Yemen as Tourist Site--Yemen as Site of Culture Wars

Worse still, Al-Masmari claims, "Al-Qaeda knows that the government has no strategy to stop them, therefore, making innocent locals and vulnerable of being attacked."-

Yemen has not received much aid to fight terrorism from neighboring Saudi Arabia and it has had an on-again off-again relationship with the U.S. since the bombing of U.S.S. Cole 8 years ago.

Sadly, it is not only foreigners who are under threat. 

Yemenis are also  most often under attack.  For example, there have been 8 bombings or attacks on mosques in the past year alone.  In short, 18 years after unification, modernist and religious forces in Yemen are still having it out with one another--just as had occurred much more aggressively in the 1960s and 1970s.. 

Meanwhile, tribal and modernist factions are both continuing to seek to dominate the political landscape in the years before the long-term presidential strongman Saleh retires in two years, as he has announced he will do.

Meanwhile, as Hill notes in a more upbeat tone, "In recent years, the Yemeni government has pioneered a dialogue programme and poetry recitals to influence violent jihadis and tribesman.  The most recent initiative is a two-hour feature film intended to educate the public about extremism."-

Hill explains, "The film, called THE LOSING BET, follows two Yemeni jihadis who return home after being radicalized abroad.  They [the characters in the film] are directed by an al-Qaeda mastermind to recruit new members and carry out a '-martyrdom operation.' News footage from the aftermath of a real suicide bombing is edited into scenes of this creative new drama and produced by a famous Yemeni director."-

In the years since the infamous bombing of the U.S.S. Cole off the coast of Adan, American foreign policy has shown a love-hate relationship with the Yemeni government and its peoples.  On the one hand, the U.S. appears to have been high-tailing its way out of Yemen at every bombing--whether it be the bombing of the Cole or the bombing at the embassy. 

On the other hand, the U.S.A. and many European countries have on-and-off invested a lot of money and human resources at times in a great variety of projects--not just in the area of tourism but in the area of public works.

For example, the very first day I arrived in Sana'a this past week, my taxi driver pointed out that both the canal and road system had recently by restored through moneys of U.S. government agencies and funds. 

In Zabid, I observed German contractors working on projects to restore different ancient canals on the UNESCO World Heritage Site.  Likewise, in the small town of Makanah in the Hajar mountains, Japan was active in construction projects for the city.. Elsewhere French and Italian water projects were observed and appreciated.

The U.S. has also recently helped Yemen with long-term refugee problems--building housing for African refugees, some of whom have been living here for generations.

Everywhere I traveled in Yemen, local peoples appeared to be happy in acknowledging positive manifestations of tourism, achievements of foreign government projects, and NGO assistance which might be offered to these wonderful and hospitable Yemeni citizens.

In conclusion, from what I could tell from my tour of Sana'a and Southwest Yemen this Eid Holiday,  Yemen has a lot to offer the world--and especially those Yemenis in this mostly-formerly Marxist region--who seem to openly welcome more western-Arab interaction.

Yemen is not a closed land like Saudi Arabia.  It is very open to people-to-people cooperation and exchange.

I think it is time to rethink our developmental and military  policies in the Middle East in such a way that tourism and other infrastructural investment can be implemented in those neglected regions which have recently signed onto the Sa'ada peace treaty.

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