Abraha Then and Basket

The writer draws a parallel between Abraha the Abyssinian, who led his army toward Mecca, and what he calls “Abraha al-Zanbil” in Yemen, arguing that both imagined that force and weapons could confer legitimacy. He says the Houthi movement uses missiles and drones, and deploys religious slogans to impose its project and threaten Yemen’s neighbors, including Saudi Arabia. Yemenis, he argues, are the project’s first victims: the country has been worn down by war, poverty, and displacement instead of efforts being directed toward public services and development. He concludes that Yemen is older and more deeply rooted than the dynastic project, and that weapons and fear cannot build a state or a civilization—or ensure control over peoples forever.

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