Gisela Hofmann is a German friend who, literally, lives for Yemen. Throughout the years, she lived in the country, learnt Arabic and has become a peace advocate.
Gisela sent me a letter asking to publish it. It is her cry, the cry of a woman who has loved ones under constant bombs and castrated by a siege. Gisela cannot visit her ‘family in Sanaa’ and dreams of the day she will be reunited with them.
In the meantime, eight-hundred days have passed since that first bomb dropped on Yemen in the night of March 26 2015. The country has been totally destroyed, official figures estimate over ten thousand casualties, a child dead every ten minutes succumbing to preventable diseases, over fourteen million food insecure, three million internally displaced, a third cholera outbreak which has claimed lives of over six hundred people with a skyrocketing seventy thousand suspected cases.
Yemen has collapsed, Gisela dreams of peace and writes:
”For more than fifteen years, we have been personally associated with Yemen enjoying a close friendship with a family in Sanaa.
Throughout these years, we were able to stay with our friend-family twice a year, every year. We also lived for several months in Sanaa in a rented a flat.
Our visit in November 2014 would be the last for a long time. We did not suspect this at the time. Since then, we are only connected via internet, though this is not continuously possible for a variety of reasons but, basically, our friends have no electricity and have no money.
We are suffering, we feel helpless: we cannot do anything for our beloved family.
Since the beginning of the Yemen-war and the suffering of the population, this country has been in the shadow of all other political “proxy wars”.
I would like to talk about my friends and family members, I want to describe their current life situation.
My heart is heavy when I think of them. Especially the children and my warm-hearted women-friends. I know how they feel, although I never hear complaints despite the very difficult situation. The humility and pride of these generous people does not allow it.
The following lines are dedicated to Mohammed, Latifa, and Safia and their families (how much I miss them):
“Why is the world looking away?
I’d like to write about the current life of the citizens in Yemen. I can report what I am constantly being told by my friends as, for myself, it is not possible in the current situation to return to Yemen: Sanaa airport is under Saudi-led Coalition imposed blockade and it has also been partially destroyed by airstrikes..
The biggest problem posed by the siege is that for Yemenis there is no way to let vital relief supplies and aid be brought into the country.
If you run a finger on the map, throughout the whole country, you realise that the important main roads, transport routes and sea ports have been destroyed. This means that the urgent transport of aid and relief supply to the suffering people, to hospitals and distribution of safe, drinking water to villages is impossible or extremely difficult.
People outside the cities are abandoned and can depend exclusively on themselves.
Nobody looks, takes care of the population as military strategies are in the foreground. With few exceptions, there are no foreign embassies and/or diplomatic representatives in the country.
It is close to impossible for the people of Yemen to flee elsewhere. Even for families living abroad it is difficult to care for the loved ones gripped in the famine-cholera-aggression- torn homeland. Flights to and from Yemen are virtually close to zero and escaping to neighboring countries requires money which Yemenis do not have.
Like in any given war, the simple, common people are those suffering the unthinkable.
Primarily children, sick people and the elderly.
The father of the little girl had to donate his own blood to treat her and has, since then, been donating regularly to help others in need.The current situation allows many families to virtually just vegetate, exist, nothing else. A graceful life is no longer possible.
Schools, hospitals have shut down: government personnel have been out of salary for eight – nine months.
In the meantime, prices are soaring. A bottle of gas costs five times as much as compared to the beginning of 2015. Most people cannot afford it any longer: they use what they can to make a fire.
Speculation is rampant: some much-needed items must be bought exclusively in dollars cutting off most of the population.
There are those who have lost everything because of an airstrike: home and loved ones. Yemen is in a constant mourning.
In spite of pain and suffering, there is life, though. There are tireless people, fighting with heart and intelligence for the future of Yemen. These people fight with peaceful means vehemently against Yemen’s unjust, forgotten war.
A termination of the aggression is imperative. If I look at the situation of Yemen I feel anger along with an inexpressible sadness, because I see what this country has become.
