By Comrade Azul and Comrade Sigmund

In the face of “israeli” settler colonialism in occupied Palestine, Ansarullah and the Yemeni Armed Forces have emerged as a beacon of principled resistance, providing critical military support to the Palestinian liberation movement. Despite their relatively limited resources and facing hostile international forces, not to mention the twin evils Zionism and “u.s.” imperialism, Ansarullah have exerted a tremendous amount of pressure on the genocidal “israeli” regime by leveraging their control of the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait to halt international shipping to the “israeli” port of  “eilat.”

Ansarullah has launched over 100 drone and missile attacks, targeting at least 10 merchant vessels in the Red Sea, in a show of solidarity with Palestinians facing a genocidal blockade in Gaza. These attacks have not only demonstrated Ansarullah’s military capabilities but also their commitment to the Palestinian cause. They have also launched direct attacks against “israeli”-linked ships in the Bab Al-Mandab Strait, responding to the demands of the Yemeni people and the free people of the world. They have significantly escalated the cost of occupation and genocide by billions while showing the international community what material solidarity with Palestinian resistance and liberation should look like.

The situation for “israel,” on the other hand, is dire. Economically, the conflict has led to an estimated $400 billion in losses. The shift to a war economy has particularly affected small and medium-sized businesses, which account for 62% of  value added (a favorite bourgeois metric) in the country. Ports are severely delayed and operating at only a fraction of their capacity. BDS efforts have had a demonstrable economic impact, costing Starbucks some 11 billion dollars in losses, while highlighting the global disgust with colonial violence. The abrupt shift has left the “israeli” economy struggling to stay afloat.

In military terms, “israel” faces significant pressure from Ansarullah, who have progressed from being a tactical nuisance to a strategic threat. Ansarullah’s escalating attacks on international shipping have led to the formation of a 10-nation coalition to take action against them. It shows how meaningful Yemen’s impact has been in combatting the israeli occupation. It also shows the weakness of “u.s.” imperialism in a region that it conspired to conquer at the beginning of the century. Not a single country bordering Yemen, especially notable given Saudi Arabia spent almost a decade bombing Yemen, joined the farcical coalition and the only country in the region to do so was Bahrain. A truly pathetic display.

In terms of public perception, “israel” has completely lost control over the media environment since Oct. 7. Support for the occupation has plummeted, particularly among young people in the “united states”, to the extent that the “israeli’s” are now prioritizing the young/old generational divide over the “left”/right partisan political divide in their propaganda war. The total collapse of the hasbarists is illustrated by the mass protests in major cities internationally with hundreds of millions taking a stand against “israel’s” settler project. The Palestinian diaspora, on the other hand, has demonstrated a mastery of public relations that the “israelis” can only dream of now. The discipline that has come from years of defending one’s people, and by extension oneself, shines through in every bad faith interview peppered with traps and incitements that a Palestinian valiantly cuts through as a voice for their people. 

The victories of the axis of resistance have opened up a very real possibility for the dissolution of the Zionist entity and the liberation of the Palestinian people, not within our lifetimes but within the decade. The Yemeni Armed Forces have affirmed their solidarity with Palestine and shown a deep commitment to anti-imperialist struggle. They have done this knowing full well that they would be targeted for their efforts as they have been in the past. Withholding aid to the Yemeni people for standing in solidarity with Palestine is just one example. The resilience of the Yemeni people is legendary, and it is only because the masses of the Yemeni people demanded intervention that the Yemeni Armed Forces were compelled to act. It is the masses that make history, and the Yemeni masses have made history.

The Zionist project has been correctly compared to apartheid South Africa. It will fall just like apartheid fell. The economic costs of the conflict, the strategic threats posed by the the Palestinian guerillas, Hizbullah, Ansaruallah, and the global movement against “israel” will all contribute to its inevitable defeat. However, to achieve this goal as expediently as possible, the international community must make material acts of solidarity as Yemen and others have. In order to best contribute, we must understand what is already being done. The Al-Qassam brigades strategy has been, in my view since the start, to drag the IOF into urban guerilla combat in Gaza. Hizbullah has stated that its goal has been to act as a sort of pressure valve for Gaza, Nasrallah has stated that the further “israel” proceeds in its extermination campaign the higher the level of combat hizbullah would engage it in, and it has been steadily escalating its attacks on the northern front, displacing settlers all across the north. Ansarullah is waging economic warfare against the port “eilat” as was noted above, “eilat” is the primary Zionist port of the red sea and is crucial for the economic and military function of the society. Without realizing it, the “israeli’s” have been encircled. 

Next, they’ll be swallowed whole.