The Lost Revolution

While it may seem that this blog has been mainly focused on Libya (it has), it is about the entire Arab Spring and the Middle East. So I think it’s time to turn the spotlight on someone else. The country of Yemen has been protesting since the beginning of the Arab Spring, beginning right after the Tunisian revolution and starting with the Egypt revolution. And yet it is still ongoing with almost no ground gained. So what the factor that’s holding back Yemen and didn’t hold back Egypt or Tunisia? Some think it could be western media attention.

          

Yemeni protestors wearing pink headbands to symbolize their peaceful intent as they march on to government offices.

 

The images are the same: Thousands of young, unemployed and struggling youths taking to the streets, opposing a government obviously corrupt and detrimental to any progress. You saw it in Egypt, you saw it in Libya, you saw it in Tunisia, and you see it in Yemen. So why are things taking so long? Abubakr Al-Shamahi believes the lack of western media coverage is affecting international support for Yemeni protestors.

“The Western focus on the Arab world in recent months has been on Libya and Syria, with Yemen an unsexy brother in the background. Yemen has only garnered an article here and there when news of Yemeni President Saleh's "imminent" return is leaked, or when anything al-Qaeda-related emerges. Herein lies one of the major problems that Yemenis face in attempting to draw attention to their uprising. There is a fundamental lack of understanding of Yemen, and this has severely affected the media narrative.”  

The funny thing is Yemen is the unsexy brother. It’s been pushed to the side as more understood, more relatable and more covered revolutions which have taken the media spotlight. The main thing those revolutions had that Yemen doesn’t weren’t justifiable causes or energetic protestors, but positive media attention. This led to widespread international support. With Yemen, the only things reported on are the bad aspects relating to the presence of Al-Qaeda or the rumors of change.

If there were more reporters, experts, anyone with reliable expertise on Yemen politics that had western contacts, it might be different. But there are not nearly enough Yemeni experts that speak English in order to qualify a major media boom. And that’s kind of sad to be honest, that a revolution has to have enough English in it in order for the west to notice or care about. We should care because of the tyranny, the corruption, the horrible violence, the rampant starvation and poverty. We should seek out information, become informed and ready to spread the word ourselves. We should use this as a call to arms (of sorts), a way to spread news about any revolution, about any cause. Showing solidarity is the best many of us can do, and by spreading the word of what’s happening in Yemen, we do them the most good.