Houthi movement
The Houthi movement (/ˈhuːθi/; Arabic: الحوثيون al-Ḥūthiyūn [al.ħuː.θi.juːn]), officially known as Ansar Allah[a] (أنصار الله ʾAnṣār Allāh, lit. 'Supporters of God'), is a Shia Islamist political and military organization that emerged from Yemen in the 1990s. It is predominantly made up of Zaidi Shias, with their namesake leadership being drawn largely from the Houthi tribe.[89]
This article is about the Yemen-based Islamist political and military organization. For the Arab tribe in northern Yemen, see Houthi tribe. For the Tajik Islamist militant group, see Jamaat Ansarullah.
Houthis
الحوثيون
Ansar Allah
أنصار الله
- Hussein al-Houthi †
(1994–2004) - Abdul-Malik al-Houthi
(since 2004)
Mohammed Abdul Salam[1]
1994–present
Yemen (incl. Saudi Arabia–Yemen border)[2]
State allies:
Supreme Political Council[40]- Houthi Popular Committees[41]
General People's Congress (pro-Saleh faction, 2014–2017;[27][42] pro-Houthi faction since 2017)[43]
Hezbollah (alleged)[44][45]
Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba[46]
Liwa Fatemiyoun (alleged)[47]
Hamas (since 2021)[48][49]
State opponents:
- Yemen (Presidential Leadership Council)
Saudi Arabia
United Arab Emirates[50]
Egypt[50][51]
Jordan[50]
Sudan (until 2019)[50]
Bahrain[50]
Morocco[50]
Kosovo[52]
Somalia[53][54]
Senegal[50]
Belgium[55]
France[56][57]
Netherlands[58]
United States[59][60]
United Kingdom[61]
Canada[62]
Australia[63]
Israel[64]
Seychelles[65]
Germany
New Zealand[66]
South Korea[67]
India[68]
Sri Lanka[69]
Malaysia
Italy
Denmark
Norway
Greece
Singapore
Ukraine[70]
Pakistan (disputed)[71]
China (disputed)[72]
Al-Qaeda (intermittent)[78][79]
Islamic State[80]
Under the leadership of Zaidi religious leader Hussein al-Houthi, the Houthis emerged as an opposition movement to Yemen President Ali Abdullah Saleh, whom they accused of corruption and being backed by Saudi Arabia and the United States.[90][91] In 2003, influenced by the Lebanese Shia political and military organization Hezbollah, the Houthis adopted their official slogan against the United States, Israel, and the Jews.[92] Al-Houthi resisted Saleh's order for his arrest, and was afterwards killed by the Yemeni military in Saada in 2004, sparking the Houthi insurgency.[93][94] Since then, the movement has been mostly led by his brother Abdul-Malik al-Houthi.[93]
The organization took part in the Yemeni Revolution of 2011 by participating in street protests and coordinating with other Yemeni opposition groups. They joined Yemen's National Dialogue Conference but later rejected the 2011 reconciliation deal.[95][96] In late 2014, the Houthis repaired their relationship with Saleh, and with his help they took control of the capital city. The takeover prompted a Saudi-led military intervention to restore the internationally recognized government, leading to an ongoing civil war which included missile and drone attacks against Saudi Arabia and its ally United Arab Emirates.[97][98][99] Following the outbreak of the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, the Houthis began to fire missiles at Israel and to attack ships off Yemen's coast in the Red Sea, which they say is in solidarity with the Palestinians and aiming to facilitate entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.[100][101]
The Houthi movement attracts followers in Yemen by portraying themselves as fighting for economic development and the end of the political marginalization of Zaidi Shias,[96] as well as by promoting regional political–religious issues in its media. The Houthis have a complex relationship with Yemen's Sunnis; the movement has discriminated against Sunnis but has also allied with and recruited them.[102][103][95] The Houthis aim to govern all of Yemen and support external movements against the United States, Israel, and Saudi Arabia.[104] Because of the Houthis' ideological background, the conflict in Yemen is widely seen as a front of the Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy war.[105]
Activism and tactics
Political
During their campaigns against both the Saleh and Hadi governments, Houthis used civil disobedience. Following the Yemeni government's decision on 13 July 2014 to increase fuel prices, Houthi leaders succeeded in organising massive rallies in the capital Sanaa to protest the decision and to demand resignation of the incumbent government of Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi for "state-corruption".[201] These protests developed into the 2014–2015 phase of the insurgency. Similarly, following 2015 Saudi-led airstrikes against Houthis which claimed civilians lives, Yemenis responded to the Abdul-Malik al-Houthi's call and took to streets of the capital, Sanaa, in tens of thousands to voice their anger at the Saudi invasion.[202]
