Progressives for Slavery

Nazi salute used by Houthis no problem for pro-Hamas protesters in Toronto

I’m pleased to welcome Brian Henry back with his latest contribution to Canadian Zionist Forum. Thanks to Brian for another eye opening op-ed.

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Having seen the “progressive left,” as they like to call themselves, embrace the Hamas death cult as anti-colonial heroes, I shouldn’t have been surprised to see them embrace the Houthis, too. And yet … how depraved can these people get?

This is the official slogan of the Houthi rebels who control Yemen (and in turn are controlled by Iran):

“Allahu Akbar! Death to America! Death to Israel! Curse the Jews! Victory for Islam!” 

While reciting this, they give the Nazi salute

. Image: Houthi soldiers in Yemen give the Nazi Salute

None of this especially stands out – “Death to America! Death to Israel!” remains the most popular chant of the Iranian regime, and after all, the Houthis are backed by Iran.

The Nazi connection is standard, too. In the 1930s and through the Second World War, the Nazis had a mutual love affair with the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, in Syria, and especially in British Palestine. From there, the mix of traditional Islamic antisemitism and Nazi Jew-hatred was passed down to contemporary Islamist extremist groups, such as Hamas in Gaza and the Ayatollahs in Iran.

The Houthis do stand out in openly displaying that ancestry through their use of the Nazi salute.

They also stand out in that they’ve re-introduced slavery into Yemen and a class system based on colour, race, and ancestry (here). Walk Free, an NGO focused on ending modern slavery estimated as of 2018 there were 85,000 slaves in Yemen. High-ranking Houthi officials themselves reportedly own some 1,800 slaves and “servants” who are unpaid and not free to leave. Most of these slaves are Black, either Black Yemenites or migrants from Ethiopia or Somalia (here).

That leftists treat the Houthis as heroes. I can only assume Marx has rolled in his grave so often that he’s ground himself to dust.

We should also note the UN guestimates that, to date, the Houthis’ civil war in Yemen has killed more than 150,000 people directly and 227,000 more through the resulting famine. But Israel isn’t involved, nor any Jews, as the last of Yemen’s Jews were driven out and fled to Israel decades ago. Consequently, the media has all but ignored this war, even though the Houthi rebellion – like Hamas’s attack against Israel – is another aspect of Iran’s drive to dominate the region.

I didn’t know admiration for the Houthis was a thing (or could conceivably be a thing) until an acquaintance posted a graphic on Facebook showing how cargo ships are abandoning the Red Sea in response to Houthi attacks; which I’m afraid my acquaintance thought was great.

If you haven’t been following, the Houthis have used missiles, drones, and old-fashioned ship-to-ship piracy to attack commercial shipping. The Houthis say these attacks are to help Hamas in its war against Israel. So pro-Hamas protestors in Toronto (and elsewhere in the world) think this is wonderful. They’ve taken to chanting: “Yemen, Yemen, make us proud! Turn another boat around!” (Here.)

But most of the of ships the Houthis have attacked have nothing to do with Israel. The Red Sea is on the shipping route leading from South Asia to Europe and the Americas via the Suez Canal. The Houthi attacks have prompted some 70% of these commercial ships to alter their routes and sail around Africa, adding a week to ten days to their voyage and doubling shipping costs (here).

Analysts say this has knotted up supply chains as badly as at the height of the Covid Pandemic. But so far at least, this hasn’t re-ignited global inflation.

In related news, Iran has recently launched missiles at Iraq, Syria, and Pakistan, and of course continues to supply Hezbollah and Iranian-controlled terrorists in Syria and Iraq with weapons to continue attacks against Israel.

Since Oct 7, Iran’s terrorist proxies in Iraq and Syria have also launched some 150 attacks against US troops and their allies in the region. Most recently, a drone (surely manufactured in Iran) killed three US servicemen and injured at least thirty more in an attack on a small, strategic US base at the northeastern tip of Jordan. 

Iran seems to be demonstrating how much trouble it can cause. It’s message to the world and the US in particular seems to be that Iran is not afraid of embroiling the whole region in war, nor of decimating the global economy. And if the US wants to avoid that, it should back off and force a ceasefire on Israel.

It’s a strategy that may backfire.

In looking at Iran, the strategic calculations of every nation focus on Iran’s quest to get nuclear weapons. Iran may already have enough weapons-grade uranium. They may already have a bomb. Or they may be weeks or many months away. No one knows. But it’s no longer a question of, “Will they create a bomb?”, just “When will they do it?”

It’s possible, Iran could test its first nuclear weapon tomorrow.

If Iran is causing this much trouble now, it will surely cause far more trouble once it has a nuclear insurance policy against retaliatory attacks. And this consideration will likely make the US, its allies, and every nation in the broad Middle East stretching all the way to Pakistan, take a harder stance against their common enemy.

In the meantime though, we’ll continue to see “progressives” making the Houthis into heroes, because after all, what are little things like slavery, Jew-hatred, world-wide inflation, and a march toward a massive regional war? For “progressives” these count as nothing against the possibility the Houthis may turn one more ship around.

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Thanks to Brian Henry for a great expose on the Houthis.

My son and I (David here) are preparing for departure for Israel tomorrow. We are excited to be joining a wave of North Americans heading there. This is our moment to show solidarity with the world’s only Jewish state, when much of the the world seems indifferent or hostile.

I am grateful to all of the new subscribers who have joined us in recent days. Thank you for reading.

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