Before the Western street demonstrations, there were “march declarations” from the universities in turmoil. Not everyone knows that the leader of Ansar Allah, Yemen Abdul-Malik Badr al-Din al-Houthi has given rise to street demonstrations in Yemen pro Palestine which he called on Thursday during his usual televised address to the nation, marches ready for Friday.
The first square to catch fire was Sanaa and then all those in Yemen, then came those in Egypt, Jordan, Tunisia, Morocco, and finally atheists from all over the world arrived.
The last declaration of the marches is from May 10th: “escalation after escalation… with Gaza until victory”: we pay homage to the steadfastness, patience and courage of the Palestinian people and the steadfastness of their mujahideen in the face of the Israeli enemy”.
Even if it is not talked about on a cultural and sociological level, the messages that spread from Yemeni streets to the world are important to analyze. The last message reads: “We ask the people of our nation to move seriously towards an education in the conscious and responsible jihadist faith to protect societies and generations from the domination of Israeli disinformation and deception.”
And again: “We warn everyone against being deceived and disinformed by the American administration through the statements of its senior officials and the media. We affirm that America is the principal partner in all of the Israelis’ crimes against the Palestinian people and the principal supporter of the entity, and that America gives no weight to statements of condemnation.”
“We call on the rulers of Arab and Islamic countries to act seriously and take practical and effective positions to support the Palestinian people. We stand in solidarity with the government and people of brother Egypt regarding the Israeli threat to its national security through Israel’s occupation of the Rafah crossing.”
“We praise the courageous and noble student movement of dozens of American and European universities and the movements that support it in various countries around the world. We commend Turkey’s position in boycotting a broad category of Israeli goods and in not shipping a broad category of goods and merchandise to the entity, and hope that the boycott will become global.”
And again from the Ansar Allah square: “We call on the Arab regimes affiliated with Israel to unite with Turkey, boycott the entity globally and take firm positions against it. We renew our call to all our people at home and abroad and to the peoples of our nation to adopt an organized and effective campaign to boycott Israeli and American goods. We salute the heroic operations of the Palestinian mujahideen in Gaza and the West Bank, the mujahideen in Lebanon and Iraq and the qualitative operations of our armed forces.”
“We affirm our absolute and full support for the operations of our armed forces and for all decisions of the mujahid leadership to meet the Zionist escalation with greater escalation. We affirm the continuation of the mobilization and mobilization with all vigor and determination, continuing the various activities and large marches and filling the training and rehabilitation camps.”
The actions that correspond to the Yemeni square are of psychological pressure and support for concrete actions that put the West in difficulty. For example, fast food restaurant chains that supported Israel were closed in some countries because no one came in to be served anymore. A case is that of the QSR Holding Company, which manages the “KFC” restaurant chain, which announced the closure of some of its branches in Malaysia in response to the difficult economic conditions faced by this brand, approximately 7 months after a witnessed boycott by the restaurant chain in several countries, due to accusations of supporting Israel.
Hezbollah also called for a boycott of Israeli and American products: The head of security of the Hezbollah Brigades, Hajj Abu Ali Al-Askari declared: “We must boycott American products and their brands.
And Iran is still talking about a boycott and through the voice of the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Hossein Amirabdollahian, he said: “Islamic countries should boycott Israel”.
Among the Arab countries that instead support Israel and pursue the boycott is the United Arab Emirates. Since 2020, when it established official relations with “Israel”, the UAE has adopted an approach based on banning any position of individuals or associations that oppose the normalization of relations or direct criticism of “Israel”.
This repressive approach has increased in the UAE since Israel began responding to the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023.
The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor states: “We have documented the arrest and summons by the United Arab Emirates authorities of dozens of citizens and foreign residents in its territory due to their expression of criticism of Israel for the attacks in the Gaza Strip or criticizing normalization on social media in recent months.”
“The UAE punished people who in publications called for a boycott of goods by “Israel” and its allies, or for greater solidarity and support for the Palestinians.”
Antonio Albanese e Graziella Giangiulio
