With iron and fire, the Houthis suppress religious freedom in Yemen

Iron and fire; this is the only language the Houthis can speak as they undermine coexistence and religious freedom in Yemen through persecution and suppression. By virtue of the grave violations and the horrific massacres perpetrated by Houthi fighters against those who disagree with them, many Yemenis have welcomed “Operation Decisive Storm”, despite its terrible impact on the security of ordinary citizens and their economic activities, as well as on the military structure, which is supposed to be the property of the Yemeni people.

The Houthis are conducting a war of liquidation through which they are persecuting other groups, including other Muslims who do not subscribe to their own interpretation of Islam. There are many stories of sieges, abuse, fighting, murder, bombings, displacement and banishment, kidnappings, larceny and looting. The Qur’an and Hadith teaching centres, the University of Iman and the University of Qur’an and Islamic Sciences have been attacked, as have other intellectual and religious institutions as well as the homes of scholars, teachers and mosque imams.

Indeed, the Houthi militias are guilty of a number of crimes perpetrated against coexistence and religious freedom in which they have been backed by Iran and supported by deposed president Ali Abdullah Saleh and his followers.

He who is not with us is an ISIS affiliate and an agent

The militias cry, “God is great, death to America, death to Israel, curse the Jews, victory for Islam”, leaving us with the impression that they are Islam’s formidable fortress while everyone else – usually those with whom they disagree – are lackeys of America and Israel. They even chant this slogan while bombing mosques, Qur’an schools and the homes of their opponents in order to give the impression that by doing so they are only supporting Allah’s cause; and that the mosques, Qur’an schools and the homes they bomb are centres of US and Israeli intelligence. Those they kill, in this logic, are American and Israeli “spies”.

The Houthis choose sensational terminology deliberately as a means of drawing a veil over their ugly facade and despicable acts. To begin with, they called their unlicensed body “the faithful youth” and then it changed it to “Supporters of Allah”; they describe their followers as “mujahidin” (strugglers in the path of God) while perpetrating horrific crimes and grave violations under the banner of what they describe as “The Qur’anic March”.

They also seek to discredit those who are affiliated with other Islamic schools of thought, accusing them systematically of treason and accusing them of very serious acts and calling them the worst of names, which damages social harmony in the country. Not content with importing weapons and doctrines alien to Yemeni society, the militias also use terminology from Iraq, Lebanon and Iran against the millions of Yemenis who do not share their narrow, racist outlook. This includes the aforementioned “US and Israeli lackeys”; “tools of Saudi intelligence”; “ISIS elements; “enemies of the House of the Prophet”; “takfiris (those who accuse others of heresy)”; “Al-Qaeda”; “foreign fighters”; “hypocrites”; “kharijites”; “allies of the Jews and the Christians”; “allies of the oppressors”; and so on. Such name-calling is aimed at excluding all others; it confirms that the Houthis do not recognise coexistence, religious freedom or freedom of thought.

Of the many contradictions within the Houthi group is that while it does all of the above and abuses and discredits the leaders and prominent figures of others, Houthis do not tolerate any criticism of their own doctrines or the discrediting of any of their leaders. They inflict severe punishment on those who do so; one 20 year-old man was stabbed by one of his Houthi neighbours who could not tolerate hearing him curse the Houthi leader. The young man was hospitalised for several days.

According to Salim Allaw, head of Nidal Organisation against Detentions and Kidnappings, the Houthi militias kidnapped a man and detained him in the Al-Wahda area within the Yemeni capital. When the organisation demanded his release his kidnappers refused, using the pretext of charging him with verbal abuse of the leader of the Houthis. Such abuse of their leader is a red line not to be crossed, said the Houthi official in charge of security.

Ahmad Muhsin, a former kidnap victim snatched because of his intellectual activities, claimed that he was warned during his interrogation against continuing to criticise the Houthis. “The mujahidin are a red line,” he was told. “You are not allowed to utter a word against them.”

Blowing up the foundations of coexistence

The Houthis’ dislike of coexistence and religious and intellectual freedoms led to them killing 71 Salafist students in Damaj; 170 others were wounded in the same attack and siege that lasted 68 days in 2011. In late 2013, the Houthis again attacked the students and their families, killing 207, of whom 29 were children; 610 were wounded, including 72 children. The same attack created 100 orphans and destroyed 364 homes and a hospital; thousands were forced to flee after a siege that lasted 100 days.

