are the victims of poverty, political instability and malnutrition. According to the WFP " half of Yemen's children are chronically malnourished and 1 out of 10 does not live to reach the age of five".
A survey by Yemen's Ministry of public Health and Population supported by UNICEF in the coastal town of Hodeida found a global acute malnutrition (GAM) rate of 31.7 percent, nearly 60 percent of children were underweight and 54.5 percent stunted, meaning their height was too low for their age, a sign of longer-term malnutrition.
In the southern Abyan Governorate, a battleground with ongoing fights, a UNICEF survey in September found a GAM rate of 18.6 percent, of which 3.9 percent were severe cases. Nearly half of the children surveyed in northern Hajjah were underweight and 43.6 percent were stunted. In short, according to a recent report by Oxfam more than one in three children in Yemen are severely stunted.
"Widespread poverty, food insecurity, malnutrition, unemployement, low levels of education, high gender disparities, rapid population growth and insufficient access to safe water and land", is what characterizes Yemen according to the WFP, conditions which have been further aggravated by the current political crisis, taking a toll on Yemeni children and impacting their psycosocial well being.
Listen to the children's own words
According to Geert Cappelaere, director of UNICEF in Yemen, in a recent interview with Willam Lambers an author who wrote numerous books and articles about hunger, "one in three children reported feeling unsafe, sad, or frustrated, and suffered from diminshed hope, fear, anger and hatred as well as experiencing difficulty sleeping. One in four experienced difficulties concentrating, and establishing trustful relationships."
This video shows children role playing the recent violence in Yemen:
At least 94 children have been killed and 240 others wounded by gunshots or shelling in Yemen since civil unrest began in February 2011, according to UNICEF.
UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported over 170 schools were damaged or destroyed as a result of six rounds of conflict in Saada. In a more recent report by UNICEF "nearly a quarter of a million of children across Yemen have difficulties attending schools" due to the fact that "more than 180 schools in different parts of the country have been occupied or attacked by armed forces and groups or by displaced communities." A survey conducted by Oxfam concluded that "one in five said they had taken their children out of school to help the family earn their daily bread and nearly two-thirds were skipping meals."
One of many heart breaking stories of Yemeni children suffering published in the Global Post reads as follows:
"Amry’s eldest son, 9-year-old Majd, walks the five kilometers to school each morning. But his two younger sisters Naema and Salama no longer join him.
“Our Dad withdrew us because we didn't have any clothes or books,” Naema said, leading a donkey down to the well to fetch water.
“We wash dishes, bake, cook and clean. We would love to be studying in school instead of staying at home,” Naema said. “With school you can be a doctor, but without school you cannot.”
And so, uneducated through lack of food, Naema and Salama will join the 70 percent of Yemeni women who are illiterate in the nation that has consistently ranked lowest in the Global Gender Gap index.
With no classes to occupy them, Amry said he would soon be searching for husbands for Naema and Salama, eager to earn the best dowry possible for marrying off his daughters, around $1,000 each if they married into another poor family."
Children growing in Yemen, the poorest country in the Arab world, have little opportunity for education and development, traumatized by the violence sadly do not know when their next meal will be.
Some of you are parents and do our best to protect and provide for your children, many parents in Yemen don't have the ability to even do so. Children in Yemen need your help, please spread the word, donate and make a difference in their lives.
Whoever knows Yemen, certainly knows about Qat. In case you don't know what it is, Qat is a green leafy plant that many Yemeni chew for hours, almost daily. Many who visited Yemen are familiar with the image of Yemenis with swelling cheeks, picking the plant leaves, filling it into their mouths and chewing it. Qat contains an amphetamine like stimulant which triggers a mild euphoria and a state of excitement which makes people become talkative and more relaxed.The World Health Organization classified it as a drug of abuse with possible psychological dependence, however it does not consider it to be seriously addictive. Qat is rather an addictive social habit, and a rather expensive one considering that 45% of the population live below the poverty line.
Unfortunately Qat chewing has become an embedded social activity in Yemen and part of it's culture. It is a nationwide habit, a basic form of social interaction among men, women and now even some children consume it. Yemeni gather everyday in the afternoons to chew Qat. It is also consumed in every wedding, funeral and even in business and political meetings. The social sessions of Qat chewing usually start at the end of the work day around 3 pm and lasts till the late hours of the evening. Qat has become an epidemic in every Yemeni household and has detrimental effects on Yemen's agriculture, economy, health and society. Massive time and resources are wasted to chewing this cursed plant, paralyzing Yemenis to think or work towards building Yemen.
