Current conflict in Yemen is rooted to the beginnings of the last century, after the failure of all the conflicting parties to build a modern state. Following the departure of Turks and British in Yemen, we have not been able to build a nation for all its citizens
If we try quickly to determine the origin of the current conflict in Yemen and review the successive grievances in it since the beginning of the twentieth century till now; we should see that these multiple grievances depend on a complex accumulation of grievances demanded by members of Yemeni society. The takeover the state by one group of people has led to the exclusion of other components of the Yemeni society, and thus granting these influential classes a permissible access to the state's resources and privileges. As I know – at least - no serious attempt has ever been made by any independent political group or entity to unify all components of the society
In northern Yemen, the Turks left Sana'a due to the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in the WW1, and Imam Yahya Hamid al-Din became king. But the conflicts within the ruling family didn`t reach an end for a while, until Imam Abdullah bin Ahmed bin Al-Wazir launched a revolution that became known as the "Constitution Revolution" In 1948, in which Imam Yahya was assassinated by Sheikh Ali bin Nasser al-Qarda'i, the Imam’s son Ahmed became king, and soon avenged his father’s death with a counter-revolution, he entered Hajjah and then seized Sana'a
However, things hardly settled till the erupted of failed 1955 revolution after appointing his son Al-Badr as crown prince, this revolution was eliminated and crushed with the execution of Al-Badr two brothers who were supporters of the revolutionaries: Saif al-Islam al-Abbas and Saif al-Islam Abdullah, in addition to execute the army commander Lieutenant Colonel Ahmed al-Thalaya
The Arab nationalism wave in the 1950s and 1960s add to the overwhelming emotional impact of Gamal Abdel Nasser’s charisma on Yemeni army officers in the north of the country, and the death of Imam Ahmed by wounds sustained in an assassination attempt in Hodeidah in 1961, led to the September 26 Revolution that launched by the Free Officers. After that the country fell in the midst of a civil war between the Republicans and the Royalists which lasted for nearly six years, dividing the very fabric of society. Even after the Republic’s victory in war, the succession of the coups did not stop, but rather increased its pace. In 1974, the Aryan president was overthrown by Ibrahim al-Hamdi and died in exile, then Al-Hamdi was assassinated in 1977, and the same happened to his successor Al-Ghashmi the next year
In southern Yemen, political grievances were more complex than in north, as the sultanates were in continuous conflicts - there is no room here to discuss its causes and consequences – the traditional rulers did not unite in a real, unified political component, such attempt like the establishment Federation of South Arabia government did not work. Hadramout and Mahra regions didn`t join it, to autonomy their wealth and history, and fear of losing the sovereign decision over their territories
In 1967, the British decided to leave Aden due to financial reasons and other geopolitical circumstances. Power was handed over to the National Front, and the British completely ignored its own proposal of Federation of South Arabia, the eastern protectorates, and the Liberation Front
The National Front managed to control the south with an iron fist, and sought to exclude the other political components. Massacres happened, as many political and traditional leaders were executed or exiled from their own country. The National Front have failed to integrate all components of the society and imposed the socialist Marxist ideology with its merits and demerits on society
Despite that, the grievance intensified even within socialist Marxist one party, and happened the same way as in northern Yemen. The first president after independence from the British was hastily overthrown, Qahtan al-Shaabi was overthrown by a coup in 1969, and then Salem Rabi 'Ali was executed in 1978. Until another military coup overthrew the leader of the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen and Salameen successor; Ali Nasser Muhammad in the bloody January coup in 1986, then bloody clashes erupted in Aden that killed thousands in a few days in the streets, and revenge was carried was based on identity and villages, which added a new layer of complex conflicts
When the two parts of Yemen was unified in 1990, the identity of society was apparent in the new formation, centered on previous grievances and not on the identity of modern state, so the balance of grievances was what kept the situation calm for several years. However, the causes of conflict continued under the ashes with the fall of the new republic in the 1994 civil war, and then the six wars with the Houthis in earlier 2000s
When the Arab Spring reached Yemen in 2011; it has brought all these accumulated grievances into clash on larger scale, which opened the gates for international intervention in Yemen
This brief explanation shows how the accumulated grievances from the past are the main key to understanding the ongoing conflict in all its complexities, and it also provides a solution to a lasting and just peace for all, because these unrecognized grievances are the main entry point for international and regional intervention in the country. Most importantly, we Yemenis must recognizing each other’s grievances, respect the desires and entitlements of others, which they demand to provide them a decent living and the desired justice for all members of the Yemeni society. And to stop excluding each other's political and regional identity, to impose illogical matters under the de facto policy, which opens the door again for the emergence of new and complex grievances, expanding the circles of conflict, and increasing the area of fire
No peace in Yemen without recognizing the grievances of all parties without discrimination, even if it means that we must go back several decades to address them