The students at the Hadith School in the Ktaf region were also attacked by the Houthis; 300 were killed, 500 were wounded and 420 families were displaced, while 150 houses were looted and 19 others were destroyed. A similar school in Anis was blown up and 13 Qur’an schools in other areas were destroyed. On 20 September they stormed into the University of Qur’an and Islamic Studies and looted it; the losses are estimated to be in the millions. The militias refused to hand back what they had taken until the university paid several millions as “protection” money and signed a document absolving them of responsibility for looting it in the first place.

At Al-Iman University, the Houthi militias killed 12 students and staff; they wounded 23 others, claiming that there was a “bomb factory” on the campus. Resources valued at 2.2 billion Yemeni riyals were looted and all of the faculties were closed down, depriving around 5,000 students of their education. Hundreds of other students at Al-Iman Centre for Learning the Qur’an were kept away; 540 staff members were left unpaid while the media department was set on fire. Student records were confiscated and 1,500 students were evicted from their university accommodation, along with 235 families from the married quarters and 130 families of academic staff. The militias lodged more than 50 Houthi families in their place, although they left when “Decisive Storm” was launched as they feared that they would be targeted by the coalition forces. The details of these atrocities were revealed by university staff and students in a press conference a few days ago. The university, meanwhile remains occupied by the Houthis.

The new Mongols

In a crime reminiscent of what the Mongols did to the manuscripts and scientific heritage of Baghdad in the 13th century, the militias set fire to two of the biggest libraries in the country in Damaj and the University of Al-Iman. Films and recordings of lectures and lessons, and two decades’ worth of scientific records were also burnt. Research documents and academic theses were among the items lost. The Houthis also set fire to three libraries in Arhab; the losses are put at 22 million Yemeni riyals.

Prayers at gunpoint

Those who have no respect for religious and intellectual freedom show no respect for shrines even if they are the Houses of God, the Almighty. The sanctity of many such places have been violated by the Houthi militias backed by former President Saleh, bringing an end to freedom of worship and damaging the spiritual climate of Yemen; worshippers are now extremely fearful. Mosques have been blown up and closed down; officials and Imams have been imposed on congregations at gunpoint. Scores of mosques have been affected by this oppression. Imams and Friday orators have been threatened; some have been dragged from the pulpit, while Qur’an lessons have been disrupted. Directives using the stamp of the ministry of Awqaf (religious endowments) have been used to ban lectures in some areas.

“Last September, the militia stormed into the mosque and the Imam’s residence where I live with my family,” said Dr Abd Al-Qadir Murit of Ashour Mosque in Sanaa. “They threatened to harm my children and took the keys of the mosque, giving me 48 hours to leave with my family.” The Houthis, said Dr Murit, imposed their own orator on the worshippers and turned the ladies prayer hall and the Qur’an school into a tribunal as part of what they call the Judiciary Committee that belongs to their group. “They turned my residence into militia quarters for the neighbourhood,” he added. “All these violations were perpetrated despite objections from the majority of worshippers and without seeking the permission of the endowment trustees. They continue to refuse to hand back the mosque to this very day despite the many attempts we made via mediators.”

During the month of Ramadan, in some mosques the militias prevent worshippers from performing the voluntary additional night prayers (tarawih). Two people were killed in the capital city of Sanaa last Ramadan. According to the Houthis, the tarawih prayers are an innovation; they use force to prevent worshippers from performing them in a number of places.

Hours before last year’s Eid Al-Adha prayers, the militias stormed into public squares and parks where they were to be performed and installed their own imams on the worshippers. Most of the latter were so dismayed that they left straight after the prayer and did not stay to listen to the sermon, as is customary. The Houthis’ Imams were left to address a few of their own people. That was an extraordinary day on which ordinary worshippers sent a clear message expressing their discontent and objection to the actions of Al-Houthi and his group. The media and social networks reported this incident widely.

Houthi fascism

The neo-fascist behaviour of the Houthis reminds us of the crimes of the apartheid regime; people are punished for looking “different”. In fact, the militias have killed people due to their appearance. A young pharmacist, Waddah Al-Hattari, was murdered in front of his pharmacy opposite the Republican Hospital in Sanaa on 16 October last year. Why? Because he had grown a long beard, which is also why 50 year-old ice cream vendor Jabir Al-Rimi was killed by the militia in Al-Jawf Province on 14 November; he had also spoken out against the Houthis’ crimes, reported the Aden Post.

