Yemen Notebook

Most nights Saudi bombers fly low over the Yemeni capital of Sanaa dealing out random destruction. High up in the Yemeni mountains, Sanaa claims to be the oldest inhabited city in the world. Its old city, a Unesco world heritage site, is at least as unique, ancient and priceless as any western city. Many of its buildings have been destroyed or damaged by Saudi bombs. Imagine the outcry in the West if Venice or Florence were being targeted in this way. However, nobody seems to care one way or another about Yemen. This is because the country is under attack from Britain’s oldest ally in the region, Saudi Arabia. So that’s all right then.

Sanaa is in the hands of Houthi rebels. Elegantly clad in thowbs, with Kalashnikovs flung over their shoulders, the rebels frequently cause offence by bringing their weapons with them into restaurants, contrary to local practice. Many of their fighters have not reached puberty. The Saudis accuse the Houthis of being agents of Iran. There is no question that their hideous slogan, plastered in all public spaces, is inspired by the Islamic Republic: ‘God is Great, Death to America, Death to Israel, A Curse upon the Jews, Victory to Islam.’

Most popular

Charles Walford

Forget Adolescence: this is the Netflix drama teenage boys should watch

Left to themselves the people of Sanaa might well have cast out the Houthis, a northern clan who captured the city two years ago. The bombing campaign from the Saudi-led coalition has instead made them immensely popular. The Saudis have destroyed schools, hospitals, market places, residential suburbs. ‘I dislike the Houthis,’ one Sanaa official confided, ‘but we have to choose between two evils. One evil is bombing us from above. The Houthis are merely making things difficult for us. Given the choice between the two, I would rather the ones who are making things difficult for us.’