Head of the Al-Aqsa Association in Yemen: The Yemen war affected popular support for the association...and the “Gaza” war restored momentum again despite the difficult economic conditions

Despite the difficult circumstances that Yemen is experiencing, especially after the war that the Houthi militias imposed on the people, nearly nine years ago; However, the recent Israeli aggression (since October 7) on the Gaza Strip has made the Yemenis generously spend their money to support their brothers in the Gaza Strip, despite their dire need for it in the face of the economic burdens imposed by the repercussions of the internal war in the country..!

This was confirmed by the head of the Al-Aqsa Association in Yemen. Sheikh Abdullah Omar Al-Hatami, in an exclusive interview with Yemen Shabab Net, expressed his astonishment at this popular momentum and the interaction of citizens in supporting the people of Gaza, especially by Yemeni women, who had nothing to donate except their precious jewelry. .

The association’s president revealed the total amounts collected since the beginning of the war on Gaza, and the type of projects the association has implemented, previously and currently, and which it plans to implement in the future. He also spoke about a number of related issues. Here are the details:

* beginning; How do you see the ongoing war in Gaza, compared to previous wars, in terms of the goals and crimes that the Israeli aggression committed, and is still committing today?

It is clear that the current war against our sisters in Palestine is the fiercest in fifty years. The aim of it, in our estimation, is to forget the Palestinian issue and erase it from existence, within the framework of their international plan known as the “Deal of the Century”...but, God willing, all their plans, tricks and conspiracies will fall before the rock of the valiant Palestinian resistance, and the anger of the Islamic and Arab peoples...

In terms of crimes; The crimes committed in this war, over the course of nearly a month and a half, are extremely heinous crimes and fall within the framework of war crimes. They do not differentiate between children, women, the elderly, or even the sick, as if this land should be burned and its people genocidal.

If they (the Jews) were complaining and suffering from Nazism, then what they are doing now is an act even more heinous than the Nazi action. During this war, they prevented food and medicine, closed the outlets, and controlled them. They also imprisoned, arrested, and besieged civilians in an area not exceeding a few square kilometers. Whoever did not die in the bombing died of hunger and siege. But history does not have mercy, and it will hold accountable everyone who was a cause, or complicit, or supported the Zionist Jews in this war.

* For you in Al-Aqsa Association in Yemen; Are there any activities or events that you have held, in solidarity with the Palestinian people, in light of this fierce Zionist aggression?

- Thanks to God and His grace, since the first week of the Israeli aggression, we have carried out many activities, the most important of which is supporting, coordinating, and implementing protest stops in various governorates. In Marib, we organized a massive popular festival in support of Gaza. We are also organizing a support and assistance campaign for Al-Aqsa under the slogan “Be their support,” as part of our duty to support and aid the Palestinians in defending their land and honor, and restoring our Islamic sanctities. It is known to us that the “Al-Aqsa Flood” battle carried out by “Hamas” on October 7; It came after their suffering reached its peak as a result of the Israeli siege, its repeated attacks on holy sites, and the Jews’ efforts to storm Al-Aqsa Mosque and divide it into temporal and spatial divisions.

Great popular momentum

* How do you evaluate the interaction of the Yemeni people with the support campaign that you launched, in solidarity with Gaza and the Palestinian cause in general?

- The Yemeni people are the people of Madad, as the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, told us when he said: “God has welcomed me to the Levant, and turned my back to Yemen.” Yemen will remain extended throughout time, God willing. If we look closely at the Islamic conquests, we find that most of the conquerors - Muslims who arrived in southern France, Andalusia, and North Africa - find their origins to be Yemeni. Therefore, it is not surprising to find such great popular momentum in Yemen. The Yemeni people, by nature, react to these events with strength and sincerity.

