The Prophet’s birthday during the Houthi era...a means of dominance and political showmanship
English - Sunday 17 September 2023 الساعة 04:24 pm
Sanaa, NewsYemen:
The terrorist Houthi militia, the Iranian arm in Yemen, turned the anniversary of the birth of the Holy Prophet into a means to demonstrate its dominance and political display by mobilizing its supporters and forcing the population to participate in it through enticement and smuggling.
This anniversary is also considered one of the most important sources of collection and collection of resources for the benefit of the group, by forcing various segments of the population to donate to it, and confiscating the funds of government institutions for its benefit.
During the past weeks, the Houthi militias obliged the largest commercial houses to donate billions of Yemeni riyals to celebrate the Prophet’s birthday, while residents, each in their own way, mocked the transformation of life and dyed it bright green, which they say causes them visual discomfort and depression.
Residents of Sana'a, which is under the control of the militias, complained about the closure of most of the city's streets to celebrate this anniversary, and stressed that these practices caused traffic congestion and doubled transportation fares due to transportation taking distant side streets.
Dozens of university students and employees of government institutions were forced to be absent due to the difficulty of movement and the cost of transportation, which has doubled.
The Houthis decided at the beginning of this month to allocate Al-Sabeen Square, south of Sanaa, and Al-Thawra Stadium, north of it, to gather citizens and celebrate the Prophet’s birthday, which falls on the twenty-seventh of this month.
Since the sixth of this September, the Houthis have closed Al-Sabeen Square, and all the streets and roads leading to it. This closure caused congestion and paralysis of traffic, preventing students, employees, and workers from reaching their schools, universities, and workplaces. This was initially justified by saying that the closure was due to construction work... Asking citizens to use alternative methods.
The group intensified its security measures, which increased congestion and traffic congestion, as it deployed checkpoints and checkpoints in most of the streets of the capital and the main cities, especially near the squares designated for celebrations.
Al-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper quoted local sources as saying that the militias assigned their supervisors to undertake the duties of collecting from the residents and residents of the neighborhoods of the capital, Sana’a, and various regions and cities for the benefit of the celebration, through empty envelopes on each of which was written the name of the head of the family in charge of paying the taxes, along with a serial number, in order to Recording those who defaulted on payment in these envelopes.
The Houthi group, supported by Iran, obligated neighborhood officials (known locally as neighborhood neighbourhoods) to cooperate with supervisors to mobilize neighborhood residents to activities celebrating the Prophet’s birthday in Al-Sabeen Square and Al-Thawra Stadium during the days and weeks preceding the anniversary of the birth, in addition to meetings in mosques after prayers. To coordinate these events and inform worshipers of their attendance.
Al-Sharq Al-Awsat sources say that the militias have circulated to the owners of shops, commercial malls and major restaurants in Sanaa, instructions to color the doors and sidewalks with green paint, and to hang and spread decorations in the same color, which they have been using to celebrate the Prophet’s birthday since their coup, and have threatened those who fail to do so with fines and other punitive measures.