The movement's expressed goals include combating economic underdevelopment and political marginalization in Yemen while seeking greater autonomy for Houthi-majority regions of the country.[203] One of its spokesperson Mohammed al-Houthi claimed in 2018 that he supports a democratic republic in Yemen.[59][179] The Houthis have made fighting corruption the centerpiece of their political program.[59]
Cultural
The Houthis have also held a number of mass gatherings since the revolution. On 24 January 2013, thousands gathered in Dahiyan, Sa'dah and Heziez, just outside Sanaa, to celebrate Mawlid al-Nabi, the birth of Mohammed. A similar event took place on 13 January 2014 at the main sports' stadium in Sanaa. On this occasion, men and women were completely segregated: men filled the open-air stadium and football field in the centre, guided by appointed Houthi safety officials wearing bright vests and matching hats; women poured into the adjacent indoor stadium, led inside by security women distinguishable only by their purple sashes and matching hats. The indoor stadium held at least five thousand women—ten times as many attendees as the 2013 gathering.[18]
Media
The Houthis are said to have "a huge and well-oiled propaganda machine". They have established "a formidable media arm" with the Lebanese Hezbollah's technical support. The format and content of the group's leader, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi's televised speeches are said to have been modeled after those of Hezbollah's Secretary General, Hassan Nasrallah. Following the peaceful youth uprising in 2011, the group launched its official TV channel, Almasirah. "The most impressive part" of Houthi propaganda, though, is their media print which includes 25 print and electronic publications.[186]
One of the most versatile form of Houthi mass media are the zawamil,[204] a genre of primarily tribal oral poetry embedded in Yemen's social fabric. The zamil, rooted in cultural tradition, has been weaponised by the Houthis as a tool of propaganda and remains one of the most popular and rapidly growing platforms of Houthi propaganda,[205][206] sung by popular vocalists like Issa Al-Laith and disseminated through various social media platforms including YouTube, Twitter and Telegram.[207][208] The Spectator describes Houthi zawamil as its most successful part of their propaganda, stressing the movement's supposed piety, bravery and poverty in comparison with the corruption, wealth and hypocrisy of their adversaries, the Saudi-led coalition, and Arab states allied to Israel.[209]
Houthis also utilize radios as an effective means of spreading influence, storming radio stations and confiscating equipment of radio stations that do not adhere to what they're allowed to broadcast by the Houthis.[210] A Houthi fundraising campaign through a radio station affiliated with Iran-backed Houthi rebels has collected 73.5 million Yemeni rials ($132,000) for the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.[211]
Another western-based media, "Uprising Today", is also known to be extensively pro-Houthi.[212]
Military
In 2009, U.S. Embassy sources have reported that Houthis used increasingly more sophisticated tactics and strategies in their conflict with the government as they gained more experience, and that they fought with religious fervor.[213]
Governance
According to a 2009 leaked US Embassy cable, Houthis have reportedly established courts and prisons in areas they control. They impose their own laws on local residents, demand protection money, and dispense rough justice by ordering executions. AP's reporter, Ahmad al-Haj argued that the Houthis were winning hearts and minds by providing security in areas long neglected by the Yemeni government while limiting the arbitrary and abusive power of influential sheikhs. According to the Civic Democratic Foundation, Houthis help resolve conflicts between tribes and reduce the number of revenge killings in areas they control. The US ambassador believed that the reports that explain Houthi role as arbitrating local disputes were likely.[213]
Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen
The Houthis exert de facto authority over the bulk of North Yemen.[289] As of 28 April 2020, they control all of North Yemen except for Marib Governorate.[290][291]