For the last three administrations,
the United States has assisted
Saudi Arabia in their war
against Yemen.
And this year alone it's projected
that nearly 400,000 Yemeni children
could die as a result of
the blockade that is ongoing.
I want us to look at this first
clip from
the Yemeni Liberation Movement as
they describe what's going on.
But also as they describe
the hunger strike that
is happening as we speak
in support of the Yemeni people.
>> 400,000 children, 400,000 are at
risk of dying right now in Yemen.
US backing of the war started under
Obama and escalated under Trump.
It's been more than two months
since the US-backed Saudi blockade
has allowed tankers packed with
the necessary fuel for food and
supplies to reach starving Yemenis.
>> My name is [INAUDIBLE] I am
a Yemeni from Michigan.
And I'm on hunger strike to demand
an end to the US-supported blockade
in Yemen.
>> My name is and
I'm a Yemeni on- >> My name is
>> My name is Monica, I'm with
Yemeni Liberation Movement.
[CROSSTALK] >> The US
could literally end this today.
>> The United States
could literally end this today.
Representative Ilhan Omar had
something to say about the hunger
strike.
>> We think about what it means for
somebody to make the decision
to go on a hunger strike,
to bring attention to a devastation
that is happening in Yemen.
That we must also allow ourselves
to consciously continue to think
about the people who are living
in that starvation and losing their
lives every single day.
So thank you all for joining us.
>> Iman Saleh,
who's the general coordinator of
the Yemeni Liberation Movement.
She spoke last night with
Jordan Ural and I want us to take
a listen to what she had to say.
>> So it's really important for
us to keep spreading awareness.
Don't think of people just
supporting us individually,
we are doing this for Yemen.
So our asks are very much
intentional and
strategized in the sense that what
we're doing all goes back to
bringing attention to Yemen.
So that's one thing, we still need
people to sign our petition.
We love your website by the way,
endtheblockade.com, everybody
check that out.
Send a letter to your Congress,
just keep sending them out.
because eventually they're going to
have to force a vote, right?
And when they force a vote,
then the blockade's lifted.
>> Now I want to emphasize again,
the United States has a substantive
role in what's going on there
through logistical support and
munitions.
And so the United States literally
can come to the aid of Yemen right
now and prevent potentially 400,000
Yemeni children alone.
Not to mention men and women, and
non-gender conforming Yemenis.
Alone, we could stop this tragedy
that's ongoing.
Iman Saleh did an op in
the Washington Post and
she put it so poignantly.
She said at least 400,000 Yemeni
children under 5 could die of
starvation this year without urgent
intervention, according to four
United Nations agencies.
The siege against Yemen not only
has had a crippling effect on
everyday life, but it is also
compounding the ongoing conflict in
the country, causing damage that
exceeds even the violence itself in
both the scale and intensity.
She went on to say, during the past
few days, I have marched and
chanted and drummed my way
through the streets of Washington.
I have cried and laughed and
sung with whatever voice I was
able to muster.
I have linked arms with other
hunger strikers, with my sisters,
friends, and strangers.
I have strived to not only imagine
a more just world, but
also demand one.
After days without food, I have
lost much of my short-term memory.
Day in and day out, I feel the
physical burden of starvation that
my people have endured for so long.
But my pain cannot amount to that
of the Yemenis under siege.
And finally she put it this way.
I am starving, but
I am not being starved.
I am suffering, but
I can choose to end that suffering.
Cenk.
>> Yeah, so it's a really powerful
statement and movement to do this.
And man, it's grueling to go
through a hunger strike like that.
I just don't know if anything is
possible in America.
I know they passed the COVID bill.
And I know everybody's so
excited about that because usually
nothing ever, ever gets done.
But it was a unique circumstance.
And now there are some democrats
that are threatening
to grind everything to a halt,
saying they will never get rid of
the filibuster.
They don't want to
pass things through reconciliation.
So, I don't know that there's
going to be any action.
And the brutality of our foreign
policy is almost never mentioned in
the press.
So, yeah, I mean,
will they cover stories about, hey,
this is what's happening in Yemen.
