Inside Yemen

Megan Pohler

11/17/2017

Inside Yemen

This past year the death toll in Yemen has reached over 10,000 with more than 70,000 people suffering from famine. It has become known as the largest humanitarian crisis in the world by the UN. Few are permitted to enter the country to document the condition of the country. Filmmaker Martin Smith was one of those people and witnessed the consequences of two years of war first hand. The current war began when the Houthis, a rebel group from northern Yemen, took the capital in 2014. Months later, the Saudis responded with a massive air campaign. The bombs dropped on Yemen by the Saudis has devastated the country. In this documentary Smith went to the site of a funeral bombing. It had taken place late last year. The Saudis say they mistook it for a gathering of Houthi officials but ended up killing 26 members of one person’s family along with many more.

People no longer pay in cash but in coupons, the entire banking system has basically collapsed and many people have gone unpaid. Because people weren't getting paid there was no men to pick up the trash which meant trash would be left out and washed into the water supply which led to an outbreak of Cholera. This dehydrates people so quickly that they can not sustain any nutrients. Nurses and doctors treat these people without pay in order to maintain a healthy society.

Many people in Yemen blame the nation and foreign countries that are targeting them claiming that they are only targeting the weak in doing so. Just a few days after Smith arrived, there was a huge rally in the middle of Sanaa called the Say No to American Terrorism rally. Thousands gathered to protest the arrival of President Trump in Riyadh, where he announced his intention to approve a $110 billion arms package to the Saudis. The same country that was causing the malnutrition, disease, and war to spread throughout Yemen.

Yemen unfortunately is another casualty of the lack of consideration America has for the countries being destroyed by countries we support. Our politicians will be the first to say that the humanitarian crisis in Yemen needs to be stopped and yet they are the first to sign a 110 billion dollar arms package with their aggressors. The truth is our politicians would love to help these countries for humanitarian reasons unless that means we have to stop making deals with the countries that are the cause for their tribulations. It is absolutely sickening to hear of the condition in Yemen and know that our country has helped to progress it further. And to make matters worse because of the lack of journalists being permitted into the country it is not widely reported about.

I was surprised to learn that their entire banking system had collapsed. It is hard for me to comprehend what it would be like to work with no pay or only be able to purchase things with coupons. Living in a consumerist and capitalist society all my life has made me unable to imagine what life could possibly be like for these people. Outbreaks of disease and the fear of being bombed or gunned down anywhere and at anytime are common there which is devastating to learn. Unfortunately living without malnutrition, disease outbreaks, and bombings is now a privilege when it should be a commonplace.

The production of the film was great in the sense that it highlighted specific events and met with the people impacted by said events. As a viewer seeing these people speak first hand about how the war has directly affected them is much more powerful than listing how many bombings there were since the war began. This documentary was only 15 minutes and although very impactful should have lasted longer. I felt like I wanted to know more by the time it was finished but more about the people rather than just the statistics. FRONTLINE being the best source of on-site documentation means finding the same quality elsewhere is hard to come by.  Smith himself was not overbearing in the production, let people speak, and asked the important questions for us. I wish they went into a little more detail about the war itself, not knowing too much about it myself. FRONTLINE really out did themselves with this documentary my only complaint is that it wasn’t nearly as long as it should have been. The end.