Hands off Yemen! U.S.-British airstrikes support Gaza genocide

Millions in Sana’a, Yemen, protest U.S.-British airstrikes, Jan. 12.

On orders of President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, the U.S. and Britain bombed Yemen, the poorest country in the Middle East, on the night of Jan. 11, in violation of international and U.S. laws.

The airstrikes were blatant support for Israel’s ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza. The Ansarallah movement (called “Houthis” by the racist Western media), which leads Yemen’s military, heroically declared that it would not allow any ships bound for Israel to pass through the waters of the Red Sea.

The Associated Press reported: “The bombardment — launched in response to a recent campaign of drone and missile attacks on commercial ships in the vital Red Sea — killed at least five people and wounded six, [Ansarallah] said. The U.S. said the strikes took aim at more than 60 targets in 16 different locations across [Ansarallah]-controlled areas of Yemen.”

Yemen’s Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree vowed that the strikes would “not go unanswered or unpunished.”

On Jan. 12, millions of Yemenis took to the streets of the capital, Sana’a, to protest the act of war by the Western powers. “We are not afraid,” they chanted.

While the so-called “democratic West” offers excuses, justifications, and support for genocide, the Yemeni people are taking action to stop it, just as the South African government did this week with its genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice.

The U.S. and Britain once again exposed themselves by punishing those who oppose their Israeli puppet’s genocide in Gaza.

In the tradition of every modern U.S. president, both Democrat and Republican, Genocide Joe Biden carried out this act of war against Yemen without the legally required approval of the U.S. Congress.

In 2020, candidate Biden said then-president Donald Trump did “not have the authority to take us into war with Iran without Congressional approval” after Trump ordered the assassination of General Qasem Soleimani. 

“A president should never take this nation to war without the informed consent of the American people,” Biden said – back then.

Meanwhile, British PM Rishi Sunak, whose government is actively attempting to outlaw the existence of trans people, had the gall to call the attack on Yemen an act of “self-defense” to “de-escalate tensions and to restore stability to the region.”

Emergency protests against the U.S.-British attacks on Yemen were held Jan. 11 in New York’s Times Square, outside the White House in Washington, D.C., and Vancouver, British Columbia. More protests are planned Jan. 12 in Los Angeles and other cities.

Yemenis slaughtered by U.S.-Saudi war

Missing from most corporate media coverage of Ansarallah’s military action against genocide and the Western retaliation is any mention of the more than 377,000 people killed in the 2015-2021 war waged by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates against Yemen. 

Like the genocide in Gaza, it was a proxy war carried out on behalf of U.S. imperialism, relying on U.S. weapons and military support.

That war became so unpopular that Biden actually claimed to oppose it when he was campaigning for the presidency in 2020, trying to cover himself in a paper-thin progressive veneer that is now completely stripped away.

Two-thirds of the victims of the U.S.-Saudi war in Yemen were children. A whole generation has been stunted by hunger and disease – those fortunate enough to have survived. 

Nevertheless, the Ansarallah movement has prevailed, uniting the country under a program of national liberation and opposition to Israeli genocide. Yemen is part of the Axis of Resistance to imperialism in West Asia that includes the Islamic government of Iran, the secular government of Syria, the Hezbollah movement in Lebanon, and popular militias in Iraq.

Below are statements condemning the U.S.-British airstrikes compiled by Resistance News Network:

Ansarallah spokesperson Mohammed Abdul Salam (Yemen):

The blatant American-British aggression against the Republic of Yemen was carried out to protect “israel” and to stop Yemen’s operations in support of Gaza. They committed foolishness with this treacherous aggression, and they are mistaken if they think it will deter Yemen from supporting Palestine and Gaza.

Yemen will continue its religious and humanitarian stance and will always stand by Gaza with all it is capable of. This aggression will only make Yemen stronger and more resolute.

We affirm that there is absolutely no justification for this aggression on Yemen, as there was no threat to international navigation in the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea. The targeting was and will remain directed at “israeli” ships or those heading to the ports of occupied Palestine.

Hezbollah movement (Lebanon):

Hezbollah strongly condemns the blatant American-British aggression against the brotherly Yemen, its security, sovereignty, and its free and honorable people, who stood with all strength, courage, and responsibility alongside the Palestinian people and their valiant resistance, exerting their utmost effort to break the siege on it by all available means and capabilities.

The American aggression confirms once again that America is a full partner in the tragedies and massacres committed by the zionist enemy in Gaza and in the region. America works to support and supply it with the machinery of killing and destruction, covering up its aggression and crimes and attacking everyone who stands beside the oppressed Palestinian people across the region.

As we salute the dear Yemen, its national army, its proud people, and its generous leadership, we affirm that this aggression will not weaken their resolve. Rather, it will increase their strength, determination, and courage to face it, defend themselves, and continue the path in supporting the Palestinian people and advocating for their legitimate and just cause.

Mohammad Ali Al-Houthi, head of the Revolutionary Committee in Yemen:

The American-British strikes are barbaric terrorist acts. This deliberate and unjustified aggression reflects a savage mentality.

