Join us on April 13 in NYC or in your community to fast in solidarity with the people of Yemen. Sign up here!
On April 10, 2017, members of the New York Catholic Worker community, CODEPINK, the Upstate Coalition to End the Wars and Ground the Drones, Friends of Franz and Ben, and Voices for Creative Nonviolence will begin a week-long fast in New York City and around the country. We will jointly hold a public presence across from the United Nations at the Isaiah Wall from 10am to 2pm everyday from Monday, April 10th to Sunday, April 16th. As we fast from all solid foods, we urge others to join us in calling for a humane response to the famine facing Yemeni civilians whose country has been ravaged by civil war and regularly targeted by Saudi and U.S. airstrikes.
If you can’t make it to NYC, you can post your message of support for Yemenis on Facebook and Twitter using the hashtag #RememberYemen #YemenIsStarving, or plan an action in your local community. Please let us know if you organize any actions on April 9th to 16th so we can publicize them.
*Check out our Fast Tips and Recipes.
We have the responsibility to ensure that the U.S.:
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Stops all drone attacks and military “special operations” within Yemen
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Provides compensation to those who suffered losses caused by U.S. attacks.
Other actions you can take:
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Tell President Trump not to approve another $390 million sale of arms to Saudi Arabia!
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Educate your family and friends about the worsening, preventable crisis in Yemen.
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Do what you can in your local community to call for an end to the blockade and bombing.
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Call the U.S. Mission to the UN 212 -415-4062 and express your concern
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Call the Saudi Mission to the UN 212-557-1525 and express your concern
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Visit, call and write your elected representatives to make your concerns known and bring their responses back to your local community.
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Visit local community and faith-based representatives to enlist their support for ending U.S. and Saudi attacks on Yemen, lifting the blockade, and averting famine.
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Write letters to the editor alerting your community to the humanitarian crisis and the responsibilities of U.S. citizens.
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Organize education and outreach events at local schools, community colleges, universities, community centers, and faith-based houses of worship.
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Hold vigils and fasts in your community.
Learn more about the crisis in Yemen:
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Yemen at 'point of no return' as conflict leaves almost 7 million close to famine, The Guardian.com
Aid agencies have warned that Yemen is “at the point of no return” after new figures released by the UN indicated 17 million people are facing severe food insecurity and will fall prey to famine without urgent humanitarian assistance. - U.S. backed Saudi strikes on Yemen have caused tens of thousands of deaths including 1,564 children, and a humanitarian crisis. Two-thirds of the population in Yemen now requires food assistance and a Yemeni child dying every 10 minutes from hunger and the lack of medical facilities. Millions have been displaced from their homes.
- The U.S. backed Saudi-led coalition is also enforcing a sea blockade on rebel-held areas. Yemen imports 90% of its food; because of the blockade, food and fuel prices are rising and scarcity is at crisis levels. UNICEF estimates that more than 460,000 children in Yemen face severe malnutrition, while 3.3 million children and pregnant or lactating women suffer acute malnutrition. More than 10,000 people have been killed, including 1,564 children, and millions have been displaced from their homes. At this critical juncture, all member states of the UN must urge an end to the blockade and airstrikes, a silencing of all guns, and a negotiated settlement to the war in Yemen. While Yemeni children are starving, US weapons makers, including General Dynamics, Raytheon, and Lockheed Martin, are profiting from weapon sales to Saudi Arabia.
- On March 10th, UN Humanitarian Affairs chief Stephen O’Brien wrote:
“It’s already the largest humanitarian crisis in the world and the Yemeni people now face the specter of famine. Today, two-thirds of the population – 18.8 million people – need assistance and more than 7 million are hungry and do not know where their next meal will come from. That is 3 million people more than in January. As fighting continues and escalates, displacement increases. With health facilities destroyed and damaged, diseases are sweeping through the country.” - In September, 2016, Andrew Cockburn wrote in Harper’s Magazine:
"Just a few short years ago, Yemen was judged to be among the poorest countries in the world, ranking 154th out of the 187 nations on the U.N.’s Human Development Index. One in every five Yemenis went hungry. Almost one in three was unemployed. Every year, 40,000 children died before their fifth birthday, and experts predicted the country would soon run out of water. Such was the dire condition of the country before Saudi Arabia unleashed a bombing campaign in March 2015, which has destroyed warehouses, factories, power plants, ports, hospitals, water tanks, gas stations, and bridges, along with miscellaneous targets ranging from donkey carts to wedding parties to archaeological monuments. Thousands of civilians — no one knows how many — have been killed or wounded. Along with the bombing, the Saudis have enforced a blockade, cutting off supplies of food, fuel, and medicine. A year and a half into the war, the health system has largely broken down, and much of the country is on the brink of starvation." - In December, 2017, Medea Benjamin wrote:
“Despite the repressive nature of the Saudi regime, U.S. governments have not only supported the Saudis on the diplomatic front, but militarily. Under the Obama administration, this has translated into massive weapons sales of $115 billion. While Yemeni children are starving in large part because of Saudi bombings, US weapons makers, including General Dynamics, Raytheon, and Lockheed Martin, are making a killing on the sales.”