Yemen on the brink: how the UAE is profiting from the chaos of civil war
by The Guardian
When I, for the first time, read the above article by Ghaith Gbdul-Ahad, I had already a solid knowledge of the crimes the UAE had been committing in Yemen, including the occupation of the Yemeni island of Socotra, forced disappearance of Yemeni people, secrete prisons run by UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council and torture. Ghdul-ahad consolidates the UAE crimes in this exceptional long read published by the Guardian. I am no fan of the Guardian, but in this specific case, I am recommending to read the article, so to have a better understanding of the war on Yemen with its myriads of actors. He happens to be also talented in the fine arts.
The war-zone drawings of Ghaith Abdul-Ahad
by The Guardian



‘This was drawn before the capital was bombed. It contrasts the chaos you often see in the streets of a Middle Eastern city with the delicacy and beauty of the architecture. I started working on a bigger panorama of the old city, but three of the buildings are missing now. Some of the most beautiful buildings in Sana’a have been destroyed by Saudi airstrikes.’

‘These are mud houses in Sa’ada, a historic city in the north of Yemen. They are seven or eight storeys high, and if I say they’re unique, it’s not enough. They’ve been hit by Saudi airstrikes and cut down the middle. Yemeni culture is very conservative, so the interior of the house is private – but here are these houses in the middle of the town with all the innards spilling out.’
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