What impressed us so much; It is that even despite the tragic humanitarian and economic situation that the Yemeni has been experiencing for ten years, due to the war imposed on it; However, you find him rushing to donate his money, despite its scarcity, and his lack of resourcefulness in obtaining it..! This is the Yemeni people; He gives and is generous with his money despite his dire need for it.

but; What we noticed, that amazed us, and makes a person cry, is that most of the donations that came to us were from the “gold” of women. Which means that when they did not find money to donate, they were forced to donate their personal jewelry.

* What is the total amount of donations and support provided by Yemenis in this campaign, so far?

- beginning; I want to point out an important point; Unfortunately, due to the collapse of the price of the local Yemeni currency, when we convert amounts from the riyal to the dollar, the currency difference here plays a major role in determining the overall level of support. Therefore, in general, we emphasize that the amounts collected are okay, compared to Yemen’s poor economic situation.

The total amounts we collected in this campaign, since the beginning of the last war on Gaza, until now, have reached: two million Saudi riyals and 50 thousand dollars. We also confirm that in the coming days, other amounts will be transferred, perhaps more than what is collected.

This is despite the fact that major businessmen and owners of major commercial companies are still excluded from this calculation. We are now in the process of trying to hold meetings with some personalities and social figures, in the hope that we will produce a large outcome from them.

I take this opportunity to extend an invitation to all merchants through you, and tell them: Be a support to your brothers in Gaza, as they are in dire need of your donations.

The governorates donated the most

* Can you tell the reader which governorates have been most interactive and supportive of “Gaza” in the campaign, so far?

- Of course, the first governorate that donated the most is Taiz Governorate. During the past few days, the branch collected an amount of 400 million riyals, followed by the Ma’rib Governorate, whose donations are estimated so far at 283 million riyals, then Amanat Al-Asimah with 121 million riyals, then Hadhramaut Al-Wadi with 104 million riyals.

In fact, we have five branches in different governorates, such as: Al Mahwit, Hajjah, Lahj, and Abyan.. We can say that they are still at the “zero” level of donations..!!

* What about the official government role in this aspect?

- The official government role is an extension of the Arab role, which, unfortunately, is inactive, due to the circumstances the country is going through. The role and position of the Yemeni government in particular, and the Arab government in general, must be stronger than it is now.

As for us in the association, we stress that we have not received any official government support, not only now, but throughout the duration of the association’s work. The reason for this is because the association is popular, charitable, and has no relationship with the government. However, during the days of the previous regime (meaning the regime of Ali Abdullah Saleh), one riyal was deducted from each employee’s salary for the Palestine Support Fund, and these amounts went to the “Kanaan” Association (which is headed by Saleh’s nephew: Yahya Muhammad Abdullah Saleh). Then, after former President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi was elected, we submitted to him a memorandum requesting that this support be transferred to the Al-Aqsa Association, but he apologized, explaining that there are Palestinian delegations coming to him and their projects being supported through this amount, which, by the way, is a large cumulative amount.

The association’s priorities in “Gaza”

* Were these amounts transferred to Gaza, and did you confirm their arrival?

- Yes, certainly, these amounts were transferred, sent to Gaza, and arrived, and we confirmed this in our own ways..

* There are those who wonder: How are these amounts transferred, despite the stifling siege imposed on Gaza?

- Of course, the process is somewhat complicated, as it is converted in several ways. Although there are difficulties in sending these amounts to Gaza; But there is communication between giant associations and institutions that have a prominent and prominent role and great influence, so that they can enter these amounts in one way or another. According to the agreement, it will take these amounts and purchase medicines and treatments and deliver them through legal means to hospitals in Gaza, because the wounded there, who number in the thousands, are in dire need of these medicines and urgent medical supplies.

* What are the aspects, or priorities, that are focused on, regarding support and support campaigns for the people of Gaza?

- At this stage; We focus on the shelter and health aspects of financing medicines, treatments and hospital support. The priority now is to support hospitals and provide treatments. Therefore, we confirm that all the support collected so far has been allocated to support hospitals, treatments and hospital fuel, all in order to save our brothers in Gaza.

but; We have a plan in the coming days, God willing, to focus on the prefabricated homes project in cooperation with some organizations and entities to find housing for them.

