Dear Friends, Greetings to you, dear friends and colleagues participating in the Washington Conference "Towards Sustainable Peace and Democracy in Yemen" Allow me to welcome you all, and all to remind us to observe all protocols. 

I would like to thank Georgetown University and the Dawn Organization for partnering with us put together such an important and unique conference—one that we hope elevate the voices of Yemenis themselves in our bid for self-determination, peace and prosperity.

We meet here today to raise our voices for democracy and to express the suffering of our people who are entering their ninth year following a coup and devastating war being that is waged against them both internally and externally by the very actors who profit most from ongoing war on the one hand, while preaching peace on the other.

We meet today to raise our voices in an appeal to the world to save the Yemenis who have been living stateless, voiceless, devoid of leadership and hope for full  eight years: Our people who suffer daily threats to their lives through outright violence and the more insidious violence of famine and displacement, which now defines my country as  embodying the worst humanitarian crisis in the world today.

The coup and the war together drive our people into a state of daily  humiliation from the Iranian-backed Houthi militia that turned against the state and committed crimes against humanity and inflicts daily terror on innocent civilians.  The Saudi-Emirati axis was much like letting hens into the hen house: they have declared war on Yemen  under the false pretext of restoring legitimate government, where the real aim is ‘divide and conquer’,  massive destruction, flooding the country with foreign and local militias and generally tearing the country apart. And why? To control the Bab al Mandab waterway through which so much of the earth’s trade depends and to establish the kind of Sea Side City States that mimic those of Abu Dhabi or Dubai—where Yemenis will be enslaved to a new set of overlords with the blessing of the US and the west.  

I regret to say that continuing the present approaches to the Yemeni file by the United Nations and the major powers makes peace unattainable. The error of the international approach to the Yemeni crisis is obvious and one that guarantees fracture factionalism. Any observer of the efforts of the international community, the major countries, and the UN envoy during the years of war can come to a simple conclusion that the essence of these trends is in the direction of leaving Yemen entirely to the Houthi militia on the one hand, and the Saudi-Emirati coalition on the other. 

The result is that the major powers, the United States and Britain in particular, have implicitly or explicitly supported the continuation of Saudi Arabia and the UAE in the war on Yemen, its destruction, the usurpation of its land, and its fragmentation while supporting the Iranian-backed Houthi coup at the same time. This is unacceptable and incomprehensible. Where is Yemen in all of this? Why do the western powers continue to support keeping the Yemeni people under the mill of war, coup, endentured labour, death, siege, destruction, the collapse of services, suspension of salaries, the spread of famine, oppression, and humiliation under which Yemeni cities and their militia-ruled populations suffer—from Sana’a to Aden and most cities and population centers in cities and rural areas.

The war in Yemen must stop, and we must put an end to this absurdity, this tragedy, this bloody coup, this disastrous war: and the war criminals that feed off this horror like vultures from a gutted pret. But how will this war end? How will we build sustainable peace and democracy in Yemen when there is so many to be made in destroying a historically and culturally distinct and proud people. 

It is important to however, to define what we mean by the ‘ end of the war’, and what those conditions will be.  

Defining the concept of ending the war is very important so that those who tampered with and violated Yemen during the eight years of war do not surprise us with agreements dressed as peace. They cannot be prepared by the conflicting external forces in Yemen and their proxies at home, while leaving Yemenis our of th equation altogether. That would be an utter failure and a delusion. They may believe they have achieved their goals but all they will do it legitimize the division of Yemen through self-serving means that will never resolve the underlying conflict. 

The Iran-backed Houthi militia, which started the war and turned against the state, will not end the war except after imposing its control by force and imposing its complete dominance over the country's resources, wealth, and educational and judicial institutions. And subjecting society to its supremacist, sectarian ideology. Houthism is a movement that is inflexible in the face of political settlement in which it will be merely a  component of a larger state that recognizes all components. 

For Saudi Arabia, the war will be over if essentially functionally annexes it on the one hand while by ridding itself of the Houthi threat on the one hand and controlling. plundering, exploiting its geopolitical importance  on the other with no interest in building institutions that refect Yemeni aspirations. It does not care if Yemen remains divided and chaotic and in a state of rupture and small internal strife. Neither Saudi Arabia or the UAE are exactly beacons of democracy. It is absurd and naïve to even countenance that they will support such a government in their own back yard. 

For the UAE, is it over if its efforts to install its affiliated militias that guarantee its economic interests and which it formed in separate spheres of influence as components within partial agreements are successful?.

All the closures we have reviewed do not end the war, rather they provide it with more fuel and prolong its tragedy.

It is becoming increasingly clear that war will not end with deals between the internal warlords and the occupying and external vassal countries, leave Yemen as one independent and unified state with the elements of security and stability.

But what If the end of war in Yemen means It is torn apart into mini-states run by militias affiliated with Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE? This is a real threat. 

How can we end war if we legitimize agreements that forment chaos and acknowledge the Yemeni statelessness, and the end of the republic and unity and the outcomes of the National Dialogue Conference, the draft constitution, and the project of the federal state and regions?

These questions are neither are neither and indulgence or a wish to extend the war. We are the first to reject and warn against it. They have to be asked.

Continuing to treat Yemen as a vassal state incapable of it own path to peace is a continuous declaration of war.

Keeping the militias as mini-states within the state is a war, no sane person can deny that. Militia, after all, live to steal and kill.

We believe, with many arguments, that the war in Yemen will end with the restoration of the hijacked Yemeni decision in Riyadh, Abu Dhabi, and Iran.

The war will end with the integrity of Yemen, not with its fragmentation, with the restoration of the state of the Republic of Yemen, which has complete sovereignty and authority over all Yemeni territory, from Sa’da to Al-Mahra, from Sana’a to Seiyun, from Socotra to Aden, and Bab al-Mandab, and every inch of Yemeni land.

Accordingly, any peace agreement mustn’t harm the unity of the Yemeni state or surrender its sovereignty. Likewise, any peace agreement should lead to the cessation of the warlords’ intervention, the disarmament of militias, an end to divisions and the multiplicity of de facto authorities, and an end to daily violence exercised against the civilians; It means programs to clear mines, releasing detainees, and lifting the internal and external siege, and ending all forms of Saudi and Emirati interference and tutelage. 

It may be necessary to reach a political understanding that contributes to building an inclusive Yemeni government in which all Yemenis participate, and which is responsible for withdrawing militia weapons, moving forward with a referendum on the draft constitution, and holding various elections based on the constitution, and to a transitional justice that will do justice to the victims and ensure non-recurrence.

What should be strictly emphasized is the necessity of respecting Yemen as an independent, one, unified and sovereign state, compensating it for all damages, and rebuilding it.

This is the only path leading to sustainable peace and democracy in Yemen, otherwise, it is does nothing but prolong the war and increase suffering. 

Finally, we realize how great our suffering is, and we realize that one of the most important reasons for its continuation is the lack of a national authority that considers the interests of the Yemenis its main concern. We realize that there is abandonment by some, and greed among others: War is a great moneymaker and targeting who benefits is another strategy that bears further examination.  Nevertheless, Yemen is used to making great surprises, we are confident about our people.  All we ask is to help us overcome these difficult circumstances, and with the will of our people and our faith in Yemen, we will turn the page of war and start a new history, which they see far away and we see soon.

I can almost hear that call from everywhere in Yemen: The Yemeni people are not broken, and Yemen is hard to swallow.....

Thank you very much.

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