Buying the Grassroots
I was given a sticker by one of my students and I liked it. It said in Arabic, "Allahu Akbar, Death to America, Death to Israel, Allah curse the Jews, Allah make Islam victorious". I put the sticker on my admin folder and thought nothing more of it until some students came up to me and asked me if I knew what that sticker was really about. I read them the sticker in Arabic and translated it and asked what was wrong with it and they replied, "That sticker is being given out by the Houthis". So I peeled the sticker off my folder.
That is the thing, anyone who says such words will have some pull on the Yemeni people becuase those sentiments are common. So people start leaning towards the Houthis without even knowing the corrupt aqida of the Shiah Houthis, just because they say these tough words. And the Houthis have been actively calling Yemenis to their cause in Change Square, in Universities, in schools...
I decided to investigate the issue further and found an Iranian thumb in many pies.
Iran is stoking the fires of fitnah between the non-Shiah groups of Yemen in an attempt to create divisions and infighting between these groups and weaken them in the face of Shia'ah groups such as the militant Houthis and the Ansar Allah political party.
The Shia'ah Iranian funded dawa operatives are working multi-level operations from grass-roots and up.
Inside the Freedom and Change Squares in Sana'a, Hudaida, Marib, Aden, Taiz and possibly others, hired hands have been busy creating dissention amongst the revolutionary groups. In Change Square Sana'a it is well known that Sunni practicing revolutionaries have been fighting against the blantant Houthi dawa. The Houthis have been freely passing out their books. When Sunnah groups have tried distributing their books Square authorities have banned it. Any violence between "Salafis" and Houthis have quickly been blamed on Eman University Students.
Other grassroot activities happening in private universities in Sana'a include targeting weak or vulnerable and Islamically ignorant youth by offering them a step up in life. Offers (always done on the quiet, it is not open and is invitation only) of money to help a youth marry, a house, a car are attractive. The catch; unaware ignorant youth signs an agreement to side with his benefactors in situations of violence or turmoil.
In al-Jaraf area an Islamic Centre funded by Iranian sources offers free meals to poor passers-by, which is a good thing but once fed the often illiterate diners sign a form and the more of these forms signed the more funding the centre gets to feed more and propogate their ideology.
I was given a sticker by one of my students and I liked it. It said in Arabic, "Allahu Akbar, Death to America, Death to Israel, Allah curse the Jews, Allah make Islam victorious". I put the sticker on my admin folder and thought nothing more of it until some students came up to me and asked me if I knew what that sticker was really about. I read them the sticker in Arabic and translated it and asked what was wrong with it and they replied, "That sticker is being given out by the Houthis". So I peeled the sticker off my folder.
That is the thing, anyone who says such words will have some pull on the Yemeni people becuase those sentiments are common. So people start leaning towards the Houthis without even knowing the corrupt aqida of the Shiah Houthis, just because they say these tough words. And the Houthis have been actively calling Yemenis to their cause in Change Square, in Universities, in schools...
I decided to investigate the issue further and found an Iranian thumb in many pies.
Iran is stoking the fires of fitnah between the non-Shiah groups of Yemen in an attempt to create divisions and infighting between these groups and weaken them in the face of Shia'ah groups such as the militant Houthis and the Ansar Allah political party.
The Shia'ah Iranian funded dawa operatives are working multi-level operations from grass-roots and up.
Inside the Freedom and Change Squares in Sana'a, Hudaida, Marib, Aden, Taiz and possibly others, hired hands have been busy creating dissention amongst the revolutionary groups. In Change Square Sana'a it is well known that Sunni practicing revolutionaries have been fighting against the blantant Houthi dawa. The Houthis have been freely passing out their books. When Sunnah groups have tried distributing their books Square authorities have banned it. Any violence between "Salafis" and Houthis have quickly been blamed on Eman University Students.
Other grassroot activities happening in private universities in Sana'a include targeting weak or vulnerable and Islamically ignorant youth by offering them a step up in life. Offers (always done on the quiet, it is not open and is invitation only) of money to help a youth marry, a house, a car are attractive. The catch; unaware ignorant youth signs an agreement to side with his benefactors in situations of violence or turmoil.
In al-Jaraf area an Islamic Centre funded by Iranian sources offers free meals to poor passers-by, which is a good thing but once fed the often illiterate diners sign a form and the more of these forms signed the more funding the centre gets to feed more and propogate their ideology.