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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">How is Yemen protecting international law as US, 'Israel' violate it?</h1>
<div class="gmail-credits gmail-reader-credits">Mohammad Al-Jaber</div>
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<div class="gmail-reader-estimated-time" dir="ltr">January 24, 2024<br></div>
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<div class="gmail-moz-reader-content gmail-reader-show-element"><div id="gmail-readability-page-1" class="gmail-page"><p>Yemen
is receiving many condemnations for its actions in the Red Sea aimed at
putting an end to the ongoing Israeli genocide in Gaza, while those
upholding the genocide in blatant violation of international law are
applauded.</p><img src="cid:ii_lrsj8uxz0" alt="234f5703-6478-4649-a291-8b9b0a65f1ce.png" width="391" height="330"><br><div><ul id="gmail-content-slick-0"><div aria-hidden="false"><li>
How is Yemen protecting international law as US, 'Israel' violate it?
</li></div></ul>
<p>The United States has grown to be greatly abhorred, and while there
are a plethora of reasons to hate such a state, the hatred it has thus
far garnered goes in part back to its self-interested military
interventionism that dates as far back as the 19th century and protracts
until this very day. Moreover, this could also go back to its sham of
championing international law and the need to respect it all the while
neglecting its stipulations to a T.</p>
<p>Looking back at US history, its path to the top as an empire is paved
with the dead bodies of many foreigners whose governments dared move
against Washington's interests, many of whom were killed through
military interventionism, with many others killed by their <a href="https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/blockade-is-war:-us-led-coalition-weaponizing-food-to-choke" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sanctions and embargoes</a>, among other means of <a href="https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/sanctions-on-russia-hit-famine-threatened-yemen-hard" target="_blank" rel="noopener">starvation</a> and oppression.</p>
<p>It is rather easy to see how waging wars and starving people
thousands of miles away can make an enemy out of the United States, but
this narrative is nothing new; the US has long been painted as a
criminal for its abominable actions. However, when looking at the <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2016/03/22/libya-and-the-myth-of-humanitarian-intervention/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">casus belli of the wars it has waged</a>, it is more abominable and condemnable than ever before.</p>
<p>Although the United States likes to portray itself as this ideal
nation protector of human rights that would not even go as far as
tossing a stone at someone if unprovoked or in defense of their favorite
select minorities or whatnot, granted this provocation can be
completely manufactured by the White House, the reality is often
disappointing, and its reasons to go to war have never not been
self-interested.</p>
<p>Now, one cannot simply argue that a nation should abandon all reason,
disregard its interests, pack its bags, and go to war for the benefit
of another people or state, but at least if the US is going to pretend
that it cares about human rights, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2013/03/19/opinion/iraq-war-oil-juhasz/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">let at the very least one intervention be humanitarian issues-driven</a> and with actual, non-manufactured consent from the peoples of the country or region set to be invaded.</p>
<h2>Violating international law for own interests</h2>
<p>The intentions of the United States when it comes to foreign
interventionism can be traced back to the 1800s Monroe doctrine that
aimed to ban any European colonialist intervention in North and Latin
America. Washington claimed that its actions were to protect itself and
other regional states from the hegemons. But in reality, the entire
document was just a bid for it to conceal its expansionist imperialistic
ambitions in Latin America, with Cuba and Mexico being key states it
sought to utilize as vassals.</p>
<p>One of the clearest manifestations of Washington's self-interest is
how it dodged or struck down the invocation of the Monroe Doctrine
several times by the countries of the region whose governments felt
there was a threat to their independence and territorial integrity and
sought help from what they thought was their ally, which later on
confirmed that the Doctrine had been created solely to serve the United
States and its interests.</p>
<p>This went on to become even clearer when US President Theodore
Roosevelt made the Roosevelt Corollary, which permitted his country to <a href="https://responsiblestatecraft.org/pinochet-chile-coup/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">intervene in the affairs of other nations</a>
if they violated the guidelines set by the United States. Although at
the time this allowed for intervention solely in the Americas,
Washington made sure later on to allow itself to act in clear violation
of the sovereignty of independent nations worldwide.</p>
<p>This could be traced to any conflict the United States entered or
aggression it initiated, from the First and Second World Wars to the
invasion of Libya, involvement in Syria, etc., and even today when it
came to its aggression on Yemen earlier in January. </p>
