the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
Jan 20, 2025
This article is translated from the January 3 issue, #2944 of Lutte Ouvrière (Workers Struggle), the paper of the Trotskyist group of that name active in France.
On December 26 and 27, Israeli bombing hit several sites in Yemen, including the airport in Sanaa, the Houthi-controlled capital.
The Israeli army said it had targeted Sanaa airport “military infrastructure used by the Houthis” as well as power plants and military sites, notably in Hodeïda, the port in the west of the country, in retaliation for Houthi attacks. “We are determined to cut off this terrorist branch of the Iranian axis of evil,” Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu warned on December 26, saying he would continue to strike. “We will hunt down all the Houthi leaders,” declared Defense Minister Israel Katz for his part.
So, after Gaza, Lebanon and Syria, the Israeli army continues its murderous headlong rush, targeting Yemen and keeping Iran in its sights. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned “the escalation,” stressing that the bombardment of transport infrastructure “poses serious risks to humanitarian operations at a time when millions of people need vital aid.” The head of WHO, the World Health Organization, was himself the victim of the December 26 bombing at Sanaa airport. But neither the U.N. nor the World Health Organization impress Israeli leaders.
The Houthist movement emerged in the early 2000s among the Shiite minority in northern Yemen. It developed in the face of a corrupt dictatorial power, against which the population’s discontent erupted in the Arab Spring protests of 2011. It was in response, at the end of March 2015, that Saudi Arabia, backed by the United States, launched a war in an attempt to restore “Yemen’s legitimate power.” This lasted eight years and caused tens of thousands of deaths, famine, and regional chaos due to the multiplication of armed gangs.
However, Saudi Arabia has failed to defeat the Houthis, whom it accuses of being backed by Iran. The Houthis continue to defy it, as well as Israel and its imperialist sponsors. Since January 2024 in particular, they have been carrying out actions in the Red Sea against merchant ships, in the name of solidarity with the Palestinians massacred in Gaza by the Israeli state with U.S. support.
The new bombings against Yemen are not just aimed at the Houthis. They are an affirmation by Israeli leaders that they are ready to wage war throughout the region, including by threatening Iran. Not to be outdone, the United States had also targeted Sanaa a few days earlier. Far from disowning their Israeli ally, they show themselves ready to act in concert.