By Steve Bell
On 25 January an international day of action was held for Yemen. The appeal supporting the action has been endorsed by 385 organisations representing 31 nations and states. Action was taken in a number of countries, although Covid restrictions limited these. The most important activity were the massive demonstrations inside Yemen, where rallies were held in 24 squares across 12 provinces – attendance probably topped 2 million. Perhaps the bravest action of the day were the street protests across Bahrain. These were held in conditions of great repression, where previously a leader of the opposition, Nabeel Rajab, had been imprisoned with a six year sentence for a single tweet opposing Bahrain’s involvement in the war.
A number of limited protests took place in other countries, including the US and Canada. There were on line events on the day, and in the lead up.
Below is the link to the international rally. This was oversubscribed, and live streamed on various platforms – most significantly by the Al-Mayadeen TV channel which has the second largest audience in the region after Al Jazeera. There were many notable contributions, including from US Congressman Ro Khanna, Jeremy Corbyn MP, Dr Shireen Al-Adeimi, Apsana Begum MP, John Finucane Sinn Fein MP, and Dr Cornel West from the Democratic Socialists of America.
The rally can be watched on the Stop The War Coalition website here.