ACTION ALERT: Ask President Biden to Seek End of Saudi Blockade on Yemen
ENDORSED BY: Friends Committee on National Legislation, Just Foreign Policy, Peace Action, Yemen Relief and Reconstruction Foundation, Freedom Forward, Democracy for the Arab World Now, Yemeni Alliance Committee
WASHINGTON, DC (April 6, 2021) – Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL), Yemen Relief and Reconstruction Foundation, Demand Progress, and Just Foreign Policy have teamed up with Actor and humanitarian Mark Ruffalo and the creators of the 2021 Oscar-nominated film Hunger Ward, to urge President Biden to convince Saudi Arabia to immediately lift its inhumane blockade of Yemen.
Their letter was signed by dozens of celebrities and more than 70 national organizations representing tens of millions of Americans, including the Yemeni Alliance Committee, Bread for the World, Win Without War and Action Corps. Among the prominent individual signers were Joaquin Phoenix, Orlando Bloom, Amy Schumer, and Sarah Silverman.
[The complete letter can be viewed below.]
“The US-backed Saudi blockade on Yemen is a key driver of the world’s largest humanitarian catastrophe,” said Hassan El-Tayyab, FCNL’s Legislative Manager for Middle East Policy. “Saudi Arabia’s tactic of collective punishment has created untold suffering for tens of millions of people and contributed to hundreds of thousands of deaths. The Biden administration must take urgent action for the sake of millions of Yemenis in desperate need.”
“The UN said 400,000 Yemeni children had weeks or months to live if we don’t act to save them. Many of these children would have died by now because of our inaction. We need to lift the blockade now,” said Aisha Jumaan, President of Yemen Relief and Reconstruction Foundation. “It is unethical to use food, medicine and fuel as bargaining chips. Yemeni civilians should not be held hostages to the lengthy and rocky negotiations between warring parties.”
“Nothing is more precious than the life of a child. And nothing is more horrifying than to see a young life taken for no reason other than politics,” said Skye Fitzgerald, Director of Hunger Ward, 2021 Oscar Nominated Documentary Short. “As someone who has witnessed firsthand the grievous results of the blockade over Yemen, I urge the Biden administration to extricate itself from the dated and ill-contrived alliance with Saudi Arabia in Yemen. The starvation-induced deaths of children in Yemen is a daily occurrence and is still supported by our foreign policy. Until we end this support through a unilateral removal of all support of Saudi Arabia’s blockade of the country, we are complicit in daily war crimes in the country. That will never be forgotten.”
“The statistics showing the impact of the blockade in Yemen are shocking and speak to the urgency of lifting the blockade on Yemen,” said Shireen Al-Adeimi, Yemen-born activist and professor at Michigan State University. “Starvation is used as a war tactic, and Yemen’s civilians are paying the price with their lives. President Biden must immediately act to lift the blockade and allow the flow of life-saving fuel, medicine, and food before the blockade claims more victims.
“There is no more urgent priority in the world today than ending the near-famine conditions resulting from the Saudi blockade of Yemen,” said Erik Sperling, executive director of Just Foreign Policy. “It’s unacceptable that no official in the Obama, Trump, or Biden administration has publicly demanded that Saudi dictator Mohammed bin Salman stop using starvation as a weapon of war. Since President Biden took office, Saudi Arabia has tightened the blockade, escalated airstrikes, and launched multiple ground offensives, further exacerbating this horrific crisis after six. years of war. The Biden administration must put its foot down and do everything in its power to end Saudi crimes against Yemen’s people immediately.”
“As Yemeni children starve and hospitals struggle to keep their lights on, it is incumbent on President Biden to immediately use the U.S.’s tremendous leverage with the Saudi regime in order to end its inhumane siege of Yemen,” said Cavan Kharrazian, Foreign Policy Campaigner for Demand Progress. “It is morally repugnant to allow this policy of mass starvation and human suffering to continue.”
