While Karen AbuZayd goes begging for more millions for the Palestinians, thousands of Yemen refugees aren’t even getting relief supplies allowed through Saudi Arabia. But the UN isn’t issuing resolutions demanding that the world take care of these refugees. There are not headlines throughout the world media decrying the horrid conditions these civilians are forced to live in. There are no claims of starvation, disease, lack of shelter or medical care—because once again, these are not people being “oppressed” by Israel. It’s Arab-on-Arab fighting, and thus, easy to ignore.
Fighting has dramatically escalated since August between government forces and the rebels, causing turmoil in a nearly 160-mile (260-kilometer), mountainous stretch between Yemen’s capital San’a and the Saudi border. Even before the current escalation, the fighting had displaced some 150,000 people since it began in 2004.
Since August, tens of thousands more have been forced to flee their homes, but exact numbers are unclear, a reflection of the chaos. Government officials put the number at around 60,000, while the international aid agency OXFAM estimates them at 100,000.
The U.N. refugee agency and International Red Cross say they have about 37,000 newly displaced people who have been registered and are receiving assistance, many in camps around the north.
Thousands more are stranded around the area, some living along roadsides, some trapped in Saada – the home of the rebels, which has been at the center of fighting. Two cease-fires declared by the government in the past month fell apart within hours.
Up to 30,000 are trapped north of Saada near the Saudi border, said Laure Chedraoui, a spokeswoman for the U.N. refugee agency said. The UNHCR has appealed to Saudi Arabia and Yemen to let relief supplies across its border to reach them but has yet to get permission, she said.
Furthermore, old camps that were holding those who fled earlier fighting have filled with a new influx and are inaccessible because of the turmoil, she said.
I’m not hearing about how the Saudis are refusing to let in humanitarian aid to refugees, but we do read about that just about every day regarding Gaza—where Palestinians live in actual buildings, with utilities, grocery stores, automobiles, and the ubuquitous smuggling tunnels to bring in luxury items that Israel forbds.
Once more, we have evidence of the world’s double standard on Israel.
I assume you are outraged…as you should be…not but astonished, Meryl. The latest estimate I’ve seen of deaths resulting from the Congo’s civil war is well into the millions. When was the last time you saw anything about this in the mainstream media?
In a way perhaps we should be flattered; we’re considered to be such fine souls that we can be held to an exacting standard that no one else is held to. Personally, I could do without the honor.
The longshoreman-philosopher Eric Hoffer once said that Israel is the only country in the world that is expected to act in a Christian manner.
Meryl is right. The world-wide focus on the Palestinian Arabs, to the virtual exclusion of public worry about other refugees resulting from other crises that do not include Israel, is a reflection of antisemitism.