Although the plant itself originally came from Ethiopia, Qat has become the largest source of rural income and employment in Yemen since it's cultivation occupies a huge portion of agricultural land, almost 65% according to some figures. Farmers stopped growing fruits and crops, such as coffee and grapes which Yemen had been historically famous for, and replaced it with Qat instead, which is easily cultivated, highly demanded, sold daily in local markets all over Yemen and yields immediate and unparalleled profits making it a lucrative business.
Qat cultivation is depleting Yemen scarce water resources, since it's cultivation requires almost half of Yemen's water supply. In Sanaa alone, Yemen's capital which according to experts will be the first city in the world to run out of water in 2025, "Qat plant consumes 60 million cubic meters of water per year - twice the amount consumed by it's citizens".
The average Yemeni spends a substantial percentage of his income on Qat, while low income families spend almost half of their budget on Qat, more than on the purchase of food, which causes widespread malnutrition, the underlying cause of 50% of child death in Yemen according to UNICEF. Qat is also believed to cause an increased number of mouth and throat cancer, due to the chemicals and pesticides used to grow it. Kidney failure, gastritis, constipation, loss of apetite, insomnia, tooth decay and discoloration are just a few among a long list of health related problems caused by Qat.
Efforts have been made to counter this addiction which infected Yemen for centuries. An anti-qat initiative launched by Prime Minister Muhsin al-Ayni in 1972 was massively opposed and unfortunately led to his downfall after a few months. The World Bank also helped in fighting the Qat addiction in Yemen. A law passed by the government in 2002 prohibiting Qat chewing in government facilities was and still is ignored. In 2010 the World Bank Civil Society Fund awarded six Yemeni Non-Governemntal Organzations (NGO's) financial support for civic engagement in the fight against Qat. In March 2011 the government raised Qat taxes to 200% and reportedly prohibited Qat markets from major cities, yet in reality Yemen's government has been mostly passive about combating it since Qat sales taxes constitutes the main local revenue source. Ironically it allowed Qat be farmed in state agricultural lands and also subsidiezes the diesel required to pump water for it, and by doing so depleting it's own resources.
Yemen's Revolution for Change should add Qat elimination to it's long agenda. Attempts to do so historically have been greatly resisted, making it a challenging and strenuous process and requiring a level of political leadership and commitment. Qat can not be banned or eliminated overnight, it should be a gradual weaning process which will require a lot of time and effort. Governmental subsidies encouraging growth of fruits, vegetables and crops in place of Qat, awareness campaigns, about the hazards of Qat, with the assistance of the civic society through the media, at schools and among farmers, promoting alternative ideas and venues for entertainment and social interaction, are necessary steps among many which could lead to the gradual elimination of Qat. Hopefully the determined people of Yemen, the second most armed nation in the world, who amazed everyone with their peaceful Revolution, impressed them with the 264 km Life March, and are currently uprising widely against corruption will make the right choices and take the gradual and necessary steps to eliminate this epidemic form Yemeni society.
Social media campaigns on Facebook and twitter aim to create awareness about the detrimental effects of Qat on the individual and on Yemen at large. These initiative needs to be supported by people in Yemen and endorsed by state and private Yemeni media channels, news papers, NGOs, governmental and public figures in order for it to succeed and become a step amongst many to bring about the desired, and ultimate goal of "No Qat in Yemen".
Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything. -George Bernard Shaw
Over the past few weeks, Yemen's revolution spread from the streets to institutions across the country, calling for an end to corruption in the governmental and public sectors.
@SupportYemen tweeted a link to the Washington Post article entitled “Strikes spread across Yemen as government employees rally against corruption” :
Yemen's Revolution of Change spreads from the squares to the institutions to fight corruption. #Yemen #SupportYemenfb.me/11GwFAZIR
The article points out:
The strikes are following a pattern. Workers lock the gates to an institution, and then they storm the offices of their supervisors, demanding their replacement with bosses who are not tainted with corruption allegations. So far the scenario has played out in 18 state agencies.