The Saudi blockade is a leading driver of starvation and humanitarian crisis in Yemen. In recent months, restrictions have been further tightened, pushing Yemen toward what the World Food Program warns could be the “biggest famine in modern history.”
To learn more, please visit www.fcnl.org.
An Appeal to President Joe Biden
According to the UN, 400,000 children under the age of 5 in Yemen could die of hunger this year without urgent action. In light of a March 10th news report, “CNN investigation finds the US-backed Saudi blockade is leading to deadly fuel & food shortages in Yemen, where hospitals are full of starving children,” we are urging the Biden Administration to use the full weight of US diplomatic resources and leverage with the Saudi regime to demand an immediate and unconditional end to its blockade on Yemen, which threatens the lives of 16 million malnourished Yemenis living on the brink of famine.
The Nobel Peace Prize-winning World Food Programme Executive Director recently remarked that as a result of the Saudi blockade on fuel shipments into Yemen, “most hospitals only have electricity in their intensive care units because fuel reserves are so low.” He pleaded: “It is hell on earth in many places in Yemen right now,” and concluded, “That blockade must be lifted, as a humanitarian act. Otherwise, millions more will spiral into crisis.”
Please join us in calling on the Biden Administration to publicly increase pressure on Saudi Arabia to lift this blockade immediately, unilaterally, and comprehensively, as well as ensuring that the United States is providing no political, diplomatic, operational or military support of any kind to the Saudi-led war and blockade, so that food, fuel and medicine can reach millions of people in desperate need.
Sincerely,
Rep. Debbie Dingell
Rep. Mark Pocan
Rep. Ro Khanna
Dear Mr. President:
We greatly appreciate your first steps toward ending US support for the war in Yemen, including announcing an end to US military participation in offensive Saudi actions; a review of weapons sales to Saudi Arabia for use in its six-year air war in Yemen; and a revocation of President Trump’s terrorism designation against the Houthis, with the express purpose of averting a hunger crisis.
However, we remain alarmed by the continuation of Saudi Arabia’s unconscionable blockade of Yemen. Particularly in light of a CNN investigation finding that “the US-backed Saudi blockade is leading to deadly fuel & food shortages in Yemen, where hospitals are full of starving children,” we urge you to use all available US leverage with the Saudi regime to demand an immediate and unconditional end to its blockade, which threatens 16 million malnourished Yemenis living on the brink of famine. [1]
We are deeply concerned by CNN’s reports that the major port of Hodeidah “is now a ghost town,” and that “hundreds of food aid trucks sit parked in a line stretching for miles,” without fuel, as their cargo spoils. “Saudi warships have not allowed any oil tankers to berth at Hodeidah since the start of the year,” CNN reporter Nima Elbagir observed, citing the World Food Programme, which documented that more than a dozen ships carrying 350,000 metric tons of commercial fuel have been prevented from entering Yemen for over two months. [2] On March 12th, the UN Secretary General’s office confirmed that “no commercial fuel imports were allowed through Hodeidah Port” last month, “the first time since the escalation of the conflict in 2015 that we have seen the level drop to zero.” [3]
According to the UN, 400,000 children under the age of 5 could die from hunger this year without urgent action. [4] The Saudi blockade has long been a leading driver of Yemen’s humanitarian catastrophe, triggering recent fuel shortages, inflation and greatly reducing access to food, water, electricity, and transportation. [5] The blockade also threatens to imminently close down hospitals reliant on power generators to care for famine victims, making emergency travel to hospitals prohibitively expensive, condemning untold numbers of children to die at home.
