PROTESTS AT THE SAUDI CONSULATE AND SEVERAL MISSIONS TO THE UN BEGIN ON NOVEMBER 6, CALLING FOR AN END TO WAR IN YEMEN AND DRAMATIC MEASURES TO AVOID FAMINE; PROTESTERS WILLING TO RISK ARREST FOLLOWING THREE DAYS OF ACTION
New York City – On November 6, as some New Yorkers head to the polls, others will head to the Saudi consulate and to Missions to the UN representing countries waging war in Yemen. Beginning at 11:00 a.m., protesters calling for all warring parties in Yemen to stop all forms of military and economic warfare will gather at the Isaiah Wall, also known as Ralph Bunche Park, 1st Ave & 43rd St., across from the United Nations in New York City. From there, they will process to nearby Missions to the UN maintained by countries participating in the Saudi-led, U.S. supported war in Yemen: the Saudi, United Arab Emirates and U.S. Missions to the UN as well as the Saudi Consulate. Protesters will also demand an immediate opening of ports and roads in Yemen to allow for swift transport of desperately needed food, water, fuel and humanitarian aid to all parts of the country. They will continue their protests on November 8. At 11:30 a.m. they will proceed from 1st Avenue and 43rd Street to the Saudi Consulate at 866 Second Avenue.
The United Nations warns that some 14 million people, half the population of the country, are on the verge of starvation as war pushes the country toward the biggest famine the world has seen in 100 years.
PHOTO OPPORTUNITY: At the Isaiah Wall, the activists will arrange 40 blue backpacks on the ground, like those issued by UNICEF to schoolboys in northern Yemen who were killed on August 9, 2018. A Saudi warplane attacked the children’s school bus with a Lockheed Martin manufactured, laser-guided 500 lb. missile. Placards will give names and ages of children who were killed. Eleven adults also died, and 79 people were wounded, 56 of whom were children.
Reporting for the New York Times, Declan Walsh writes that the Saudi-UAE led coalition is using economic strangulation as a weapon of war, targeting jobs, infrastructure, food markets and the provision of basic services.
Raytheon, General Dynamics, Boeing, and Lockheed Martin have sold billions of dollars’ worth of weapons to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other countries in the Saudi-Emirati-led coalition.
Isa Blumi, an associate professor at Stockholm University and author of the book Destroying Yemen, believes the goal is to bludgeon Yemenis into complete submission and exert control over resources, including oil reserves, natural gas, minerals, and a strategic location.
The war has killed tens of thousands of Yemenis, mostly civilians, and displaced about 3 million others. For more information, see www.vcnv.org
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Endorsers of this action:
War Resisters League New York City
New York Catholic Worker Community
Manhattan Local of the Green Party
Veterans for Peace chapters 034 (New York City), 090 (Broome Cty NY), and 021 (Northern New Jersey)
New York City World Can’t Wait
Voices for Creative Nonviolence