London: March to Stop War in Yemen and Palestine

 In the night, UK and US pilots dropped bombs on cities and people across Yemen. I mourn today, with shame and regret. Not my government, not in my name!

Firstly, Western Liberal hypocrisy is devastatingly transparent; equality applies to the West, and the West alone.

The leaders of the bombings claim to be protecting civilian lives in the Red Sea. And yet, every death in this context was caused by these by the British and American bombings. Joe Biden and Rishi Sunak must bear the guilt of the murder of Yemeni civilians.

Human rights necessarily juxtapose one another, and politicians have the choice of which rights to favour. I can see a clear chauvinism in the UK’s decision; white lives above Yemeni lives. The UK claims to act in self-defence… in the Red Sea. The mere threat against one white life is worth the bombing of multiple cities. But further still, as no white lives had actually  hitherto been lost, it proves that simple trade along the Red Sea is more important than the people of Yemen.  

At the time of writing, approximately 24,000 Palestinians have died. On the day that South Africa brings Israel to court, we have a conversation about pReCioUs sHiPpiNg LaNeS. This is a perverse situation with intentional genocidal consequence.

The Western liberal order sees white lives as the only lives worth salvation. For Sunak, a shipping container is worth more than a city in Yemen, the damned of the earth. But this is likely no surprise after what we all see in Gaza.

While I don’t demonstrate support for Houthis, I condemn the escalation and violence, especially air strikes, indiscriminate bombings. You know that you’ve fucked up when Putin criticises you for breaking international law, and Mohammed bin Salman calls for restraint.

Secondly, this is a gross escalation that is reminiscent of Israel’s policy of collective punishment. The framing of the operation as a protection of civilians is moronic when you then go drop bombs on civilian centres. The reality is that these governments care not for lives, but for trade. In effect, they trade in lives. Yemeni civilian lives for Saudi oil.

I hope citizens in the UK organise a huge stop the war march that shuts London down and keeps Rishi Sunak in his bunker. I think it is hugely important that UK citizens do not sit quietly as their government rains fire over yet another country in the Middle East. As one Iraqi academic from Baghdad, ‘Sadiq’ as I can only identify him, said in 2003;

“It’s the British again. They have been bombing my family for over eighty years now. Four generations of have lived and died with these unwanted visitors from Britain who come to pour explosives on us from the skies… They say the Imperial era is over now. It does not feel that way when you feel the stacato crack of fireballs from the air. It is then that you dream of real freedom – in shaa’ allah – freedom from the RAF”[1]

[1]Sanghera, Sathnam. 2021. Empireland: How Imperialism Shaped Modern Britain. Page 111.

Young, Robert J. C. 2003. Postcolonialism: A Very Short Introduction. Pages 34-44.