On March 11th, addressing the UN Security Council, World Food Programme Executive Director David Beasley warned, “most hospitals only have electricity in their intensive care units because fuel reserves are so low.” He pleaded: “It is hell on earth in many places in Yemen right now,” and concluded, “That blockade must be lifted, as a humanitarian act. Otherwise, millions more will spiral into crisis.” [6]
Former CIA analyst and Middle East policy expert Bruce Riedel describes the ongoing blockade as “an offensive military operation that kills civilians.” [7] Given its continued imposition, we are concerned by the administration’s portrayal of Saudi Arabia as “committed and eager to find a solution to the conflict.” [8] While US special envoy for Yemen Tim Lenderking has argued that Saudi Arabia is “ready to sit down to negotiate an end to the conflict” [9] with the Houthis, “during which access to ports and other issues could be addressed and resolved,” [10] every day that we wait for these issues to be resolved in negotiations is another day that pushes more children to the brink of death. Tens of thousands more people may die before negotiations over the blockade even begin.
We strongly support a comprehensive political settlement that addresses all aspects of the conflict, including a nationwide ceasefire, currency stabilization, and payment of government salaries. At the same time, a US demand to end the blockade must occur independently of negotiations, particularly given that recent Saudi bombings of Sana’a and the Houthis’ offensive on Marib have cast the fate of those talks into doubt. Riedel warns that “linking lifting the blockade to a ceasefire is a recipe for prolonging the suffering of the Yemeni people. The two issues need to be decoupled.” [11]
We ask you to take additional steps to publicly pressure Saudi Arabia to lift this blockade immediately, unilaterally, and comprehensively. This must include guaranteeing that humanitarian and commercial imports can freely enter Yemen; entrusting security oversight to the UN Verification and Inspection Mechanism for Yemen (UNVIM); fully permitting flights in and out of Sana’a airport; and ensuring that and crossings for commercial and civilian traffic are permanently opened.
Thank you again for your previous actions to end US complicity in the war in Yemen and resolve the country’s humanitarian crisis. We now ask you to use the full weight of US influence and all tools at your disposal to end the blockade so that food, fuel and medicine, and other essential goods can reach millions of people in desperate need.
We respectfully ask that you give our requests your full and fair consideration, consistent with applicable statutes and regulations. Thank you for your consideration of this important matter.
Sincerely,
Footnotes
[1] https://unsdg.un.org/latest/stories/yemen-cant-wait-more-16-million-people-will-go-hungry-year
[2] https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/10/middleeast/yemen-famine-saudi-fuel-intl/index.html
[3] https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date%5Bvalue%5D%5Bdate%5D=12%20March%202021
[4] https://www.reuters.com/article/yemen-security-malnutrition-int/at-least-400000-yemeni-children-under-5-could-die-of-starvation-this-year-un-agencies-idUSKBN2AC18V
[5] https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/08/world/middleeast/yemen-saudi-blockade.html
[6] https://www.wfp.org/news/yemen-heading-toward-biggest-famine-modern-history-wfp-chief-warns-un-security-council
[7] https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2021/03/01/getting-yemens-houthis-to-yes-on-a-ceasefire/
[8] https://www.state.gov/secretary-antony-j-blinken-at-the-2021-high-level-pledging-event-for-the-humanitarian-crisis-in-yemen/
[9] https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/10/middleeast/yemen-famine-saudi-fuel-intl/index.html
[10] Ibid.
[11] https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2021/03/01/getting-yemens-houthis-to-yes-on-a-ceasefire/
More that 70 US Organizations Ask Biden to End Saudi War on Yemen
Friends Committee on National Legislation, et al
Dear Mr. President:
(April 6, 2021) — We thank you for taking critical first steps toward peace and food security in Yemen, including an announced end to offensive US military participation in Saudi- and Emirati-led coalition actions; a review of weapons sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates for use in their six-year air war in Yemen; and a revocation of President Trump’s terrorism designations against the Houthis, with the express purpose of averting a hunger crisis.
In light of an explosive March 10th news report, “CNN investigation finds the US-backed Saudi blockade is leading to deadly fuel & food shortages in Yemen, where hospitals are full of starving children,” we urge you now to use US leverage with the Saudi regime to demand an immediate and unconditional end to its blockade on Yemen, which threatens the lives of 16 million malnourished Yemenis living on the edge of famine.
