Dear John,

Ambassador for the United Arab Emirates Yousef Al Otaiba yelled at Representative Ro Khanna about Khanna’s opposition to the war in Yemen. Then, after Khanna spoke about the incident, Al Otaiba invited him on his podcast. Seems appropriate... not! Representative Khanna has been a loyal and leading voice against the war in Yemen, and he agreed to go on the podcast — but only if Yemeni journalist Adel Al-Hasani is released from his detention. 

We are echoing Representative Khanna’s calls to Ambassador Al Otaiba and adding demands for justice for all of Yemen and all political prisoners! Sign the petition to Otaiba calling on the UAE to free Al-Hasani and other political prisoners and to finish fulfilling its aid promises to Yemen. 

Adel Al-Hasani is a prominent Yemeni journalist who was arrested in September 2020. There have been reports that Al-Hasani’s health has deteriorated since he was arrested. Ro Khanna, in a response to being invited on to Otaiba’s podcast, said, “The Southern Transitional Council is unable to release Adel Al-Hasani due to political pressure from the UAE.” Clearly, Otaiba, the most influential Emirati political figure in the US, has a lot of leverage on the issue. 

The UAE has plenty of political prisoners, so we are including in our petition calls to release Ahmed Mansoor, Mohamed Al-Roken, and Ahmed Etoum. Add your name to CODEPINIK’s call on Otaiba to release political prisoners!

We know the war in Yemen isn’t being waged by Saudi Arabia alone. For years the UAE helped Saudi Arabia cause the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. The UAE pledged $750 million in aid to Yemen in early 2019, but they haven’t paid it yet, never mind any 2020 aid. In our petition, we are also calling on the UAE to finish paying Yemen the aid it promised. 

There have been great developments in the movement for Yemen over the past few weeks, and we’ve seen that pressure from activists like you works! After years of advocacy, the US is ending some support for the Yemen war. The Biden Administration also reversed the terrorist designation on the Houthis after petitions from CODEPINK and pressure from activists all over the world. Together, we can free prisoners and restore aid to the people of Yemen.

Toward Peace, 
Danaka, Ariel, Carley, Ann, Angela, Ciara, Cody, Emily, Farida, Grace, Jodie, Kelsey, Leila, Leonardo, Maxine, Mary, Medea, Nancy, Paki, Sana, and Teri

P.S. Join CODEPINK and Yemen Relief and Reconstruction Foundation for our next episode of Beyond the War this Friday at 3 PM EST. We will be joined by Yemeni coffee expert Mokhtar Alkhanshali for Beyond the War: Yemen Cafe.