@iiamelii tweets the same article published by the New York Times under a different title:
In #Yemen, Anti-Corruption Strikers Demand Dismissal of Managers: nyti.ms/vzVuh8
This video, posted by kashmim, shows soldiers striking and preventing police chief Mohammed al-Qawsi, a relative of outgoing President Ali Abdullah Saleh, from entering the main police headquarters, chanting “leave, leave” and carrying a poster saying “we are the soldiers of the people, not the soldiers of al-Qawsi”:
More “revolutionary” acts follow. @Yemen411 tweets in disbelief:
FIRST TIME EVER, like EVERRR: #Yemen Military Weekly paper 26 Sept. accuses “On Print” its editor with corruption
In this video, posted by karot439, the people of al-Baydha march to demand the dismissal of their corrupt governor:
The most followed news page of the Yemeni revolution on Facebook @NewsOfYemeniRev tweets:
NYR | Uprising Against Corruption |Strikes are spreading to the banking sector in Yemen that witnesses the first… fb.me/1iEYwEb2v
@ArabsUnite writes about the spread of the strikes to the academic sector:
#Sanaa UNI Students protested at University campus demanding dismissal of the University's president for corruption: youtu.be/je884esy8p0
And NYR provides links to videos of student protests in Taiz, Dhamar and Sanaa on Facebook:
NYR | Uprising Against Corruption | Students protests in a number of schools and cities in Yemen demanding the dismissal of the corrupted in the Ministry of Education as well as school principles.
Even if Yemen's political transition leaves a lot to be desired, a general clean-up at the administrative level – which is what the Parallel Revolution is seeking – could make a huge difference to the way the country is run.
While I also wrote a post about the parallel revolution on my blog here. I note:
The “parallel revolution” demanded the immediate dismissal of “the untouchables”, the corrupt officials who unlawfully exerted their authority, embezzled and terrorized their subordinates. Some of the institutions affected so far include, the National Airlines “Yemenia”, the State TV in Sanaa and Aden, the Police Headquarters, the Military Economic Institution, the Armed Forces Moral Guidance Department, the Agriculture and Irrigation office, the Coast Guard, the Naval Academy, the Traffic Police, Sanaa University, the Yemen Bank of Reconstruction and Development, the Thawrah Hospital in Taiz, the Central Organization of Control and Audit in both Aden and Taiz, and the Finance Office in Taiz.
The revolution in Yemen, through admirable passive resistance methods, is gradually bringing about the change desired to the most armed nation in the world and the poorest country in the Arab world, proving that Yemeni determination and perseverance is what will hopefully turn the slogan “the people want to topple the regime” into a reality.
* This post was first published by Global Voices on January 3rd, 2012.
The Revolution in Yemen did not stop with the inking of the GCC deal which was rejected by many Yemenis since the day it was initiated. As the word indicates, it was a deal, "an agreement entered into by two or more parties for their mutual benefit", in this case it was the the sharing of power between the ruling party GPC (General People's Congress) and the so called "opposition" JMP (Joint Meeting Parties) while the benefit of the Yemeni people was out of this equation. Gradually people realized that the deal was just a rebranding of the regime and a pretext for it to stay in power.
While the killings are still happening in Sanaa and some other cities, so are the relentless protests and marches.The people in Yemen, the second most armed country in the world are determined to make the change they demanded from the revolution through passive resistance methods. Besides the daily and weekly marches in the cities, they went on a 264 km cross country Life March by foot from Taiz in the south to Sanaa in the north, passing by Ibb, Yarim and Dhamar. Similar marches are taking place in different parts of Yemen. The Dignity March from Aden to Abyan set to draw the world's attention to the plight of the more than 100,000 IDPs (Internally Displaced People) who fled their homes from Abyan and neighboring cities to Aden to escape the ongoing violence due to the war on the so called "militants" by the government forces. Another march is taking place from the coastal city of Hodeidah to Sanaa.
In the past weeks, the Yemeni revolution spread from the streets to the institutions. Demonstrations and strikes in the governmental and public, academic, commercial & medical sectors against corruption swept across cities of Yemen. The "parallel revolution" demanded the immediate dismissal of "the untouchables", the corrupt officials who unlawfully exerted their authority, embezzled and terrorized their subordinates. Some of the institutions affected so far include, the National Airlines "Yemenia", the State TV in Sanaa and Aden, the Police Headquarters, the Military Economic Institution, the Armed Forces Moral Guidance Department, the Agriculture and Irrigation office, the Coast Guard, the Naval Academy, the Traffic Police, Sanaa University, the Yemen Bank of Reconstruction and Development, the Thawrah Hospital in Taiz, the Central Organization of Control and Audit in both Aden and Taiz, and the Finance Office in Taiz.
The following videos show the wave against corruption in many sectors and in different cities: Government sector: video (posted by Freeoman100001) on December 27, 2001 shows the employees of the Central organization of control and audit preventing their corrupt manager from entering the building.
Military sector: video (posted by taizpress on Dec, 31st, 2011) shows soldiers in Taiz demand sacking of military commanders who were behind the brutal killings of protesters and shelling of the city.
