The bodies of two children, a two-year old boy and a newborn girl, were dug up Sept. 16 from under the rubble left in the wake of the Saudi-led coalition\u2019s air strikes in a civilian neighborhood in Saada province. The children were from an internally displaced family who had recently relocated to Saada\u2019s Marran district after their previous home was destroyed in the same way. Two children lost, two homes destroyed. The bombs that pulverized the town, as well as the fuel that filled the jet tanks, were likely provided by the United States. <\/p>\n
The U.S. must disentangle itself from this conflict before it becomes even more complicit in the potential war crimes piling up in Yemen. America must instead pivot, uphold its values, and encourage its Persian Gulf allies to stop their attacks on civilians as a means of squeezing their Iran-backed enemies. <\/p>\n
Since 2015, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have been peppering Yemen, the Middle East\u2019s most impoverished nation, with air raids in attempt to reinstate the internationally recognized government of President Abu-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, which was toppled by Iran-backed Houthi Shiite rebels in late 2014. These air raids have increasingly and disproportionately killed civilians, many of them children, and toppled infrastructure. <\/p>\n
The U.S. has been supplying in-air fueling, targeting assistance, and various munitions to the Saudi-led coalition since the beginning of the civil war. Although President Barack Obama suspended U.S. assistance once it became clear that coalition forces may be violating humanitarian law through their seemingly indiscriminant attacks on noncombatants, once the Trump administration came into power, then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson quickly reinstated<\/a> this extensive support.<\/p>\n The coalition is shockingly striking far more non-military targets than military ones. In August alone, according to the Yemen Data Project, an organization that has been monitoring aerial bombardments since the beginning of the war, the number of air raids targeting non-military sites (39%) were more than double that of military (18%) targeting. The number of air raids on civilian vehicles and buses has risen every year since the coalition bombing campaign began in 2015. <\/p>\n The western port city of Hodeidah has once again become the epicenter of horrific fighting as the Saudi-led coalition has renewed its push to retake the city from the rebel Houthis who have controlled it since October 2014. This latest chapter of the coalition\u2019s offensive, called Operation Golden Victory, began earlier this month following failed peace talks in Geneva. The U.N. special envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, arranged for talks to resume in Geneva on Sept 6. While a delegation of the recognized government of Yemen arrived, allegedly ready to negotiate, the Houthis never showed, accusing the UN of failing to guarantee their safe return to Sanaa, Yemin\u2019s rebel-held capital. The next day, the Saudi-UAE alliance renewed their offensive to retake Hodeidah, which they had failed to recapture from the rebels in June. <\/p>\n The weekend of Sept. 7 marked one of the deadliest in Yemen\u2019s war so far, with more than 84 conflict-related fatalities reported within Hodeidah health facilities alone, according to Safer Yemen, an organization providing analysis and security services in Yemen. Hodeidah port is one of the most critical pieces of civilian infrastructure in Yemen, making the city a crucial gateway for supplying the rebels and for transporting humanitarian aid to the desperate civilian population. In a country almost completely reliant on imported food stocks, medicine, and fuel, up to 80% of these necessities have historically reached the rest of the country through the port of Hodeidah. <\/p>\n Any disruption or threat to the safety of the port and the shipments could strangle the Yemeni economy and impact access to food for more than 20 million people. Experts are particularly concerned about the milling facilities in the Hodeidah Port complex, which are extremely vulnerable to attack, and house enough to feed 3.5 million Yemeni people. In this war on civilians, nothing seems to be out of bounds. <\/p>\n The UN has warned of \u201cincalculable human cost\u201d in Hodeidah, as coalition forces backed by the US press from several sides towards the strategic port city, including heavy ground clashes and sustained aerial bombardments. The humanitarian situation could reach abominable proportions. <\/p>\n The country\u2019s three-year civil war has embroiled millions in what has become the world\u2019s worst humanitarian crisis. According to the U.N., some 22 million people, comprising 75% of Yemen\u2019s population, need humanitarian assistance, with 8.4 million on the brink of starvation. In addition to the thousands of deaths caused by air strikes, thousands have died of preventable diseases. And, of course, children bear the brunt of the devastation. Yemen has the largest number of children in need of aid globally. More than 11 million children, comprising 80% of the nation\u2019s children, desperately need humanitarian assistance. They must endure the daily scourge