An extremely simplified history lesson: The destruction of the once stunning Yemen

North Yemen (Shia) and South Yemen (Sunni) are unified into 1 country (1990) with Ali Abdullah Saleh as head of state (from the North). Unification attempts were poor and the country descended into civil war only 4 years later, North Yemen wins, Saleh stays in power

Saleh and Al-Qaeda had a special relationship. Al-Qaeda helped Saleh win the civil war, but Saleh subsequently claims they are his enemy. He doesn't do much to fight them off as otherwise Yemen would not receive as much international support / aid if Al-Qaeda are defeated

After years of stagnation, Yemenis took to the streets to oust Saleh from power during the Arab Spring in 2011. Saleh is removed after agreements led by GCC, who placed their puppet, Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi in power. Saleh received immunity from prosecution under this deal

Yemeni celebrations were short lived, as Hadi changed absolutely nothing other than further Yemeni discontent at yet another elite in power (Hadi had been Saleh's deputy)

The Houthis of Northern Yemen had had enough, having been a key player in removing Saleh during the revolution, began their quest for a new revolution, this time, working with Saleh to remove Hadi. Why? The GCC had ignored both the Houthis and Saleh when placing puppet Hadi...

...in power. Saleh still had allies in the army and together, the Houthi's and Saleh took over Sanaa in 2014, causing Hadi to flee Yemen. Outraged, Saudi Arabia formed a coalition to return an extremely unpopular Hadi to power

The proxy war started. Shia majority Iran backed the Shia Houthi rebels in an attempt to get at Saudi Arabia, who fancy themselves as the key Middle Eastern player

The Saudi led coalition backed by the UAE, Egypt and supported by the US and the UK, enforced a blockade in 2015, as well as a bombing campaign that has lead to Yemen being in the situation it is in today. Of course 'targeting the enemy' means bombing schools and hospitals

In 2017, Saleh out of nowhere decides he wants to split from the Houthis and talk to the Saudis, he was murdered by the Houthis less than a week later

Today, Yemen is on the brink of collapse with the blockade still in place. Aid is almost impossible to get through the blockade and those who feel it the most are the civilians, the majority of course. Those who dictate don't feel anything; Saudi Arabia, Iran, the US, the UK etc

The Houthis are not perfect either, they are criticised for corruption and redirecting international aid to those at the top of the movement. They are anti-imperialist, anti-zionist (good thing), and anti-semitic

How have we left it this late for people to actually give a bit of a shit?
80% of the population require humanitarian aid, over half of them being children
There have been cholera outbreaks as well as covid now, famine, this is nothing less than a catastrophe

Take this away from this thread: Western governments will gladly support a genocide. Saudi Arabia is fine with carrying out a genocide, Saleh was an evil man, the Houthis are similarly awful, the people are caught in the crossfire of violence, as seen in every war

Maybe this has convinced you to do a bit more research, knowledge is power and will not hurt you. This is the very basic level of understanding that everyone should have on this awful situation. Neglecting and not standing up only plays into the hands of the oppressor

Please consider spending a tiny amount of your money to organisations that are on the ground and will directly help those who need it, I'm sure that the pint you were planning to get can wait.
Donate to:
https://www.unicef.org.uk/donate/yemen/ 
https://www.savethechildren.org/us/what-we-do/where-we-work/greater-middle-east-eurasia/yemen https://www.islamic-relief.org.uk/yemen-emergency-appeal/