The little I have read about the country so far has really turned me off. Human slavery was only recently abolished there, and it might be making a comeback under the Houthis. Yemen really hasn't contributed much to civilization save coffee beans. Its chief virtue appears to be its favourable geographic location.
The idea that the current bunch ruling Yemen will liberate Palestine and the Middle East is just foolishness. Let's not be naive. You can't practice slavery and declare yourselves liberators of anything. The Houthis are only good for one thing and that's disciplining the Wahhabi apes in Saudi Arabia whose oil wealth has gone to their heads and given them wild dreams that they they're important and significant players in world history.
Neither side is the good guy in Yemen. As soon as you embrace foreigners and outside interests you've abandoned national sovereignty in the quest for power. That's been Yemen's modern history, from the Ottoman invasions in the mid 16th century to today.
A similar thing happened in Afghanistan with the Taliban embracing the Pakistan government to oust the American-created government. When the link between local proxy and foreign state is so openly dissolved it invites endless war, local unhappiness, and external agitation, unless the foreign state is a feared empire with armies, money, and a reputation to burn.
II.
"It has been famous from all antiquity for the richness and fertility of its soil, the salubrity of its climate, the number and wealth of its inhabitants, the magnificence of its public buildings, and the splendour of its court. Alexander the Great resolved on conquering it, and fixing his royal residence there, after his return from India; but his untimely death prevented the execution of this project." - Sir (Robert) Lambert Playfair, from, "A History of Arabia Felix Or Yemen From the Commencement of the Christian Era to the Present Time: Including An Account of The British Settlement of Aden" (1859).
"Egyptian military historians refer to the war in Yemen as their "Vietnam [War]". Historian Michael Oren (former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S.) later wrote that Egypt's military adventure in Yemen was so disastrous that the United States' actions in the continuing Vietnam War could easily have been dubbed "America's Yemen". - Wikipedia.
"Ahmad's controversial rule led to an attempted coup, assassination attempts, and the downfall of the kingdom shortly after his death. His opponents included ambitious family members, pan-Arabists, and Republicans, who derided him as "Ahmad the Devil." However, he remained popular among his northern subjects from whom he was known as "Big Turban.'' After escaping several assassination attempts, he was known as al-Djinn.
Like his father, Ahmad was conservative, but nevertheless forged alliances with the Soviet Union, China and Nasserist Egypt. These alliances were motivated by his desire to expel the British from southern Yemen and recover the territory of the Aden Protectorate as part of "Greater Yemen.'' In the end, he turned against Egypt and the Soviet Union, both of which supported a republican coup against his son and successor." - Wikipedia.
"In the late 19th century, the Zaidis rebelled against the Turks, and Imam Mohammed ibn Yahya laid the foundation of a hereditary dynasty. When he died in 1904, his successor Imam Yahya ibn Mohammed led the revolt against the Turks in 1904–1905, and forced them to grant important concessions to the Zaidis. The Ottoman agreed to withdraw the civil code and restore sharia in Yemen." - Wikipedia.
"While Imam Yahya enjoyed legitimacy among the Zaydi tribes in the northern areas, the Sunni population in the coastal and southern regions were less inclined to accept his rule. To maintain power, he maintained authoritarian rule and appointed his sons to rule various provinces. Therefore, as a result of the growing discontent, Imam Yahya was assassinated in 1948 by revolutionaries who wanted to establish a constitutional government, but his son Ahmad bin Yahya, who was the crown prince at the time, seized power with the help of loyal Zaydi tribes. In 1958, Ahmed bin Yahya joined the United Arab States under pressure from Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser. However, when Syria left the union in 1961, Yemen also left the union. After the death of Ahmed bin Yahya, one week after his son Muhammad al-Badr came to power, the soldiers under the leadership of Abdullah al-Sallal, supported by Egypt, staged a coup and established the Yemen Arab Republic. Al-Badr fled to the mountains and started a civil war with the help of Zaydi tribes. Saudi Arabia supported al-Badr, while Egypt sent troops to support al-Sallal. After Egypt's defeat by Israel in 1967, negotiations began between royalists and republicans for a ceasefire, and in 1970, the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen was officially dissolved in exchange for royalists having influence in the government.
The Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen was under an absolute monarchy. The country did not have an official language, although the majority of the population spoke Arabic, with a minority speaking Yemenite Hebrew. Of the country, 90% were Arabs, ~10% were Afro-Arabs, and a small portion were Yemeni Jews before Operation Magic Carpet (1949–1950) evacuated most of the Yemeni Jews to the new state of Israel. The population was ~55% Zaydi Muslim, ~45% Sunni Muslim, and a small portion was historically Jewish." - Wikipedia.
