'imagine if ali left'

After 'Bloody Friday’ last week, pro-change protesters in Yemen today called for a ‘Friday of departure'. But as he addressed a throng of supporters near the presidential palace after midday prayers, President Ali Abdullah Saleh spoke of a 'Friday of tolerance', one of peace, stability and security. He told the crowds that he was prepared to hand over power, but only to "clean hands". He warned that the anti-governement protesters had been influenced by the Houthis and "drug traffickers".

There are those Yemenis who genuinely support the president, but also tens of thousands - now backed by senior army commanders and high-profile resignations - who continue to call for him to step down like Bin Ali and Mubarak before him. Yemenis advocating for change have been increasingly creative in rallying support over the last weeks. There have been improvised songs, satirical performances, hymns, and even reggae! On Youtube, here is one more pro-change voice with a difference.

And here is a translation:

Rent-a-Yemeni:

No one will do but Ali [Abdallah Saleh]. Who else but Ali? Imagine if Ali left. There would be a civil war! We’d become Somalia!

(Looks for encouragement to his left.) What else?

Ali holds Yemen like this! He holds Yemen like this! (Pretends to hold Yemen.) What would happen if he loosened his grip? Yemen would escape and smuggle itself into Saudi Arabia!

(Is handed money that he quickly stuffs into his shirt pocket.)

There was nothing before him, and there will be nothing after him. Just look at the others who don’t have Ali! There can only be Ali.

Pro-change Yemeni:

If Ali goes, then Ali goes. Are we going to close up shop? Is Yemen a shop? 25 million people! Are there really no leaders, no managers, no cadres among them?

(Sighs.) People! In 1962, the revolution was against ignorance, poverty and illness. In 2011, it’s against ignorance, poverty, illness, employment, corruption, and dictatorship!

And yet we won't have anyone but Ali...

a woman leading change in yemen

London, March 1 - With two presidents unseated in Tunisia and Egypt and highly publicised protests across Libya, the recent demonstrations in Yemen are catching the world’s attention. The escalating violence is worrying and only time will tell if it will lead to a quick overthrow of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh or whether change will take much longer in Yemen.

But one thing is different in Yemen: the international face of the Yemeni pro-change movement is a woman.

Profiled in high profile outlets including The Washington Post, The Toronto Star and Time Magazine, journalist and human rights activist Tawakkul Karman represents a positive image of Yemeni women. Long before she was photographed leading February’s protests against the government, she was called a brave defender of freedom of expression and human rights in Yemen.

In a January 2010 interview with Al Jazeera, she spoke of detained journalists, a sheikh’s tyranny against villagers in Ibb, a governorate south of the capital, the lack of justice for the family of a murdered doctor, and – long before January’s WikiLeaks revelations – even went so far as to accuse the government of being “in alliance” with Al Qaeda. Today, she continues to protest, demanding peaceful change.

Finally a refreshing change from the “over-sized post box” image of the Yemen’s women in the niqab (a face veil worn in addition to the headscarf), or the photos of child bride Nujood Ali that have fuelled Yemen’s early marriage debate since April 2008.

Of course, all is not rosy for Yemen’s women. Yemeni parliamentarians (one out of 301 is a woman) still have not agreed on a minimum age for marriage to prevent girls like Nujood, nine years old at the time of her divorce, from being married before they finish school. Illiteracy among women is still a whopping 67 per cent, women are typically the first victims of food shortages (one in three Yemenis suffers from severe malnutrition according to the UN) and many have difficult and limited access to healthcare. Women’s participation in politics is minimal and, despite two female ministers, Yemen has consistently ranked at the bottom in the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index since it was first included in the ranking in 2006.

But there is hope.

Karman and fellow female human rights activists, such as journalist Samia al-Aghbari, are on the frontline of protests in the Yemeni capital. They may not be representative of Yemeni women in general, but they are indeed inspiring. In fact, one Yemeni man was so impressed by al-Aghbari’s courage during the protests of 13 February when she was knocked onto the pavement by a member of security, that he wrote her a poem, “Revolution of the Green Hijab... To Samia al-Aghbari and all the other revolutionaries”, which was published the following day on the Nashwan News website.

Although they are not all out on the streets, there are a number of inspiring women in Yemen. In addition to Karman and al-Aghbari, Yemeni women are human rights activists, journalists, doctors, educators, members of civil society, academics, wives of political detainees, photographers, and even tweeters.

To read the full article as published on Common Ground News Service, click here.