An open letter to Indivisible: We must stand for Yemen

I have been living abroad for more than 8 years, recently working in the humanitarian aid sector. So I tend to be lag in my awareness of big things in American politics.

In April I returned home to Maine, extremely concerned about our country’s foreign policies, and started asking around where activist energy is concentrating right now. Immediately I was directed to Indivisible. In an old town hall in little Thomaston, Maine I saw more people talking about public policy, and about what they were going to do about it than I ever have before. I got it right away – this is something big. This is something that can change our country.

So with that in mind, I’d like to appeal to the Indivisible community. Please, please use some of your passion and anger to oppose America’s appalling role in the destruction of Yemen, the poorest country in the Middle East.

I know that Indivisible is focused on opposing Trump’s awful domestic policy agenda. But today our country is deeply complicit in the world’s worst humanitarian disaster. Distracted in our own national drama, we have let this be done in our name. Here’s the worst of it:

1. Seven million Yemenis could die of hunger this year without immediate humanitarian assistance. A child dies of a preventable disease every ten minutes.
2. This looming famine is man-made and connected to the brutal war being fought in Yemen between Houthi rebels who deposed the president and a foreign military coalition led by Saudi Arabia. But overwhelming responsibility lies on the Saudis, who have bombed ports, bridges and highways needed to move food assistance around Yemen. They frequently impose a sea blockade on most of the country’s ports.
3. Those ports and bridges (and schools, and hospitals, and markets…) are being hit with American-made bombs dropped by Saudi jets that fuel at American aerial tankers. The US provides almost all the firepower to wage this horrible war, and also supports Saudi Arabia diplomatically whenever other countries try to hold it responsible.
4. President Trump just went to Riyadh to praise the Saudis, reassure them of unwavering American support and sign a $110 billion arms deal that includes more smart bombs for killing Yemenis.

Let’s put this in perspective. If the worst case scenario plays out this man-made famine could kill as many innocent Yemenis as Jews perished in the Holocaust. And it has American finger prints all over it.

We have to fight this. It should trouble us seriously that we’ve allowed it to go on as long as it has – the US has been supporting the Saudi war in Yemen since 2015.

The good news is that opposition is finally growing in Congress. A bi-partisan coalition is forming to block smart bomb sales to Saudi Arabia. But if it is to succeed it needs a constituency. Our members of Congress need to know that Americans want no part in enabling this atrocity.

That’s where Indivisible comes in. The thousands of passionate citizens driving this movement can shine a light on this issue and mainstream it. They can make members Congress sit up and take notice.

Here’s where we can start: Senators Chris Murphy and Rand Paul have sponsored Senate Joint Resolution 40 which would block upcoming sales of smart bombs to the Saudis unless they can demonstrate they are protecting civilians, allowing movement of humanitarian aid and targeting international terrorists. The related House Joint Resolution 102 was recently introduced by Mark Pocan and Justin Amash. According to US law both resolutions must be passed within 30 days of the signing of the arms if they are to have any effect. The vote is likely to occur sometime between June 8 the end of the month.

This doesn’t give us much time!

Please, please call your senators to tell them you expect a yes vote on SJR 40, and your representatives – on HJR 102. Let them know US arms shouldn’t be used for targeting civilians. That the US should be helping to prevent famine, not cause it. You can tell them we shouldn’t be helping Al Qaeda, which is one more awful side effect of this war: Al Qaeda claims to be fighting alongside the Saudis against the Houthi rebels, and the arms we sell Riyadh might end up in the hands of these terrorists.

Indivisible has the potential to transform our country’s toxic politics. But in tackling the numerous domestic policy threats, we should not forget that Yemenis are suffering horribly from bad American policies, but unlike us have no chance to affect them. We must speak for them, before it’s too late.