Arab Spring: Yemen
By: Jordyn, Christian, & Madison
History of the protests
- Protests in Yemen have been occurring since 1943. Even during WW2. And there are still protests to this day. Older protests would be of the holocaust like when Yemen started arresting Germans and Italians. The government started doing this because many citizens were concerned about spies and other enforcements of the Nazi army, so they wrote letters and had small clubs to pass this act. But newer protests are of the concern of violence and government intolerances. For example, just last month, an Iranian diplomat was killed in a drive by shooting on January 18. And on January 27, thousands take to the streets in Sanaa and southern cities urging President Saleh to quit; weeks of mass protests follow. The government plans to have the U.S send drones to keep the rioting under control.
- they are rebelling against their president because the Yemen people are wanting a democracy and the government isn't allowing that to happen because the Yemen president still wants power.
- what the government is doing is telling the president & Vice President that they are facing possible sanctions, which means they could be restricted of their power and won't be able to grant some decisions of their own.
- the 6 Arab gulf states that make up the gulf cooperation council (GCC) tried to broker a deal to persuade Mr. Saleh to stand down after more than three decades in power. The president appeared to accept the GCC's plan, first presented in March - but then repeatedly failed to sign or act on it.
Today
- right now the Yemen people are happy that the president is not longer the main president but they still continue to protest to gain a democracy. the UN Secretary General's special adviser on Yemen, Jamal Benomar, travelled to Yemen, talking to all sides and helping to negotiate the final details.
- The prime minister is head of government if the president is out of power. The prime minister is Mohammed Salem Basindwa. But right now the president is Ali Abdullah Saleh. But there are protests to throw him out of office.
- There will not be elections, at least not yet because the prime minister has just gained power of the Yemeni government and wether he helps the countries citizens or not will be the depending factor on of there will be an election for a new president. But many fingers point to there will be an election because Yemeni citizens are protesting for a democracy and that will lead to an election.
- 40% of the population is living on less than $2 per day. and about 1/3 of the population is going hungry.
The International Community
- the UN has gotten involved by possibly putting restrictions on the president & Vice President, and Mark Lyall Grant, Britain's UN ambassador, said the statement was a clear message to Saleh "that the actions that he and other are taking to undermine this process will not be tolerated".
- The United States used to be pretty close allies with Yemen before all the terrorist attacks and groups. We would trade and share wealth. But now, because of all the targeted terrorists in Yemen, the U.S had made multiple strikes on terrorists killing them and other citizens. In January, the U.S sent drones to kill two targeted terrorists and killed them with explosives. But resulting in this, the explosion also killed the terrorists two cousins in the car who were innocent. So the U.S and Yemen aren't much of allies anymore.
characterization
- we would not call this a revolution, we would call it more of a rebellion because they don't like their president and want a democracy. All they are trying to do is get a new system and gain their own freedom.