The U.S.-based Yemeni Liberation Movement is calling for international solidarity as six of its members begin the 11th day of a hunger strike demanding that the Biden administration end all support for the Saudi-led blockade of Yemen.
Six activists from Washington DC stopped eating on March 29 in protest at the blockade, which is now in its fourth month.
They warned that the Saudi-led embargo has prevented all fuel and food from entering Yemen, leading to mass starvation, electricity shortages, and deaths.
Lack of fuel has left lorries filled with rotting food stuck at the port of al-Hudaydah and forced hospitals to shut because they can’t keep their generators running, the Yemeni protesters said.
According to the World Health Organisation, some 51 percent of Yemen’s hospitals that were functioning before the Saudi-led war have either closed or are operating at reduced capacity.
The country’s people are being starved by a “war-tactics blockade” imposed by Saudi-led and U.S.-backed forces. According to the United Nations, 24 million people are in need of humanitarian aid and some 16 million are at risk of famine.
Yemen has been subjected to a six-year bombing campaign by the Saudi-led coalition, which has received weapons and tactical support from France, Britain, and the United States.
Soon after his inauguration, President Joe Biden announced that his administration was ending support for Saudi airstrikes and limiting arms sales to the reactionary Gulf kingdom.
But Washington remains committed to selling so-called defensive weapons to Riyadh and supporting retaliatory strikes.
The U.S.-based activists, who are demanding that Mr. Biden stops supporting the blockade, held a National Day of Fasting today in support of Yemen’s people.
They are calling on the international community to condemn the blockade and act to alleviate the crisis and “man-made famine.”
This article was reposted from Morning Star.
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