SANA'A: As the Youth Movement exploded on Yemen's political scene last year, giving birth to yet another popular uprising in the region, old religious feuds were re-ignited, creating severe sectarian tension in Yemen's northern provinces. With its many tribes and political factions Yemen is already a difficult beast to tackle when it comes to understanding its complex make-up, but added to that religious sensibilities and ones end up with a severe case of political apoplexy. With the majority of its population being Muslim, Yemenis Zaidi, from the Shia school of thought, accounts for 40 percent and Sunnis 60 percent. Although for centuries both communities managed to live peacefully side by side, political affiliations and regional game plans threw off balance the tacit ideological truce, spurring hatred and violence. Essentially Zaidi do not bear much difference from the Sunni except in their belief of the Imamah, as such, the sect has often been referred to by scholars as the “fifth school of Sunni Islam.” It is al-Houthis, a Zaidi tribal group from the Northern Province of Sa'ada, which is now threatening Yemen's integrity as its leaders are using religious dogma to divide a once harmonious community. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which has a long history of repression when it comes to the Shia movement, has accused the al-Houthis of being Iran's armed arm in the Arabian Peninsula, cautiously keeping an eye on its southern borders as it fears that violence will spill over onto its territories. History of violence Al-Houthi movement first emerged in Yemen in the 1990s when Sheikh Hussein Badr al-Din al-Houthi founded a political and paramilitary group called the Believing Youth. Essentially, the Sheikh sought to revive the Shia faith in Yemen, advocating a return to the ancestral rule of the Imams. At the time al-Houthis did not openly called for the overthrow of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, himself a Zaidi, but rather sought a partnership in their calls for change, Saleh's alignment in 2001 with America's “war on terror” changed everything. The group, which sees the United States as a direct enemy of Islam, violently opposed the government's policies from that point on, calling for Saleh's ouster. In 2004, as the government tried to crush the growing rebellion by seeking the arrest of Sheikh Hussein al-Houthi, the later was killed by Security Forces in an ambush, prompting a widespread insurrection in the province, known as the Sa'ada War. For the next five years, the Yemeni armed forces battled the al-Houthis, deepening residents' resentment towards the state and its amicable foreign policies towards the West. After a unilaterally declared truce in 2009, al-Houthis and Saleh's regime continued to intermittently clash. Yemen's 2011 popular uprising and a breakdown in the state institutions allowed al-Houthi movement to resume its political and territorial ambitions in the region, as it set off to conquer neighboring provinces. As the central government was scrambling for control in Sana'a and fighting off al-Qaeda militants in its southern territories, the Shia rebel group was left free to roam the land, gaining control over al-Jawf and Hajjah, with only a few pockets left of resistance. And if the state preferred to concentrate its effort on quelling the raging uprising, caring little for al-Houthis, Salafists, Sunni radical Muslims, rose against the rebel group, determined to force back the “Shia threat.” What began as a quest for power and political control then turned into an opposition of two sects, with the arrival of the Salafists, creating a divide between Yemeni Shia and Sunni. Iran versus Saudi Arabia Ever since al-Houthis started off their attacks against Salafists in Sa'ada besieging their schools and assaulting their followers, Saudi Arabia voiced its concern, saying that it feared Iran was manufacturing a sectarian conflict in the country to destabilize the region, stressing that Tehran was sponsoring chaos to assert its rule over the Middle East. Riyadh has long accused Iran of financing and arming al-Houthis in a bid to engineer a war by proxy with the Kingdom, directly attacking the heart of the Sunni faith. Only last month, a ship loaded with Iran made weapons bound for Sa'ada was seized in the Yemeni seaport of Hodeidah, confirming the state's belief that Iran was actively participating in al-Houthi insurgency. Even US ambassador to Yemen Gerard Feierstein admitted in an interview that he knew of Iran's plan for the region, warning that the US would stand with the Yemeni government. Very much like its political and religious nemesis, Iran, Saudi Arabia is also fighting its war by proxy in Yemen, by financially and militarily supporting Salafists, with high ranking royals, throwing their political weight behind the religious movement. Crown Prince Nayyef, the most conservative figure within the al-Saud monarchy made no secret of his support for Salafists, a long standing ally of the al-Islah party, Yemen's Islamist faction. As Yemen is operating a transfer of power, trying to transition into a civil state, sectarianism is spreading a dark shadow over its future, since none of the concerned factions are said to be willing to negotiate a truce. Well beyond a simple religious disagreement al-Houthis and the Salafists have fundamental political divergence of opinions since once is hoping for a return of the rule of the Imam and the other a theocratic system based on a rigid interpretation of Islam. But rather than a real clash of religions, political factions are using the ancestral Sunni-Shia divide to promote their agendas, seeking to gain popular legitimacy as they draw their faith's flag. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/HZcc2 Tags: Faith, featured, Houthis, Sectarianism, Violence Section: Features, Latest News, Religion, Yemen
