Is Genocide Looming on the Arabian Peninsula?

The war in Yemen receives scant attention in this country. Saudi Arabia’s announcement that it will not tolerate any Shiites must be understood as the announcement of a genocide. A commentary by Karl von Habsburg.

With the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire following the First World War, states were created in the region whose borders were drawn completely arbitrarily by the victors, primarily France and Great Britain, solely following the interests of the two former European great powers. The most famous is probably the Sykes-Picot Agreement of 1916, which, for example, drew the border line for Syria. A straight line on a map. The French wanted Lebanon under their control, the British Egypt and the Suez Canal. The consequences of this policy, which was then finally codified in the Treaty of Sèvres, still lead to conflicts and wars in the region today. In Europe, however, little attention was paid to the fact that, for example, at the beginning of the war in Syria, the Sykes-Picot Agreement was cited, among other things, as motivation for the fighters.

The war in Syria, which is significantly more complex than it is often portrayed, in which very different groupings – including many criminal organisations and religious fanatics – are fighting, and in which alliances shift repeatedly, occupies a great deal of space in the media representation in Europe.

Regional powers such as Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Iran represent their interests in the conflict just as brutally as Russia does to assert itself as a world power. From Europe, it is not only fanatical Muslims fighting in the region, but also, for example, mercenaries who go about their bloody business in the service of Moscow. Many signs also suggest that this war may be nearing an end. It is unclear whether a lasting peace order can be established, as Hezbollah, which has carried out a large part of the ground operations, will have to be given a reward for its deployment.

The war in Yemen has less of a media presence. The country is somewhat larger than Germany and, with 30 million inhabitants, has a population almost as high as that of its neighbour Saudi Arabia, which is four times its size. Hardly known is the fact that in Yemen, the two major branches of Islam, Sunnis and Shiites, are roughly equal in size.

Saudi Arabia is directly militarily engaged in the conflict in Yemen. It even started the current war in Yemen. Saudi Arabia also provoked the completely superfluous conflict with Qatar. The Wahhabi kingdom has announced that it will not accept a Shiite population in Yemen. One of the background factors is the indirect conflict with another regional power, Iran, which in turn is Shiite-dominated. But if Saudi Arabia refuses to tolerate a Shiite population in Yemen – the military intervention of the oil-rich country is primarily aimed at combating the Shiite population – then this concretely means extermination or expulsion. A genocide is looming here, the dimension of which would surpass everything known to date.

Saudi Arabia is normally considered an ally of the West, particularly the USA, but Great Britain is also very involved in the country. It is well known that Saudi Arabia is one of the main financiers for Islamic extremists, who in turn contribute to the destabilisation of entire states as far as Africa. And Saudi Arabia is highly armed. Only during the recent visit of the US President were billion-dollar arms deals concluded. In the process, the kingdom buys highly complex weapons systems that its own army cannot even operate. Which, of course, raises the question of who is operating these weapons systems for the kingdom in the war in Yemen.

The article was originally published on the site of Karl von Habsburg.