Securing the Red Sea

Rather than bombing Yemen, the US and UK should get Israel to stop its slaughter in Gaza

The Yemeni drone and missile barrage launched against Israeli-bound shipping in the Red Sea on Tuesday night was truly historic.

It was the largest strike since the governing Ansarullah (Houthi) movement started targeting such ships in solidarity with the people of the Gaza Strip. This time it was not only directed at commercial carriers servicing Israeli-held ports, but also at US and possibly UK warships that were deployed in the area to protect them.

The Yemeni government’s military spokesperson Yahya al-Sarie announced on Wednesday that the large-scale joint operation by his country’s naval, missile, and drone forces targeted “an American ship that was providing support to the Zionist entity.” He said that was in retaliation for the sinking of three Yemeni navy boats by a US destroyer on 31 December, killing ten crew members.

That is why I described the missile and drone strike as historic. It was the first time in modern Middle East history that any state in the region hit out at American or any other foreign warships plying its waters. The mere mention of the word ‘America’ sends shivers up the spines of most Arab generals. It would be utterly unthinkable to them to order the launching of missiles and drones against American gunboats in retaliation for the sinking of their own vessels.

Mahdi al-Mashat, the chairman of Ansarullah’s political council, went further. Declaring that “America is intervening in support of Israel and we are intervening in support of our kin in the Gaza Strip”, he formally demanded that the US hand back the bodies of the 10 slain Yemeni sailors. He added: “The Sanaa government will persist in its policy and its attacks in support of our brothers in the Gaza Strip by closing the Red Sea to Israeli ships and others carrying goods to the occupier state’s ports until the blockade is lifted and the genocidal war in the Gaza Strip is halted.`’

The US’ all-out for support for Israel is now dragging it into a confrontation in the Red Sea and a trap from which it cannot emerge unharmed. Thanks to Israel, it is now facing a massive dilemma which, after supporting the failed eight-year Saudi-led war on Yemen, it tried to avoid by taking the Houthis off its ‘terrorist’ list.

It has now left itself with three choices:

(1) To initiate a military response in the Red Sea, as it did by sinking the three Yemeni navy boats.

(2) To up the ante by launching airstrikes against Yemeni installations or cities like the Houthi-controlled capital Sanaa or port of Hodeida.

(3) To back off to avoid making things worse, and press its Israeli allies to halt their war of extermination.

Latest reports indicate that the US administration — with the UK government in tow as usual — is intent on taking some kind of military action, both driven in part by domestic political considerations.

That would be a major mistake. Many of the US’ allies around the world are balking at the prospect of it starting another war in support of Israel’s genocidal assault. And the Yemenis have proven time and again throughout history their commitment to their principles and their invincibility, whatever the cost, when facing foreign aggressors.

The bold stance taken by the Sanaa government is supported by the vast majority of the Yemeni people in all ports of the country. It has already begun to restore the country’s cohesion and help overcome its divisions and rivalries. That is because there remains an absolute consensus among Yemenis in support of the cause of Palestine and its liberation.

In case you think I’m exaggerating, I refer you to the view expressed by deputy parliament speaker Abdelaziz al-Jabari, who stands in the opposing trench to the Yemeni government. He declared in a Facebook post a few days ago: “We reject any American-British attack on Yemen, because its aim is not to protect international shipping but Israel. We in Yemen, whatever the differences between us, will never accept any American-British aggression against our country.”

Securing the Red Sea