‘The war must end’ – thousands globally call for an end to the war on Yemen
385 organizations from 25 countries signed a call to action against the war on Yemen, an end to the arms sales to the Saudi-led coalition and more humanitarian aid to the people of Yemen as well as organising various actions opposing the war. Yemenis themselves took to the streets in their thousands to protest against the ongoing Saudi-led assault on their country. There were also solidarity demos in Bahrain, car cavalcades in San Francisco and a students rally. The day ended with a massively oversubscribed global online rally where attendees heard from speakers such as Ahmed Al-Babati (the British-Yemeni Soldier who was arrested for protesting against the war), Dr Shireen Al-Adeimi (who as an Ontario citizen and Yemeni-American powerfully called on Justin Trudeau and Joe Biden to end the war), Jeremy Corbyn and Dr Cornel West.
London CAAT posted a statement highlighting BAE Systems’ complicity in the devastation of Yemen. Their weapons have caused large amounts of death and destruction in Yemen. Since the war started, they have made £15bn from sales to the Saudi Arabian regime, mainly through sales and maintenance of Tornado and Typhoon aircraft that the regime use to bomb the country. The statement urged BAE to stop selling such weapons to the Saudis and halt their involvement in the Yemen war. You can see the statement here.
The days afterwards saw positive moves towards ending the weapons sales to the Saudi-led coalition. Joe Biden froze arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the UAE and Italy blocked arms exports to those same countries. Boris Johnson must follow suit and we can keep the pressure on – write to your MP regarding these sales here. You can also sign this petition calling on Biden to reverse Trump’s designation of the Houthis as a ‘terrorist’ organization, a terrible move which has blocked aid getting to Yemeni civilians. Yemen cannot wait any longer for this devastating war to end.