Yemeni Liberation Movement

Episode Notes

The Yemeni Liberation Movement (YLM) is a grassroots organization educating and mobilizing our communities to end the war in Yemen and restore liberation and sovereignty to all of Yemen.

Iman Saleh and Muna Saleh are community organizers from Dearborn and Detroit, Michigan. Recently they traveled to Washington, D.C. to demand an end to U.S. participation in the war on Yemen. YLM has begin a hunger strike and call on President Biden to meet the following demands:

Publicly speak out against the blockade

End U.S. support for the Saudi-led blockade 

March 26, 2021 marked the sixth year of the U.S.-supported, Saudi-led genocide against Yemen. Over 233,000 people have been killed mostly from indirect causes such as famine and life-threatening diseases, 24 million are in need of humanitarian assistance, and [16 million ](https://www.wfp.org/emergencies/yemen-emergency#:~:text=Despite%20ongoing%20humanitarian%20assistance%2C%2016.2,(16%2C500%20to%2047%2C000%20people.)are at risk of famine. The Yemeni people are in constant emotional, physical, and psychological chaos with many waiting to die, and others watching their children die. 

When organizers pleaded with the Obama administration to not hand his war to Trump, we were ignored. When organizers fought for the War Powers Resolution with Trump, it was vetoed and billions of dollars in new weapons were sold to the Saudi-led coalition. Despite Biden making a promise to end the war during the election, his statements have been ambiguous and he has continued to support the Saudi coalition once his term began.  

The Biden administration is currently playing “war crimes gymnastics”, supporting (yet denying) a new 3-month-long fuel blockade that has resulted in mass starvation and death. Hospitals are forced to shut down as they are unable to keep their generators running. According to a 2021 WHO report, nearly 51% of hospitals that were operating before the war are currently either closed or operate at reduced capacity. Yemenis can’t afford to transport themselves to the hospital, with one Yemeni mother expressing in a March 2021 CNN investigation that she had to cut out food and water in order to afford sending her child to receive critical care. The same investigation from CNN international correspondent, Nima Elgabir, confirmed that the United States is supporting the blockade. Under UN resolution 2417, this support is classified as mass starvation. 

The YLM is taking a stand to say enough is enough. We no longer ask when the people of Yemen will see peace - we demand it.

As nonviolent protests go, hunger strikes wreak the most havoc to the body and mind. Yet, we are willing to undergo these risks in solidarity with the people of Yemen, 22 million of whom are actively being starved. We have shouted, marched, asked for peace, and written letters. Now, as citizens of the United States and members of the YLM, we will put our bodies and future health on the line while urging President Biden to end all support for the blockade on Yemen.

What was once a paradise on Earth to millions, has now been turned into a never-ending hell. We will continue our strike until President Biden acknowledges and ends the United States’ support for the blockade, so that we may begin the work of restoring safety, security, and sovereignty to the heaven that is Yemen.

The Riverwise Podcast is bringing together Detroit citizens to consider new and forms of resistance to continuing economic and political marginalization in communities of color. For over three years now, the Riverwise collective has created media that depicts local activism and the profound new work being done in Detroit neighborhoods. Through the quarterly Riverwise magazine, Riverwise community conversations, and the Riverwise Writing Workshop, we're developing our collective voice.