Wednesday, January 4, 2012

A Year of Revolution and a Story of Struggle


Yemen's Revolution is the longest ongoing revolution of the Arab Spring. It started with a protest on February 3 and has been ongoing ever since. Here are the posts covering the main events that happened in Yemen throughout this year and the videos that tell the story of Yemen's struggle for freedom, democracy and justice.
February 2011
One of the first pictures to emerge online of protesters in Sanaa
One of the first pictures to emerge online of protesters in Sanaa. Photo Credit: @al3ini on Twitter.
The video that follows, uploaded on YouTube by EBNShams, shows the mayhem and chaos as ‘thugs' attack the protesters at the Sanaa University square on the night of February 22. You can hear gunshots clearly in the background. The protesters are also heard chanting: “The People Want to Overthrow the Regime” - which has been the rallying call of protesters against despots reigning across the Arab world during this so-called Arab Spring.
March 2011
The next video, uploaded by SuperSouthyemen, shows a protester tearing up a huge poster of Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh, as protesters on the ground cheer him on:
April 2011
This video, uploaded by alymene1, shows protesters during the Friday Prayers sermon in the capital Sanaa, on what was called Last Chance Friday.
Like their counterparts across the Arab world, Yemeni protesters had a different name for each Friday of protest in their country.
May 2011
29 May - Taiz Massacre.
On this day, security forces attacked protesters and burnt sit-in tents in Taiz's Freedom Square, killing 15 people, including four women and three children. Fifty others were injured in the attack.
June 2011
August 2011
September 2011
A young female protester is seen in this video, uploaded on YouTube by FiredoglakeTV, appealing to the world community to stand by the side of the Yemeni people, who are determined to overthrow the regime:
This video, uploaded on YouTube by 1119801, shows thousands of protesters waving their shoes as they protested Saleh's return. Their chant [ar] was:
هذه قدرك يا غالي*** اهلا وسهلا يا علي
This is what you are worth *** Welcome back Ali
October 2011
The following video features the message of a female protester to the world, urging the world to stand besides Yemeni youth and people to build a democratic Yemen:
This video, posted by belaquood on March 5, shows Karman, rallying crowds at rallies in Sanaa.
This video, uploaded on YouTube by the YouthYemeni, shows women burning their veils on 60th Street, the epicentre of protests in Sanaa, in protest against the killing of women during the Yemeni revolution. The burning of the veils by the women in the tribal tradition is a plea for help. Yemen is a tribal society and the killing of women is a big shame in Yemen and in Islam in general, so this was a clear and loud message by the Yemeni women for their tribes and the world at large to intervene to stop the killing of protesters.
November 2011
December 2011
Yemeni protesters culminated the year with a grand march from Taiz to Sanaa, covering all the 264km separating the two cities by foot. This video, by moathdamar, shows the first leg of the march, which stopped at Damar on December 22:
Yemen's massive peaceful marches have been a symbol of Yemeni steadfast and resilience. The life march from Taiz to Sanaa was the lifeline from the heart of Yemen's revolution, Taiz, swelling with the flow of revolutionary zeal on it's route to the heart of Change Square in Sanaa. Although it was met by violence by the security forces, resulting in 13 deaths, it nevertheless pumped life back into the revolution. While the politicians talked the talk, the Yemeni people walked the walk by striking, demonstrating and spreading the revolution from the squares to the government, military and public sectors, demanding the resignations and accountability of corrupt heads.
Yemen's revolution of change is a struggle that will only end when it reaches what it set for - freedom, democracy and justice. So brace yourself for more posts in 2012 to continue the story of Yemen's struggle.
* This post was first published by Global Voices, on January 3rd 2012. 
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