<p>In WW1, even though states close to the United States were being
battered, the United States only entered the conflict when its own
merchant and passenger ships were attacked by the Germans, not to
mention when it realized that if the Allies were to lose the war, they
would likely be unable to get the loans they had given them prior. </p>
<p>When it came to WW2, despite the reports about the horrors being
committed by the Axis Powers, most notably the several genocides being
perpetrated by the Nazis, the US remained indifferent — perhaps because
it was praying for the collapse of Europe so that it could reign as an
uncontested hegemon — until the Japanese attacked US soil.</p>
<p>In every subsequent invasion, military intervention, and even serious
diplomatic efforts in the wake of WW2, the United States had but itself
in mind when it came to every single decision it made, in utter
disregard of the stipulations of international documents and
conventions.</p>
<h2>Let's talk Yemen</h2>
<p>When it came to Yemen, its leadership and Armed Forces were and are <a href="https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/yemen-prevents--israel--bound-ships-from-passing-via-arabian" target="_blank" rel="noopener">acting not in their own interest</a>,
but that of the people of Gaza, entry of aid to which is either
prohibited or extremely limited depending on the Israeli regime's mood;
the stipulations of Sanaa were incredibly clear and could not be
misunderstood even if one were to try: <a href="https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/yemen-will-resume-operations-against--israel--in-support-of" target="_blank" rel="noopener">allow the entry of aid to Palestine</a> or no supplies will reach the Israeli occupation through the Red Sea.</p>
<p>The United States and the United Kingdom, alongside several countries
that seemingly care for a steady stream of military supplies to the
Israelis but not the Palestinians, took it upon themselves to defend the
international trade route by <a href="https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/us--uk-carry-out-aggression-on-yemen--media" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bombing Yemen</a>,
code for defending the Israeli occupation, and as they sought to
support their ally, so did Yemen as it concerned itself with the ongoing
aggression on Gaza, going out of its way to do what the US and co have
been describing as "piracy", "terrorism", and "holding international
trade hostage". This is notably bold from a country known for imposing
blockades on anyone it opposes, which could arguably be called a
disruption of international trade.</p>
<p>Away from international law, the United States and Britain here are
aiming to continue supplying a party committing genocide with foodstuff
and other goods while punishing a party standing with the victims of
genocide, and in the process, <a href="https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/insurance-providers-restrict-coverage-for-uk--us--israeli-sh" target="_blank" rel="noopener">they doomed themselves</a>.
Their own actions of bombing a foreign country had consequences and
they used that cause and effect to further criminalize Yemen.</p>
<p>The consequence in action? Upon being bombed, Sanaa declared that no
US- or UK-flagged ships were allowed to cross through the Red Sea after
the ban was in effect only on Israeli-flagged, operated, and bound
ships; the US simply turned itself once again into an enemy of the
Yemeni people, and the latter would not let that fly - or sail in this
case.</p>
<p>This led to various attacks on US cargo ships and joint Western
strikes on Yemen in "retaliation" in a bid to "debilitate" its Armed
Forces and make it more difficult for them to attack any US interests or
those of its staunchest ally.</p>
<h2>No need for Congress </h2>
<p>When it comes to humanitarian issues, such as calling on the Israeli
occupation to commit to a ceasefire or allow aid to enter the Gaza
Strip, the Biden administration cannot bypass Congress and must adhere
to procedure. However, suddenly, when the President wanted to bomb
Yemen, he brazenly and completely bypassed Congress to attack a
sovereign, independent nation in complete violation of international
law.</p>
<p>The UN clearly defines it as illegal for a UN member state to
"threaten or use force against the territorial integrity or political
independence of another state," which Joe Biden acted undeniably against
- again, this points to his and many other administrations' complicity
in <a href="https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/biden-s-arms-supply-to--israel--breaches-us--int-l-laws--hrw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">undermining and breaking international law</a>
to benefit itself. While many other states may commit acts that are
considered to be a violation of international law, no one does it quite
like the US in the sense that it wants to police the international arena
about abiding by international law while itself violates it whenever it
gets the chance to. </p>
<p>This also highlights that the President can bypass Congress whenever
needed, a clear indication that Biden is not calling for a ceasefire in
Gaza just because he does not want to, putting it up to a lengthy
bureaucratic process that could take years before it results in any
action, making him complicit in the ongoing genocide perpetrated by the
Israeli occupation.</p>
<h2>Who really is safeguarding international law?</h2>