CNN found that Yemen’s major port of Hodeidah, controlled by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, “is now a ghost town,” as “hundreds of food aid trucks sit parked in a line stretching for miles,” without fuel, as their cargo spoils. “Saudi warships have not allowed any oil tankers to berth at Hodeidah since the start of the year,” CNN reporter Nima Elbagir observed, citing the World Food Programme, which documented that over a dozen ships carrying 350,000 metric tons of commercial fuel have been prevented from entering Yemen for over two months.
We are deeply concerned that prior to the CNN report, no US official in the new administration had explicitly publicly acknowledged the six-year-old, Saudi-imposed blockade—much less criticized it. US special envoy for Yemen, Tim Lenderking, declined to adequately respond to Elbagir’s on-the-ground reporting and direct questions, referring to Yemen’s hunger crisis simply as “complex,” while denying evidence of the blockade shown in CNN’s report, and, per Elbagir’s account, falsely claiming that “food continues to flow through Hodeidah unimpeded.” Elbagir concluded: “How is [peace] possible when you are not acknowledging the full impact of that US-backed Saudi embargo on the people of Yemen?”
According to the UN, 400,000 children under the age of 5 could perish from hunger this year without urgent action. For years, the Saudi blockade has been a leading driver of Yemen’s humanitarian catastrophe. The recent fuel shortages triggered by the blockade are quickly accelerating major reductions in access to affordable food, clean water, electricity, and basic movement across Yemen. The blockade also threatens to shut down, within weeks, the hospitals reliant on power generators to tend to victims of famine, while making even emergency travel to hospitals prohibitively expensive for Yemeni families, condemning untold numbers of children to certain death at home.
On March 11th, addressing the UN Security Council, World Food Programme Executive Director David Beasley corroborated CNN’s reporting on the Saudi fuel blockade, noting “most hospitals only have electricity in their intensive care units because fuel reserves are so low. I know this firsthand because I walked in the hospital and the lights were off.” He pleaded: “It is hell on earth in many places in Yemen right now,” and concluded, “That blockade must be lifted, as a humanitarian act. Otherwise, millions more will spiral into crisis.” In light of the Houthis’ longstanding obstructionism of humanitarian assistance, Beasley’s recent assessment that “we’ve turned a corner with the Houthis…in terms of cooperation, collaboration” is a promising sign that unilaterally ending the blockade, paired with increased financial assistance, can save millions of innocent lives.
Brookings Senior Fellow Bruce Riedel describes the ongoing Saudi blockade as “an offensive military operation that kills civilians.” Given the continued imposition of the blockade, the administration’s portrayal of Saudi Arabia as “committed and eager to find a solution to the conflict” is troubling. Lenderking’s argument to CNN’s Elbagir that the Saudis “are ready to sit down to negotiate an end to the conflict” with the Houthis, “during which access to ports and other issues could be addressed and resolved,” could mean tens of thousands more people may die before negotiations over the blockade even begin.
We strongly support a comprehensive political settlement that addresses the conflict’s myriad issues, including a nationwide ceasefire, currency stabilization, and payment of government salaries. But a US effort to wield its unique political leverage over Saudi Arabia to demand the blockade’s end must occur independently of negotiations between the warring parties. This is particularly necessary in light of the highly uncertain outcome of peace talks, as Saudi warplanes have freshly launched repeated bombings of the capital city of Sana’a and the Houthis have launched an offensive on the city of Marib. Riedel warns that “linking lifting the blockade to a ceasefire is a recipe for prolonging the suffering of the Yemeni people. The two issues need to be decoupled.”
