Sanaa ... a comprehensive popular boycott of the "Houthi Lieutenant" book fair
English - Thursday 08 October 2020 الساعة 10:43 am
Sana'a, NewsYemen, Exclusive:
A comprehensive popular boycott and a complete public reluctance to a book fair organized by the Houthi militia in Sanaa, during the period from September 23 to October 2.
The virtual book fair, which was officially inaugurated by Abdulaziz bin Habtoor, the head of the government run by the Houthi militia - the Iranian arm in Yemen - contained a group of modern publications of monophonic thought, culture and religious heritage.
The book fair included publications of the so-called Lieutenant Hussein al-Houthi, brother of the group's leader, Abdulmalik al-Houthi, and inflammatory periodicals with sectarian and racist dimensions and connotations that feed hate speech and the war trade.
It officially announced the participation of 23 publishing houses in the book fair, but the contents of the book fair held at the House of Culture indicate the limited participation of publishing houses, and that they are limited to established institutions and libraries affiliated with the Houthi militia and owned by leaders and activists in the ranks of the group.
The militia placed on the exhibition wings limited examples of the old publications of the General Book Authority and the Ministry of Culture, such as the publications of Sana'a, the capital of Arab culture, and the publications of Tarim, the capital of Islamic culture.
To break the state of frustration of the exhibition organizers due to the public boycott, the militia directed circulars to leaders in the name of the Houthi Political Council and the Shura Council to visit the exhibition and review its contents.
Abdullah Al-Ahdal - a government employee - considered the boycott of the public, especially the intelligentsia, writers and those interested in the book, for the Houthi Book Fair as a popular referendum on the size of the group’s influence and its cultural and intellectual presence.
In his interview with (NewsYemen), Al-Ahdal believes that the Houthi militia is keen on continuing wars as the only environment conducive to its survival and the illusion of expanding its community presence, evidenced by the public boycott of visiting the book fair held by the group.
He said, "If the boycott was limited to buying books, we would have said that they are economic factors, but the boycott is in visiting the exhibition and avoiding viewing its contents,"
Considering the limited participation of loyalists of the group in the exhibition and the limited visits to loyal beneficiaries of the group with circulars and supreme directives, this confirms the continued isolation of the Houthi militia by the people and not as the militia media is trying to portray it to public opinion and the international community.
