Yemen

To ensure peace and Yemeni self-determination, U.S. lawmakers must work with Yemenis like Shireen, Neda, Aisha, and Sumaya to help lift the Saudi blockade and support a truly inclusive peace process.

This week, a delegation of leaders from Saudi Arabia and Oman met with Houthi leaders in the Yemeni capital of Sana’a. Their aim is to reinstate the truce in Yemen, which lapsed in October, and pave the way for broader talks to end the conflict entirely.

March 25 marked eight years since the Saudi-led bombing campaign began. Throughout the war, Saudi Arabia, relying on U.S. military support, has conducted tens of thousands of airstrikes in Yemen. The war has left a visible impact on the country and its people.

We urge Congress to introduce and pass the Yemen War Powers Resolution to terminate unauthorized military involvement in the Saudi-led coalition’s war and blockade.

With the record of human rights abuses mounting on all sides of the Yemen conflict, the United States should use its leverage to reestablish an independent oversight mechanism and work to bring accountability for these violations.

The Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL), MoveOn, Yemen Relief and Reconstruction Foundation, Demand Progress, Just Foreign Policy, Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP), and the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft released a coalition letter today calling on congressional lawmakers to support the Yemen War Powers Resolution. 

Fighting is starting to escalate in Yemen and peace is seeming more and more elusive.

A War Powers Resolution will cut U.S. aid to the kingdom’s war on Yemen; it has wide bipartisan support and a fast-track legislative process.

Stephen Zunes is a Quaker and a Middle East expert at the University of San Francisco. We spoke with him to learn more about the situation in Yemen and what Quakers can do to help.