Yes, sometimes it's got issues with
their coverage but
it's mentioned from time to time.
But never in a way of wait,
this is outrageous, just like
noting, the Saudis are allies.
And we have deals with Saudis and
the Saudis buy a lot of defense,
Equipment from us and
weapons from us.
And so that creates jobs and
things like that.
Helping the Saudis starve 400,000
kids, that's not a little thing,
that's gigantic.
I mean one of the reasons that I
would ever want to have the kind of
power that a president would have,
is to be able to do the bare
minimum at least, right?
And one of the bare minimums is
hey, Senator Uribe you rely on us
for your defense, and
you rely on us for so many things.
And by the way, we're not even
holding you accountable for
dismembering that Washington Post
journalist, right?
So no, you're going to lift
the blockade and you're going to
let these people eat, right?
There's food stuck in the ports,
the fuel can't go in and
if the fuel can't go in,
they got no money for the gas for
the stoves, for
the cars to bring them the food.
The power generators of
the hospital don't work so
people are dying at the hospital
every single day because they don't
have energy to run the hospitals.
And it goes on and on and on.
And yet,
it's a minor issue in Washington.
I don't know that the Biden
administration is ever going to
do anything about it.
And these are Democrats,
they're not Republicans.
They can do something,
they're choosing not to for now.
>> Yeah, Ben,
you pointed out how it's gone
across multiple administrations.
Cenk, you just touched on
that there.
What since 2014,
how I mean this particular aspect
of the conflict has been going on.
And then the pressure that needs to
be applied for us to change the way
we do things with our foreign
policy is just something that needs
people to pay attention to.
I mean look, last summer people
suddenly realized the black folks
were being assaulted and
murdered by police at a high rate
based off of nothing in most cases.
And then people took to
the streets,
folks that usually don't take to
the streets took the streets.
because our attention was there
finally, not because it suddenly
started happening.
We even know a lot of people who
are supporting of that were like,
can you believe what just started
happening in 2020?
And then they took to the streets.
When it comes to something like
what's going on internationally,
that's even further away from
our normal thought process.
So we already didn't think about
the minorities in our own country
and the plight that they go through
right in front of our faces,
which many of us have seen.
How much can we really care about
other folks that look even less
like us in some other country
somewhere else where
we can blame it on the leaders, and
this militia.
And then the Houthis on this side,
and then the Rebels on that side.
And then the back Saudis and
the UAE on this side.
All those things,
once they come into play,
we're like, my God,
foreign language, foreign people,
who cares.
So each administration can go
through and have the same policies.
And we won't notice because
we're concerned about, man,
where's my $1200 check?
My God,
my brother is sick with COVID.
Man, what am I going to do
about dinner?
Man, what about the $15
minimum wage?
Why is Joe Manchin keep
holding us up?
So we have things that hit our
minds first, and
those are the folks who are paying
attention to our politics [LAUGH].
So how are we going to get these
guys to pay attention and
do something different?
because we know the Biden
administration promised they
would do something
different when it came to this,.
But they also knew as soon as they
got elected, they could sit back
and go, nobody's really going to
pressure us to do that.
And the few people who do,
who's going to listen to them?
We have other things to do, and
maybe it's a priority problem,
maybe it's on the list?
[LAUGH] And
we're focusing on the children, and
Ben also,
I'm glad you pointed this out too.
Humans, not just children, and
we understand why children are left
at a higher rate of concern.
It's because they're children and
then every child is innocent.
So there's humans, so
the number's even larger.
People, innocent humans,
who are caught in the middle of
this by no fault of their own.
And we like to tout how we're
the shining example on the hill and
the whole world.
That's why we push those
propaganda lines.
because anyone that's not
paying attention,
our automatic thought is,
well whatever is happening in Yemen
is the fault of the leaders there.
Has nothing to do with America,
we're not in Yemen.
Guarantee, because that's all we
need Americans to care about is,
we're the shining example on
the hill.
Worry about
what's going on here at home.
Everything else over there,
we have no control over.
When in fact we're driving things
over there and everywhere else.