According to the World Bank, “Yemen has long been one of the poorest countries in the Middle East and North Africa.” The Shia Houthis have been living in the “rugged mountains” since the 9th century and have been battling ever since for control of Yemen and beyond. In 2003, after the American invasion of Iraq, the Houthis adopted a slogan: “Allahu akbar, death to the U.S., death to Israel, curse the Jews, and victory for Islam.”
The group now threatens the globe. Its siege of the Red Sea due to its support for Hamas against Israel is being felt beyond the region.
“How the Houthis could get revenge on the U.S. for airstrikes by cutting a FIFTH of the world’s internet,” by Nick Allen, Daily Mail, February 6, 2024:
The Houthis, who control swathes of Yemen, began attacking international shipping in the Red Sea on November 19 in support of Hamas in its war with Israel in Gaza.
Since then several dozen ships causing major disruptions to global trade, some 12 percent of which passes through the Red Sea.
The U.S. and U.K. have launched a massive airstrike campaign against them.
Now there are concerns the Houthis could respond by targeting the internet and transmission of financial data.
It is estimated that 17 percent of global internet traffic travels via underwater fiber optic cables in the Red Sea.”
A little history about the Houthis sheds light on their zeal and determination. Houthis adhere to the Zaydi branch of Shia Islam, taking their name from Zayd bin Ali, the great-grandson of Ali, Muhammad’s cousin and son-in-law.
In 740, Zayd rose up against the Umayyad caliphate. He died in the revolt and thus was enshrined as a martyr. His “head is believed to be buried in a shrine to him in Kerak, Jordan.” Zaydis believe that Zayd bin Ali was “a model of a pure caliph who should have ruled instead of the Umayyads.” Followers of Zayd, the Houthis established themselves in north Yemen’s rugged mountains in the ninth century, and have never wavered from their mission of conquest, though they have seldom had the chance they have now to perform actions that reverberate worldwide.
The Yemen civil war has been widely regarded as an Iran-Saudi proxy conflict, linked to the Shia-Sunni divide.
Given the historic battle for Yemen, the Houthis have had remarkable success. One may wonder how a jihad group from the mountains of poverty-stricken and war-torn Yemen could threaten the world, but they have managed to do so. Fanatical religious zeal combined with a sense of having nothing to lose is effective. Westerners underestimate the depth and power of Islamic religious zeal.
Yemen’s government warned that the Red Sea is ‘one of the three most important meeting points for cables’ on the globe and the Houthis pose a ‘serious threat to one of the most important digital infrastructures in the world.’
This isn’t an idle warning. The nuclear-threshold Iranian regime backs the Houthis, and they aim for regional hegemony, as well as power over the entire Islamic world. Iran identifies its greatest enemies, of course, as Israel and America. America and Israel are now engaged in a proxy war with Iran, as the regime buys time, prepares, and strategizes.
If Houthis are not controlled in the Red Sea, the war is destined to escalate. Imagine the possibility of “a fifth” of the world’s Internet going down. The world economy would collapse and full-scale war would be inevitable.
Houthi jihad warriors who are humbly living in the mountains of Yemen do not have much to lose, and, they believe, a great deal to gain in the name of Islam.
Taffy says
Since when was Yemen in North Africa? Maybe before the times of continental drift!
Jack Reynolds says
So what’s all this HOUTHI’s BULL$HIT ???
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The Houthis live in YEMEN a country with an Average IQ of 62.86.
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That is barely enough to tie your own shoe laces without supervision.
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IT IS THE IRANIANS, GOT IT !!!
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࿗Infidel࿘ says
The underwater cables that are there are also there trans-Pacific and elsewhere. If the ones near Yemen are cut, data will simply travel through other routes: that’s how routing works, and that’s how the internet works. Granted, there will be more of a load on other routes, in which case, more gateways placed in other places could handle the same traffic w/ existing cable lines. Problem would be if, in a face-off w/ China, the trans-Pacific cables are cut as well
It could also be an opportunity for Musk’s StarLink business
Feldwebel Wolfenstool says
..”his head is believed to be buried in a shrine”…where’s the rest of his body? Did they eat him?
Alena says
Yes, I was worried too.
Reziac says
“a model of a pure caliph who should have ruled instead of the Umayyads.”
And there you have Islam in a nutshell. It is envy with a sword.
Reziac says
There are about 1500 of these cables worldwide. There is a LOT of redundancy.
Here is a Handy Map:
https://www.submarinecablemap.com/
Click one to see its complete routing.