of food shortages, diseases, displacement, and acute lack of access to basic social services, most notably education, according to UNICEF. <\/p>\n Without a safe place to learn and continue their childhoods in the midst of this intractable war, they risk conscription by armed groups and government forces, indoctrination by extremist groups, and early and forced marriage. The future generation of Yemen is being buried by this war, much like the innocent civilians trapped under the rubble, much like the water networks, electricity plants, schools, medical facilities, food mills, and school busses being indiscriminately\u2014or perhaps even purposefully\u2014obliterated by the coalition bombs. <\/p>\n In Hodeidah, there are dramatic shortages of food and medicine; rebels patrol the streets around the clock; and most shops and restaurants have closed. The coalition\u2019s planes have bombed a radio station, taxi stand, houses, farms, a flour mill and a soft drink factory\u2014all civilian buildings\u2014across Hodeidah governorate over the last 2 weeks alone. The constant sound of machine-gun firing, mortar shelling, and airstrikes in the outskirts of the city reverberates through the air. \u201cThere is a great sense of panic and fear among people,\u201d said Mazen Mjammal<\/a>, 21. 55,000 people have been displaced from across the governorate, leaving more than half a million at heightened risk of hunger and exposure to diseases, including cholera. \u201cPeople are struggling to survive,\u201d warns Lise Grande, the top UN humanitarian official in Yemen.<\/p>\n Government forces, led by Saudia Arabia and UAE are targeting the arteries that branch out from Hodeidah to the rest of the country, transporting food and supplies necessary for the population\u2019s survival. For example, the coalition seems to have seized a key southern road to Hodeidah in order to weaken the rebels\u2019 supply lines, and has waged attacks to control Kilu 16, a junction that links the port city to Sanna, the nation\u2019s capital. <\/p>\n Hodeidah has become a trophy for both sides, its citizens pawns in the twisted game the government and Saudi-led coalition have been playing for far too long. Senior officials in government forces and the rebel insurgency both claim that they are the ones serving the best interests of the Yemeni people and liberating them from oppression. So, which side is telling the truth? Which side truly reflects the needs of the people\u2014the insurgency claiming their allegiance or the government calling for their liberation? The only thing that is clear about this conflict is that both sides are using Yemen\u2019s citizens in their war games, claiming ownership of them and essentially bleeding them dry.<\/p>\n Yemen has long been on the international community\u2019s radar. On Aug. 28, the U.N.-mandated Group of Independent Eminent Experts on Yemen reported<\/a> that grave human rights violations have been perpetrated by all parties to the conflict, possibly amounting to war crimes. It also found that the Saudis, Emiratis, and their Yemeni government allies were responsible for \u201cmost direct civilian casualties,\u201d accusing them of targeting residential areas, markets, funerals, weddings, detention facilities, civilian boats, and even medical facilities. <\/p>\n This report, combined with the terrifying scope of recent attacks, particularly the death of 40 children after the coalition\u2019s bombing of a school bus on Aug 9<\/a>, renewed global outrage. Just weeks after this categorically illegal and irreprehensible attack on innocent children, Saudi-led airstrikes killed at least 22 children and 4 women as they were fleeing the offensive in Hodeidah. <\/p>\n So, what has been America\u2019s response to these atrocities? One would think the Trump administration would cut ties with coalition forces immediately in order to preserve America\u2019s reputation as a global leader on upholding human rights and humanitarian law. But that was very far from the case. Despite the concerted efforts of impassioned members of Congress trying to make the administration see the light, the US has not only continued its support of its Persian Gulf allies, but gone so far as to justify it.<\/p>\n Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Todd Young (R-IN) spearheaded congressional efforts to rein in US involvement in the Yemen crisis. They authored a defense policy bill that required Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to certify that Saudi Arabia and the UAE are taking steps to prevent civilian deaths. The Defense bill actually linked continued US support to the actions of the coalition\u2019s leaders, providing a real mechanism for changing how what has become a war on the civilian population is waged. <\/p>\n Despite significant pressure from both sides of the aisle to acknowledge that war crimes are being perpetrated by our friends in Yemen, Pompeo baulked at the opportunity to give an honest assessment of the harm civilians are suffering and the role the U.S. plays in facilitating such abuses. On Sept 11, in a certification<\/a> required by the above-mentioned Defense bill, Pompeo told Congress that Saudi Arabia and UAE are taking \u201cdemonstrable actions\u201d to minimize civilian casualties. This certification means that the U.S. will continue to provide mid-air refueling for the coalition\u2019s war planes, sell them advanced weaponry, and supply them with intelligence and targeting assistance. <\/p>\n The U.S. is the world\u2019s largest weapons dealer, with Saudi Arabia as its biggest customer, having purchased more than $100 billion in armaments since 2010. As American-made missiles bury children in rubble, defense contractors like Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and Raytheon line their shareholders\u2019 pockets. Case in point: on the same day that Secretary Pompeo said the Saudi coalition complied with Congress\u2019 Yemen conditions, coalition planes blew up a taxi stand full of civilians in the Kelo 16 area of Hodeidah.