These strikes reaffirm once again that they are the ones directing the aggression on Gaza as well as in Yemen and that they protect “israeli” terrorism as they themselves are the terrorists, with “israel” being a part of this.

What they have done is a blatant and unjustified attack, occurring at a time when the world seeks to stop the genocide in Gaza, only to have these strikes confirm their protection and intentional continuation of it. These airstrikes on the Republic of Yemen will not pass unnoticed, and Allah willing, there will be a response announced later in a statement.

May Yemen remain dear, and may Palestine remain Palestine. Shame and disgrace on the Americans and the British.

“There is no aggression except against the oppressors.”

Eternity for the martyrs, and healing for the wounded.

Hamas, the Islamic Resistance Movement (Palestine):

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful,

We strongly condemn the blatant American-British aggression on Yemen, and we hold them responsible for its repercussions on the security of the region.

We in the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) condemn in the strongest terms the American-British aggression, the aerial and naval bombing on Yemeni territory, and consider it a crime and blatant aggression on Yemeni sovereignty and a threat to the security of the region which is witnessing American and British militarization that came to protect the Nazi-zionist occupation and to cover up its crimes against the Palestinian people and the entire Arab region.

As we highly appreciate the position of our brotherly Yemen and its heroic people in standing with our Palestinian people in the Al-Aqsa Flood battle, we affirm that the brutal aggression on Yemen is an uncalculated terrorist act, influenced by the will of the zionist occupation and its extremist Nazi leadership, and will only increase ignition and tension in the region. Washington and London bear the responsibility for the repercussions.

We affirm that the region will not witness security and stability except by ending the zionist occupation of our Palestinian and Arab lands, which requires Washington and London to review their colonial policies, out of respect the sovereignty of states and the interests of the Arab peoples, who will not stand idly by in the face of the brutal zionist crimes, the genocide war that our Palestinian people are subjected to, and the violations of our Islamic and Christian sanctities, foremost among them the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Yemeni Armed Forces:

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

Allah the Almighty said: “So whoever has assaulted you, then assault him in the same way that he has assaulted you. And fear Allah and know that Allah is with those who fear Him.”

This is the truth of Allah Almighty.

The American and British enemy, as part of its support for the ongoing “israeli” crimes in Gaza, launched a brutal aggression against the Republic of Yemen with 73 raids. These strikes targeted the capital Sana’a, and the governorates of Al-Hodeidah, Ta’izz, Hajjah, and Sa’dah, leading to the martyrdom of five and injuring six others from our armed forces.

The American and British enemy bears full responsibility for this criminal aggression against our Yemeni people, and it will not go unanswered and unpunished.

The Yemeni Armed Forces will not hesitate to target sources of threat and all hostile targets on land and sea in defense of Yemen, its sovereignty, and its independence.

This brutal aggression will not deter Yemen from its position of supporting and standing with the oppression of the Palestinian people. The Yemeni Armed Forces confirm their continued prevention of “israeli” ships or those heading to the ports of occupied Palestine from navigation in the Arabian and Red Seas.

Allah is sufficient for us, and He is the best disposer of affairs, the best master, and the best helper.

Long live Yemen, free, dignified, and independent.

Victory for Yemen and for all the free of the nation.

Sana’a, 1 Rajab 1445 Hijri

Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP):

The Popular Front condemns, in the strongest terms, the aggression of the coalition of evil against Yemen and emphasizes the necessity of intensifying strikes against the American, Western, and zionist aggression.

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine strongly condemned the aggression of the American, British, and zionist coalition of evil against Yemen early this Friday morning. It confirmed the failure of the objectives of this aggression, stating that the quick Yemeni response to American and British targets is proof of the lies propagated by the American and British propaganda machine, which claimed the success of these strikes in stopping Yemen’s capabilities.

The Front asserted that this aggression is not only against the Yemeni people but also against Palestine, the Arab nation, and all the free people of the world. Its malicious objectives are not to protect maritime navigation in the Red Sea but to protect the security of the zionist entity. This is evident from the significant and costly losses it suffers and the strong strikes it faces from the Palestinian and Arab resistance factions. The Front stressed the ability of the Yemeni army to confront the aggression and to stand firm, given its high fighting will and noble, honorable stance.

The Front saluted the original Yemeni stances and its valiant army for standing beside the Palestinian people since the beginning of the occupation’s aggression on the Gaza Strip. It affirmed that contemporary history will record in golden letters these honorable Yemeni stances that revived the hope in the capabilities of the Arab nation to support Palestine and strike the enemy.

The Front considered the Bahraini regime’s participation in this aggression against the Yemeni people as a blatant betrayal and a treacherous stab in the side of the Arab nation, confirming that this disgrace will continue to haunt this zionist, decrepit, and submissive regime and one day it will pay the price for its betrayal of the nation and its causes.

The Front called on all the living forces in the region to take their natural place and engage in the trench of confrontation alongside Palestine, Yemen, and all the oppressed and to intensify the strikes against the American, zionist, and Western aggression that aims to try to impose surrender on our peoples, and enforce dominance and normalization on the Arab nation, and liquidate the Palestinian cause.

Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
Central Media Department


Join the Struggle-La Lucha Telegram channel