Yemen? Where have we heard that one before? Let’s go back to its earliest appearance in world history and then on to today. Yemen lies at the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, where at one time (500 B.C.-500 A.D.) it was a thriving kingdom with an export market in myrhh, a most valuable shrub that was used for holy oils and as incense to fumigate temples and later Christian churches.

It was a successful kingdom until about 540 A.D., when it was beset by two catastrophes: first as the nexus of the first bubonic plague that swept Europe, and then the collapse of a huge earthen dam, from which it never recovered its civilization. The region became — and remained — a backwater until today, perhaps second only to its neighbor, Somalia and unfortunate Afghanistan in misery.

Under Islam and during its medieval period, Yemen was known for its spice trade, its beautiful weaving and fine gold jewelry, but endlessly contentious internal strife. It never recovered the glory of its earliest thousand years.

In the 19th century, the British captured and annexed the port of Aden, which was used as a coaling station for the British navy. At that point, Yemen was divided into north and south, the north being fanatical Muslim and tribal, and still under the rule of the Ottoman Empire, and the south receiving influence from the British occupation (some modernization). Aden became very important to the British after the opening of the Suez Canal and its need to reach India quickly. Whatever modern education or infrastructure that Yemen has is due to the British.

The obvious disparity between the north and south led to open warfare in the 1960s and 1970s. South Yemen changed its name to the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen (with Communist help). It allied itself with the USSR, China, Cuba and the Palestinians. The USSR provided arms and military training, which then prompted the U.S., Jordan and Saudi Arabia to arm North Yemen. Once more, we made the mistake of thinking that the enemy of our enemy was our friend.

When after protracted violence, North and South Yemen, with the help of the Arab League, were reunited and the modernized South was pulled back into feudalism, where it remains today.

The next time Yemen appeared in our media was when the USS Cole, refueling in the port of Aden, was attacked by a speedboat loaded with explosives and suicide bombers. They blasted a large hole in the ship and killed a number of our young sailors. The American Embassy in Yemen, being concerned about its “good relationship” with Yemen’s government, blocked an FBI investigation that could have brought somebody to justice — and maybe avert 9/11. Sometimes we forget who our enemy is.

Today, Yemen’s government is fighting two separatist groups, one in the south (modernizers, perhaps) and the other in the north (Shiites). Yemenites are also — they say — trying to snuff out the al-Qaida factions, with American help. At the same time, they arrest, imprison and then release (or break out of prison) the worst Islamists among them. It is difficult to see them as allies, somehow.

Yemen is now heading for more catastrophe. The most poisonous sort of Islam is taking over and destabilizing the government; the population (because of its backwardness and misogyny) has the most out-of-control birthrate in the world; and oil, its only source of money, is drying up, and so is water. (In ancient times, Yemen was green and watered — well before global warming — but its climate and terrain changed.) The population will face starvation in a few more years, and the more miserable it gets, the more fanatically religious it gets too. I wouldn’t depend on partnering with Yemen for anything.

As the ancient Greeks said: Those whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad. Poor, unfortunate Yemen.

•••

Laina Farhat-Holzman is a historian, lecturer and writer. You may contact her at Lfarhat102@aol.com and www.globalthink.net. The opinions of columnists are not necessarily those of the Register-Pajaronian.



Share on Facebook