Academic sector: video (posted by ppryemen on January 2nd) shows Sanaa University students protesting demanding the dismissal of the University's corrupt president.
Banking sector: video (posted by ibrahim55403 on Jan2, 2012) shows the employees of the Yemen Bank of Reconstruction and Development protesting against the corruption in the bank
The "people want the fall of the regime" is no longer a mere slogan in Yemen, it is being translated into a real process starting with little steps. Saleh may still be in power but he seems to be gradually loosing his grip. His henchmen are falling one after the other in a wave against corruption in the military and governmental institutions as well as the public ones. Hopefully the pyramid of tyranny, corruption and injustice will eventually collapse as the administrative base falls apart and moves upwards towards the political one. The change hoped for in Yemen is gradually happening with the admirable perseverance and determination of the people in one of the poorest countries of the Arab world which has been plagued with corruption for decades.
Yemen's Revolution is the longest ongoing revolution of the Arab Spring. It started with a protest on February 3 and has been ongoing ever since. Here are the posts covering the main events that happened in Yemen throughout this year and the videos that tell the story of Yemen's struggle for freedom, democracy and justice.
The video that follows, uploaded on YouTube by EBNShams, shows the mayhem and chaos as ‘thugs' attack the protesters at the Sanaa University square on the night of February 22. You can hear gunshots clearly in the background. The protesters are also heard chanting: “The People Want to Overthrow the Regime” - which has been the rallying call of protesters against despots reigning across the Arab world during this so-called Arab Spring.
The next video, uploaded by SuperSouthyemen, shows a protester tearing up a huge poster of Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh, as protesters on the ground cheer him on:
On this day, security forces attacked protesters and burnt sit-in tents in Taiz's Freedom Square, killing 15 people, including four women and three children. Fifty others were injured in the attack.
A young female protester is seen in this video, uploaded on YouTube by FiredoglakeTV, appealing to the world community to stand by the side of the Yemeni people, who are determined to overthrow the regime:
The following video features the message of a female protester to the world, urging the world to stand besides Yemeni youth and people to build a democratic Yemen:
This video, uploaded on YouTube by the YouthYemeni, shows women burning their veils on 60th Street, the epicentre of protests in Sanaa, in protest against the killing of women during the Yemeni revolution. The burning of the veils by the women in the tribal tradition is a plea for help. Yemen is a tribal society and the killing of women is a big shame in Yemen and in Islam in general, so this was a clear and loud message by the Yemeni women for their tribes and the world at large to intervene to stop the killing of protesters.
Yemeni protesters culminated the year with a grand march from Taiz to Sanaa, covering all the 264km separating the two cities by foot. This video, by moathdamar, shows the first leg of the march, which stopped at Damar on December 22:
Yemen's massive peaceful marches have been a symbol of Yemeni steadfast and resilience. The life march from Taiz to Sanaa was the lifeline from the heart of Yemen's revolution, Taiz, swelling with the flow of revolutionary zeal on it's route to the heart of Change Square in Sanaa. Although it was met by violence by the security forces, resulting in 13 deaths, it nevertheless pumped life back into the revolution. While the politicians talked the talk, the Yemeni people walked the walk by striking, demonstrating and spreading the revolution from the squares to the government, military and public sectors, demanding the resignations and accountability of corrupt heads.
Yemen's revolution of change is a struggle that will only end when it reaches what it set for - freedom, democracy and justice. So brace yourself for more posts in 2012 to continue the story of Yemen's struggle.
* This post was first published by Global Voices, on January 3rd 2012.
I have been contemplating how to end the year with a post, but wasn't able to, till the year was literally over. 2011 has undoubtedly been the year of the Arab Spring or rather Arab Awakening. People of Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Syria, Bahrain rose to overthrow their dictators and demand freedom, democracy and social justice. Some have managed to depose their rulers, yet the majority are still struggling to overthrow their autocratic and corrupt regimes. Besides being a year full of natural catastrophes, 2011 has also been a year full of struggles, sacrifices and bloodshed, yet there has been substantial achievements, namely the Arabs have awoken and the fear barrier is forever broken, Arab women made headlines and corrected a common misconception and the Arab Spring has inspired the world to seek change. Throughout the year many battles have been won, however the war is not over yet.
What is ahead is more challenging than what has passed, and although it is not fair to judge by the first day, it seems this year will not be a smooth one either, so brace yourselves and buckle for the ride.
Welcome 2012, we are all ready to face the challenges that are coming our way!