An immediate halt to the inconsiderate arms deals and sales to those aggressing Yemen, would represent a huge step towards the end of the war on my second home. It would push the sides involved in the conflict to find solutions, involving only diplomatic means.
Had it happened before, many Yemeni children would still be alive and the homes of countless Yemenis would not be in rubbles.
This forgotten country needs more attention. It is important tell to the world about the suffering of Yemenis who are at their limit. They cannot take it any longer.
The first article of our German basic law states: “Human dignity is untouchable”.
It should apply also to Yemenis. ”
Gisela Hofmann
the talking of the soul 
So sad. I think in general people care but feel helpless. They do not have the resources or power to influence or control. They are afraid. They are the singular voice that no one is listening to. I think too people are tired of fighting wars that cannot be won for so many reasons. When I worked for a well known non profit, we would send out supplies to help, but these would be confiscated by corrupt governments that kept them for themselves. Those that needed it never saw them. There is so much people don’t know. It’s not that people don’t care, they just can’t control the powers that be to get them where they need to go. I saw it too many times and it leaves one feeling disenfranchised with mankind.
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I have to say I agree with you on so many levels. What I find myself saying, far too often lately, is that what we are witnessing these days is simply bigger than us.
We cannot fight all the battles against corruption, wars (which are always unjust), terrorism and all the problems afflicting us.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read and commenting.
Blessings
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Yes, If we all as individuals work on ourselves and take it one at a time, perhaps our conduct could influence others. That is the only thing we can control and that is our own behavior. If we would only look past our own doubts, take individuals on their own merit and discard demographics, can you just imagine how beautiful that could be?
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It is the reality I dream of every single moment of my day. And night.
We can really do much as individuals. Be the change. It’s on us.
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YES!!!
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Every event where people are mercilessly killed by some brain disturbed individual, group of religious fanatics or some religious/political organization, is a heinous, disgusting, insane coward act imposed on this society. The crime gets even worse when the media, the press and groups and individuals in the society publish biased, unwarranted or misleading views on such events that can never, ever be justified by any reason whatsoever.
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To make things worse, the politically controlled news media publishes front page after front page of incidents in Western countries that are but a minuscule drop in the ocean compared to what is done by the US/UK/SAUDI COALITION in Yemen, a country literally turned into a lifeless desert cemetery by the constant bombardments killing millions of children, men and women – and let’s not forget Syria, Gaza, and many other places throughout the Arab world and Africa where these disgusting crimes take place daily, monotonously.
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It says it loud and clear in every law book on Earth: “Murder is a crime and the perpetrator(s) must be duly punished for such crimes”. Even without any law book whatsoever, it is clearly engraved in anyone’s conscience that MURDER IS A CRIME – you don’t have to refer to your religious fairytale scriptures to have that spelled out in black and white. Morality ends with murder and individual and mass murder perpetrators living above the law and their own moral consciousness, must be held to account and pay for their crimes it’s as simple as that, full stop.
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Make no mistake about this insane religious/political institutions war on humanity, it started long ago, long before the vague and fabled stories of Abraham, Moses, Noah, Christ, Muhammad, the Greek, Roman and British empires. This war is a war for a piece of real estate, a war for the so called “Promised Land”, a religious war, a war throughout several millenniums that has seen the barbaric murder of billions of people all for sake of religious/political power and control over the enslaved masses.
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All religious institutions, all political institutions, all hierarchies claiming authority over the masses are a fraud, they are a blatant lie to the world, it has been so since time immemorial. The question however is not who you can point fingers at, for there are too many people involved in these crimes against humanity. The question is “When are the masses going to educate themselves and stand up against the crimes committed against those who do not live to take part in the insanity of wars against humanity”.
Bob Oort, WORLD PEACE EMBASSY administrator
https://www.facebook.com/groups/WorldpeaceEmbassy
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Nothing to add. Wish I could tell you you are wrong, pessimistic, mad.
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