A Yemeni Woman Speaks About the Houthis and the Jews of Yemen

Majda Alhaddad is a Yemeni woman who now lives in the US, where she is free to express her opposition to the Houthis, to conduct a campaign in person and on social media against their despotic rule over one-third of her country, and to express her love for the Jews who used to live in Yemen, but almost all of whom now live in Israel. She has now given an interview to the Jerusalem Post. More about this remarkable woman can be found here: “‘We will defeat the Houthis one day,’ Yemeni activist tells the ‘Post’ – exclusive,” by Ohad Merlin, Jerusalem Post, September 5, 2024:

“I oppose the Houthis. I dedicate several hours every day to expose the crimes and oppression of the Houthis in my country – on social media, on TV, in the field, organizing marches and events, speaking at the UN. Everything I do I dedicate to this topic,” said Majda Alhaddad.

Originally from Ibb in Yemen, Alhaddad is a women’s rights and peace activist who currently resides in the US. In her first-ever interview with Israeli media, she told The Jerusalem Post that traditionally conservative Yemen has seen new laws since the Houthis came to power. “The Houthis… assault women and girls who wear pants; they arrest them, beat them physically. They threaten them so that they change the way they dress,” she said. “Houthi authorities arrest and kidnap women because of their political opinions. This has never happened in Yemen until now. Many women were sentenced to death, and there are currently an estimated 2,600 women in prison just because they resisted marriage.

When asked why she thinks some anti-Israel groups support the Houthis, Hadded replied: “The first thing is ignorance. They don’t really understand the truth of who the Houthis really are. I try to dedicate my work to exposing the terrible things they do.

“There are those who tell me that ‘we love Yemen and appreciate Yemen for what they do for Palestine’ but I always make sure to explain the issue to them thoroughly,” Alhaddad said.

“Only last week I was at a clothing shop and the cashier was of Palestinian origin. When she heard I’m Yemeni, she gave me a gift and said that ‘it’s because we support the Palestinians.’ I told her that there is a big difference between the Yemeni people and what the Houthis are doing, which is worse than what she’s being told about Israel. What they’re doing in the Red Sea is outright terrorism….

The Houthis in their suppression of women outdo even the Iranians; they are the Shi’a equivalent of the Sunni Taliban in Afghanistan.

This is a Yemeni Arab carrying on from the safety of the United States her one-woman campaign against the Houthis who have brought misery to her country. In the areas under their control, they have stripped Yemeni women of every right, assaulting any who are not wearing the now-required niqab, imprisoning 2600 women who have refused to enter into forced marriages to much older men, and persecuting any woman who expresses the slightest complaint over how women are mistreated under Houthi rule. The Houthis began a civil war ten years ago against the national government that still rages, and has cost the lives of 500,000 Yemenis. But except for the Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, the world largely ignores what has been happening in Yemen, as it is very much on the periphery both of the Arab world and of global consciousness.

Majda Alhaddad makes clear she has another subject on which she feels strongly: the Jews of Yemen, and how much they deserve respect, and even love, for holding onto Yemeni traditions. She says that there is less anti-Jewish feeling in Yemen than in other Arab countries, that “the everyday Yemeni is more prone to be proud of the Jews for preserving Yemeni Heritage” and that “I personally just love the Jewish people.”

As a result of her anti-Houthi work, and of her expressions of philosemitism, she receives all kinds of death threats, but keeps on keeping on. All in all, a remarkable woman.