<p>Article I of the 1948 Paris Convention on the Prevention and
Punishment of the Crime Convention, more commonly known as the Genocide
Convention, clearly states that the contracting parties, among whom is
Yemen, are obligated to undertake to prevent or punish the act of
genocide whether it is committing in time of peace or war, which is
exactly what Yemen is doing at a time when both the Israeli occupation
and the United States are violating international law through committing
genocide and the use of violence against a sovereign state,
respectively.</p>
<p>But is what the Israeli occupation committing truly an act of
genocide? That can be decided by simply reading the stipulations of
Article II of the Genocide Convention, to which the Israeli occupation
is a signatory, which clearly lays out what classifies an act of
aggression as genocide. But let's go through them just in case.</p>
<p>- Killing members of the [targeted] group: <strong>check</strong>. The Israeli occupation has thus far <a href="https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/day-109--25-490-martyred--63-345-injured-in-gaza#:~:text=Day%20109%3A%2025%2C490%20martyred%2C%2063%2C345%20injured%20in%20Gaza" target="_blank" rel="noopener">killed more than 25,000 people</a> in Gaza.</p>
<p>- Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group: <strong>check</strong>. More than 63,000 people have thus far been wounded in the ongoing aggression, with thousands of children suffering from <a href="https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/gaza-children-left-severely-traumatized-amid-ongoing-israeli" target="_blank" rel="noopener">severe trauma</a> as they can be seen shaking and experiencing panic attacks among other clear signs of trauma.</p>
<p>- Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated
to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part: <strong>check</strong>.
There has been a stifling blockade in place on Gaza since 2007, with
the Israeli occupation even putting limits on the amounts of food and
other dietary substances that can enter Gaza. <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/12/18/israel-starvation-used-weapon-war-gaza" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Human Rights Watch</a> even published an extensive report on the Israeli occupation's usage of starvation as a weapon of war.</p>
<p>- Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group: <strong>check</strong>.
While the Israeli occupation is killing a mother in Gaza every two
hours and 29% of those killed in Gaza are women, that was not enough,
for when it invaded the al-Shifa Hospital following its ground invasion
of Gaza, numerous reports and images showed babies dying outside of
their incubators after the occupation imposed a blackout that deprived
them of what was literally keeping them alive.</p>
<p>- Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group: <strong>check</strong>. Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor has reported that the Israeli military has <a href="https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/israeli-soldiers-kidnapped-infant--other-children--euro-med" target="_blank" rel="noopener">kidnapped Palestinian children from the Gaza Strip</a>.
According to the report, Israeli officer Harel Itach, a Givati Brigade
commander, kidnapped a Palestinian infant from her family home in Gaza
following the killing of her family members. The specific date of the
incident was not disclosed, but the organization underscored the
significance of taking this information seriously.</p>
<p>With that, it can be concluded that what is being committed is genocide; one does not need the <a href="https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/s--africa-icj-appeal-says--israel--genocidal--tel-aviv--deno" target="_blank" rel="noopener">International Court of Justice</a> to point out the obvious as the ruling on the Israeli occupation's crimes is pending, as it probably will be for years.</p>
<p>Moreover, going through the aforementioned, it is clear that the
Israeli occupation is not only violating the Genocide Convention; but
also international humanitarian law and the Rome Statute of the
International Criminal Court and that is just on the issue of not
allowing the entry of aid and foodstuffs to Gaza as people starve and
resort to eating grass and animal feed.</p>
<p>Taking all of that into account - the fact that "Israel" is truly
committing genocide - Yemen has been clear in its approach to the
aggression, stating that it is acting solely with the intent to stop the
ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people, which is unequivocally
valid under the first article of the Genocide Convention and is actually
an obligation under international law. We don't really see the Soviets
condemned for liberating concentration camps upon entering Germany, now.
Do we?</p>
<p>Today, in this Western-imposed atmosphere of unilateralism and
censuring of any attempt to subvert any act of violence perpetrated by a
Western-backed party, Yemen proves to be an exemplary icon of
Resistance with its unwavering support for Palestine and upholding of
international law at a time when those who proclaim to be its chaperones
are breaking it just so that their Amazon packages are not delayed as
they turn a blind eye to the blatant crime being carried out by one of
their closest allies that they will seemingly keep defending to the
grave.</p></div></div></div>
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