* Does the association have projects in the health sector in Gaza?

- Yes, we have Al-Yemen Al-Saeed Hospital, which is a large, four-story hospital that we established in Jabalia camp, in the northern Gaza Strip, 15 years ago, and its construction cost us three and a half million dollars. But due to the difficult conditions in Yemen, since 2014, we have not been able to operate it, as the cost of operating it amounts to four million dollars. According to our information, a Gulf institution may have operated it in the past, but only recently, due to the ongoing war, the presence of large numbers of wounded, and their need for treatment. We contacted the Ministry of Health in Gaza and told them that we are ready to support the hospital and continue its operation so that it can help the wounded. But unfortunately, the Israeli bombing concentrated on the northern Gaza Strip, where the hospital is located, may have led to the cessation of its services like other hospitals in Gaza.

Perhaps it is appropriate to point out here that the Al-Aqsa Association in Yemen had previously provided support to purchase about 15 ambulances during the year 2010, and currently we will purchase ambulances and support the health aspect. On the health side, we also have another project, which is an eye medical center.

The impact of the war on the association’s activities

* As if your focus is only on health sector projects?!

- Not quite. The Al-Aqsa Association in Yemen has many projects in the Gaza Strip, for example: a project for a water station, in addition to the fact that we have large olive farms, the proceeds of which go to the children of the martyrs.

Until 2014; The association was sponsoring 500 families of martyrs and nearly three thousand orphans in the Gaza Strip. But now this number has decreased, and we currently have only 800 orphans, within this sponsorship project. This is due to the war conditions in our country, which caused a loss of popular support that the association receives.

As you can see, the Yemeni war greatly affected the association’s activities. I remember that we were in the year 2014, that is, before the war. We spent 650 thousand euros in sponsorships for families who were in arrears, because in the same year we had collected one billion and two hundred million riyals, all of that from citizens’ donations.

But; After 2014, and because of the economic collapse that the repercussions of the war led to and the deterioration of people’s living conditions; The popular donations that the association was receiving decreased, because the Yemenis’ situation has become difficult, and their support is the priority...but now, and because of this recent Israeli aggression against “Gaza”; Popular sympathy returned and donations returned, although not as before (i.e. before the Yemeni war)...

Closing the association and moving the headquarters

* Mentioning the Yemeni war; Al-Aqsa Society in Sanaa was closed and looted by the Houthi militias, following their coup against the authorities. So where have things reached today, in this case?

- The bloody events that took place in 2014 AD, and what happened there caused confusion in many papers, and in many cases there was confusion and some distortion..

When the Houthis closed the association’s main headquarters in Sana’a, we told them, at the time, that we are an association that serves Palestine, and your slogan is “Death to Israel”...etc., and therefore you must be with us, but - unfortunately - they did not listen to us, and continued to close the headquarters for three days. Years later, we submitted a memorandum to them, and Palestinian mediators intervened. Thank God, we were able to recover some of the looted items. We had a building that was recovered, and now it is in the hands of the Capital Municipality.

* Is the Houthi militia currently running the association in Sanaa?

- No, not at all. The one who currently manages it is the director of a branch in Sana’a with his staff, and it is no longer the main headquarters of the association, but rather it has now become a branch like the rest of the branches, affiliated with the general administration that was transferred to Sayun in Hadhramaut Governorate, and we began working there in 2020 AD.

* Does the Houthi militia interfere in collecting donations in Sanaa and the rest of the areas under its control?

- I think things are normal there, and there are no complaints. I can say that what is collected there reaches us. Things are proceeding there according to the agreement that occurred between our branch in Sanaa and them, which is that the association is proceeding on its own path, and it is authorized to work by the Houthis, but because we found restrictions on movement and work, we were forced to transfer the public administration to Sayun, and they know about it.