This moral imperative requires the United States to pressure Saudi Arabia to lift this blockade immediately, unilaterally, and comprehensively. This means ending the Saudi naval blockade and allowing humanitarian and commercial imports to freely enter into Yemen; entrusting security oversight to the United Nations Verification and Inspection Mechanism for Yemen (UNVIM); fully permitting commercial and medical flights in and out of Sana’a airport; and reopening land crossings to importers, exporters and civilian traffic.
Thank you again for your previous actions to end US complicity in the war in Yemen and ease the country’s humanitarian crisis. We now ask you to acknowledge the severity of the Saudi blockade; call for Saudi Arabia to lift it immediately; and terminate any US political, military, operational or diplomatic support for the blockade that may exist in order for food, fuel and medicine to reach millions of Yemenis in desperate need.
Thank you for your consideration of this important matter.
Sincerely,
Organizations
Action Corps
American Friends Service Committee
American Muslim Empowerment Network (AMEN)
Antiwar.com
Arabian Rights Watch Association (ARWA)
Avaaz
Bread for the World
Campaign for Peace, Disarmament and Common Security
Center for Economic Policy and Research (CEPR)
Center for International Policy
Charity & Security Network
Church of the Brethren, Office of Peacebuilding and Policy
Church World Service
Churches for Middle East Peace
Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES)
CODEPINK
Committee for Responsible Foreign Policy
Common Defense
Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)
Demand Progress Education Fund
Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN)
EIHR: The Educators’ Institute for Human Rights
Environmentalists Against War
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Foreign Policy for America
Freedom Forward
Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL)
Global Ministries of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Health Alliance international
Historians for Peace and Democracy
ICNA Council for Social Justice
Indivisible
Interfaith Community Sanctuary
Just Foreign Policy
Justice Democrats
Justice Is Global
MADRE
MoveOn
National Council of Churches
National Iranian American Council
Neighbors for Peace
Pax Christi USA
+Peace
Peace Action
Peace Direct
Presbyterian Church (USA) Office of Public Witness
Progressive Democrats of America
Public Citizen
Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft
Raytheon Anti-war Campaign
Refugees International
Rethinking Foreign Policy
Revolutionary Love Project
RootsAction.org
Saudi American Justice Project
Secure Justice
Sisters of Mercy of the Americas – Justice Team
Spin Film
Students for Yemen
The Episcopal Church
The United Methodist Church – General Board of Church and Society
To End All Wars
Union of Arab Women
United Church of Christ
United for Peace and Justice
Veterans For Peace
Win Without War
Women Against Military Madness
Women International League for Peace and Freedom- US Section
World BEYOND War
Yemen Freedom Council
Yemen Relief and Reconstruction Foundation
Yemeni Alliance Committee
Yemeni Liberation Movement
Individuals (titles for identification purposes only)
Mark Ruffalo – Actor, director, activist
Skye Fitzgerald – Director, HUNGER WARD, 2021 Oscar Nominated Documentary Short
Michael Scheuerman – Producer, HUNGER WARD, 2021 Oscar Nominated Documentary Short
Shireen Al-Adeimi – Yemen-born activist and professor at Michigan State University
The Phoenix family (Joaquin, Liberty, Summer, Rain)
Orlando Bloom – Actor
Amy Schumer – Comedian
Aisha Jumaan – President of Yemen Relief and Reconstruction Foundation
Alyssa Milano – Actor, writer, activist
Sarah Silverman – Comedian, actor
Leopoldo Gout – Film director
Andy Richter – Actor and comedian
Jehan Hakim – Chair of Yemeni Alliance Committee
Aleen Keshishian – Film producer
Rebecca Chaiklin – Film director
Bruce Ackerman – Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science Yale University
Kathryn Everett – Head of Film, XTR
Marianne Williamson – Author, inspirational speaker
Friends Committee on National Legislation, A Quaker Lobby in the Public Interest
245 2nd St. NE | Washington, DC 20002, (202) 903-2516 (direct) | (508) 241-0888 (cell)
