Who is the real king of Middle East Gulf countries?

After the death of Hezbollah chief Nasrallah, Yemen’s terrorist organization Houthi, which is 1800 kilometers away from Israel, fired many missiles on Israel in the last two days. In response to which Israel has now carried out dozens of attacks on the Houthi rebels’ bases in Yemen’s Hodeidah port. Through this air strike, Israel has killed a large group of Houthi rebels. Many people must have heard Hamas and Hezbollah too, but now it is very important to know where the Houthis came from because through this the Islam of Arab countries can be easily understood.

The story is interesting. Actually, Yemen is a country located in the Middle East. It borders Saudi Arabia in the north and Oman in the east and is surrounded by sea in other directions. Saida, a city in the north-west of Yemen. A student movement started here in the 1990s. The Believing Youth. Its founder’s name was Hussein Badr al-Din Houthi. His aim was the revival of Zaydi Islam. Zaydi is a sect of Shia Islam. Yemen was ruled by Zaydi kings for a thousand years. In 1962, the last Zaydi Sultan Imam Ahmed was killed. After this, a civil war continued for a long time. Yemen was divided into two parts. For some time, the Soviet Union ruled over South Yemen. Then came the year 1978, an army officer was made the President of North Yemen. Ali Abdullah Saleh. During his time, there was another fight between North and South Yemen. Thousands died. In the 1980s, the Soviet Union started weakening. The countries included in its group started rebelling. Its effect was also seen in Yemen. North Yemen and South Yemen became one. This union was given a new name. Republic of Yemen. The name was new, but the architect was the same. Ali Abdullah Saleh’s power was not affected. He became the first President of a unified Yemen. He got the support of Saudi Arabia and America. Saudi Arabia is a Sunni Islamic country. He promoted the Salafi movement in Yemen.

Amidst all this, Shia Muslims were sidelined. The one-time Sultan was forced to live a life of poverty. Their representation in the country’s politics was decreasing. The power of Yemen was in the hands of Sunni people in a way, but the Shias wanted power back. But this group was a minority. The question arose as to how to reach the destination of power, so in the year 1990, a person named Hussein al-Houthi formed the Houthi organization and said that the country would fight together against the corruption of President Abdullah Saleh. To get the support of Sunnis, he openly declared America and Israel as his enemies. The Iran-backed Lebanese organization started considering Hezbollah as its master and also started supporting Hamas. To mark his presence, al-Houthi formed an organization called ‘Believing Youth’. In the initial years, it formed many clubs. Organized summer camps. Attracted the youth. Books of Shia scholars were taught in these camps. Stories of Shia religious leaders of Lebanon and Iran were told.

On one side, the Yemeni government was swinging between Sunni Saudi, America and Israel. On the other side, the Shias were preparing their battle ground. They were demanding the resources and rights they needed. The Saleh government ignored their demands. Angered by this, Al-Houthi held rallies against the government. Huge crowds started gathering in these rallies. This was a new challenge for the Saleh government. Obviously, this increased the tension. The government issued an arrest warrant against Al-Houthi. But instead of solving the matter, it got more complicated. A violent war started between the army and the supporters of Al-Houthi. People started dying from both sides.

That is, the happy Yemen started burning in religious fire. The year was 2004. It was the month of December. The Yemeni army killed Hussain Badr Din Al-Houthi in an encounter. This was the first sign of the spark flaring up. The supporters of Al-Houthi started a direct war against the Yemeni government. This movement got its name from the name of Al-Houthi, Houthi rebellion. His supporters were called Houthi rebels.

The Yemen government put in all its might in this fight. The army and air force dropped bombs on the hideouts of the Houthi rebels. Saudi Arabia spent a lot of money. Saudi was on the side of the Yemen government. The upper hand was there. The government had the upper hand. But luck was not there. The Houthi rebels won this fight. They captured new hideouts. This was a hard slap on the face of Saudi Arabia.

In 2010, the Houthi rebels reached an agreement with the Yemen government. Both sides agreed to a ceasefire. The commotion stopped. But not completely. Another big commotion was ready to brew in the neighbourhood. A slap on the face of a fruit seller in Tunisia caused an earthquake in the Middle East. Coups started happening in many countries.

The fire that started from Tunisia slowly started engulfing the neighbouring countries as well. Most of the countries in the Middle East were under the influence of dictatorial governments. The power had not changed there for decades. The common people were feeling suffocated.

The same suffocation was developing in Yemen as well. There, Ali Abdullah Saleh had been in power for 32 years. The people revolted against his caliph. Saleh had to hand over power to his ally Mansoor Hadi. But this power transfer could not happen properly. There were many kinds of problems. Al-Qaeda. Separatism. Poverty-starvation etc. That is, now the Shia-Sunni conflict started here again. The Shia minority Houthi rebels also revolted.

The conflict began. In January 2015, the Presidential Palace was captured. President Mansoor Hadi had to flee the country. On February 06, the Houthi rebels dissolved the Parliament. Now the power was in the hands of the Houthi rebels.

Mansoor Hadi fled to Saudi Arabia to ask for help. Saudi Arabia was sure that Iran was helping the Houthi rebels. Saudi Arabia and its allies together started air strikes on Yemen. They were helped by America, Britain and France. This conflict is still going on. 70 percent of Yemen is under their control and in 2017, Houthi terrorists also killed Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Now why did this whole story have to be told and why did these Houthi terrorists and Yemen come in between. Actually, the command of Houthi terrorists is in the hands of Iran. Israel is Iran’s number one enemy, that is why after Nasrallah’s death, Houthis are showing their anger by attacking Israel. There are two main secrets of the strength of Houthi rebels. First – their location and second – the military assistance they get. In such a situation, Houthis get a perfect opportunity to attack the ships passing through the Red Sea via the Suez Canal. At the same time, it receives huge military aid from Iran, which includes state-of-the-art military drones, ballistic and cruise missiles.

This is its strength as well as weakness. In fact, the Houthi rebels are Shia Muslims, while most of the countries around Israel are Sunni. Saudi wants the destruction of the Houthis, so the action taken by Israel against the Houthi rebels is a special turning point in regional politics. And the biggest thing is that Israel, which gives priority to its security interests, has made it clear that it will not tolerate any kind of threat. In the coming days, even if Hamas, Hezbollah and Houthis attack together, then Sunni Islamic countries will fully support Israel, if not openly, then from behind, because at present the enemy of both is the same…

BY- Rajeev Choudhary