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Shiite rebels in Yemen, who are attacking ships in the Red Sea in support of the Palestinians, are offering places to students suspended from American universities during pro-Palestinian protests.
Reuters reported that the university in the Yemeni capital Sana’a praised the “humanitarian” stance of those in question and said they could continue their studies in Yemen.
“We are seriously going to accept students who have been expelled from American universities for supporting the Palestinians,” a representative of the university, which is run by the Houthis, told Reuters.
The offer sparked a wave of sarcasm from Yemenis on social media. One user posted a photo of two people chewing the widely used narcotic leaf cat. He described the scene as American students during their fifth year at Sana’a University.
A wave of protests hit dozens of university campuses across the United States. Protesters called on President Joe Biden to do more to stop the bloodshed in the Gaza Strip. They then demand that the universities cease cooperation with the Jewish state.
Some schools, including the prestigious Columbia University in New York, have called in the police for help in recent days.
Photo: AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, Profimedia.cz
Who are the Houthis?
- Huthians, or also Ansar Allah (Supporters of Allah)are religious revivalists based in northern Yemen.
- The Houthis profess Shia Islamwhich is related to that practiced in Iran.
- As one of the warring parties in a long-standing conflict they took control of the capital Sana’a and most of the north of the country, home to about 70 percent of Yemen’s population. In the territories they control, they eliminated the opposition, human rights organizations accuse them of imprisoning activists and journalists. Then the UN from war crimes and the use of child soldiers.
- In 2000, during the second Palestinian intifada, the group’s leader uttered a slogan that the Houthis still chant at their demonstrations: “God is great, death to America, death to Israel, curse the Jews, victory to Islam.”
Photo: BBC/Sana`a Center for Strategic Studies/Congress Research Service, News List
Divided Yemen.
Tags: Houthis invite students expelled due proPalestinian protests university