<\/p>\n The certification sent a shockwave through Congress, prompting some officials to call out the Trump administration in a very real way. Rep. Ro Khanna (E-Calif.) said the administration\u2019s policy of having the Saudis serve as a buffer to Iran eclipsed all other considerations of US participation in the war. Sen. Shaheen said, \u201cWe need to hold our allies to a higher standard and unfortunately, this certification fails in that regard\u2026.It is evident that the administration is deliberately sidestepping congressional oversight.\u201d Others were truly incensed. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn), said in a statement<\/a>, \u201cHow can the Trump administration deny what everyone can see with our own two eyes? These certifications are a farce, and we should all be ashamed that our government is turning a blind eye to likely war crimes.\u201d <\/p>\n Earlier this year, the Senate attempted to intervene to stop US in-air refueling of Saudi jets and other logistical, intelligence, and targeting support. The bipartisan measure, S.J. Res. 54, introduced by Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Mike Lee (R-UT), and Chris Murphy (D-CT), aimed to stop America\u2019s support for the bloodshed. But the resolution failed on a procedural vote, 55 to 44, allowing for the coalition\u2019s brutal air campaign to continue unbridled. The House, too, tried its hand at stopping America\u2019s role in facilitating the atrocities, with a companion bill<\/a> championed by Rep. Ro Khanna of California (CA-17). That, too, languished, despite inspiring 53 cosponsors. However, Rep. Khanna did manage to get H. Res. 599<\/a> passed, which at least admitted that: \u201cthe United States has participated in intelligence cooperation since 2015\u201d; \u201cit has provided midair refueling services to Saudi-led Arab Coalition warplanes conducting aerial bombings in Yemen against the Houthi-Saleh alliance;\u201d and, that Congress had not \u201cauthorized the use of military force against parties participating in the Yemeni civil war.\u201d The House\u2019s approval made these critical facts part of the official record, which at least represented some movement in the right direction. But, the fight is not over. Several peace and human rights-minded House members, led by House Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Adam Smith (WA-09), Ro Khanna (CA-17), Mark Pocan (WI-02), Jim McGovern (MA-02), Jan Schakowsky (IL-09) and others, will soon try again<\/a> to withdraw U.S. Armed Forces from unconstitutional hostilities alongside our Saudi allies in Yemen.<\/p>\n Jewish World Watch (JWW) calls on our supporters to contact their House members and demand they support this pragmatic effort to cease US participation in these atrocities. Without America\u2019s continued and sustaining assistance, the Saudi-led coalition\u2019s capabilities would be dramatically impacted, and they would likely feel pressured to more seriously negotiate with the Houthis. Regardless of the geostrategic politics underlying this conflict, the embattled people of Yemen \u2014 and, especially its children \u2014 need for this torment to end.<\/p>\n While this promising resolution is in the works, JWW will update you on any and all developments with respect to America\u2019s participation in this war and any promising advocacy measures, which we can push forward with your support. Please reach out to your Congressional representatives and ask them to take a stand against the US\u2019s complicity in these heinous attacks on civilians, which could ultimately make our country culpable for aiding and abetting mass atrocities in violation of international law. Help JWW to ring the alarm and make things happen! The stronger our united voice is, the more we can do! The time to act is NOW. The longer we wait, the greater risk that the crucial civilian infrastructure in Hodeidah will be destroyed, sending ripple effects throughout a country already decimated by war. Thank you for supporting our advocacy work and refusing to stand idly by as children are bombed in their homes \u2026 on field trips \u2026 at weddings \u2026 and even while trying to escape the constant barrage raining down from above.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The bodies of two children, a two-year old boy and a newborn girl, were dug up Sept. 16 from under the rubble left in the wake of the Saudi-led coalition\u2019s air strikes in a civilian neighborhood in Saada province. 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