To be added to such crimes is the kidnapping of religious studies students and the harassment and stalking of many Islamic scholars and jurists who are affiliated with jurisprudence which differs to that of the Houthis. They have driven some into exile abroad or into areas that are not under the militias’ control.

With the onset of “Decisive Storm”, the militias intensified their kidnap campaigns, taking imams as well as students. Two days after the start of the coalition intervention, they kidnapped 126 students in one hour from among those who were forced out of Damaj by the Houthis in the middle of January last year.

They even target scholars from the Shia Zaydiyah school of thought. Muhammad Abd Al-Adhim Al-Houthi is one of the scholars of Zaydiyah and has his own followers. However, he happens to disagree with the Houthis and accuses them of transgressing against the Zaydiyah and the House of the Prophet. He was assaulted by the militias in Dahyan; his house was demolished and he was expelled out of the town. Clashes broke out and scores of his followers were killed by the Houthis, who went on to bomb a mosque, a school and 13 houses on the pretext that they were loyal to Muhammad Abd Al-Adhim, according to an interview conducted with him by Al-Jumhuriyah newspaper.

The same happened with renowned scholar Muhammad Azzan, who is known for his moderate thought and also belongs to the Zaydiyah school; he was banned from giving sermons. In an interview with Kuwait’s Al-Siyasah newspaper a few days ago, he said: “Houthi armed men entered Al-Ebadah Mosque, where I have been giving the sermon for the past 15 years, and told me that I was replaced by another orator. I spoke to some of the Houthi leaders, who claimed that they had no knowledge of what had happened. I demanded that they rectify the situation and stop their followers from abusing others but nothing has been done about it.”

When they target Zaydiyah scholars, said Azzan, it is because their discourse is “moderate”, something acknowledged by everyone. “This shows that they will continue to target ‘others’ as long as the Houthis are dominated by a mindset which doesn’t allow coexistence.”

He stressed that the Houthis’ conduct is stirring up hatred and rage, which will have repercussions in the future leading to endless conflict and injustice. “The danger posed by the Houthis’ control over the mosques is that it will lead to imposing a monolithic trend by force,” he warned. “This does not persuade anyone, but leads to frustration and polarisation.”

It is through this, he noted, that the Houthis serve only to widen the circle of vengeance against them and deepen people’s hatred. “We do not fear a backlash against the Houthis as well as all the followers of the Zaydiyah school, but in their actions the Houthis are not only doing themselves a disservice but also causing harm to the Hashemites, Zaydis and those who hail from the northern regions.”

The tragedy of the Jews of Yemen

The transgressions of the Houthis have not been confined to the overwhelming majority of Yemeni Muslims who disagree with them intellectually and religiously. They also extend to the Yemeni Jews who have remained steadfast in their homeland and turned down the lucrative offers made to them by the Israelis to migrate to the Zionist state.

The Houthis may not have bombed Jewish homes as they have others, but they have damaged the religious freedom enjoyed by the Jews of Yemen for many centuries and which is guaranteed by the Shari’ah, social norms and Yemeni law. They have expressed their hostility and abused Yemeni Jews by lies and threats. As long ago as February 2007, the Houthi militias forced 45 Jews out of the province of Saadah, giving them ten days to leave under the pretext that they were spreading immorality.

After the Houthis seized Amran in July 2014, reported Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, they sent threatening messages to the Jews in Rayda advising them to leave as soon as possible before they met the same fate as the Jews of Saadah. According to official statistics published in 2009, there are 266 Jews in the Rayda region. Sixteen families from the same area migrated to Israel that same year due to the increase in hostility towards them. As the situation worsens, more have followed; Reuters said that “a family of six Yemeni Jews arrived in Israel on 13 February 2015.”

“Since last September our movement has been extremely restricted because of the lack of security,” commented Rabbi Yahya Yousef. “Some community members preferred to leave Yemen altogether.” He added that they do not wish to leave. “Had we wished to do so we would have left a long time ago.”

Some sources say that only 40-60 Yemeni Jews remain in Sanaa and that they might leave, at least until the situation improves on the ground. In the 1950s, there were around 50,000 Jews in Yemen, but most migrated to Israel. Those who remain in Yemen have resisted Israeli overtures and hold fast to their Yemeni nationality and identity. However, it is clear that the Houthis do not like this, and are hell-bent on accomplishing for the Zionist entity what it has so far failed to achieve by itself.

The author is a Yemeni journalist. Translated from Noonpost, 3April, 2015

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.