Hey anybody out there still with me – it seems a long time since I have been on this machine. My mind is constantly churning, thinking about writing, but Life is getting in the way here. Thank you to all those who have written, emailed, and called this last week, it is wonderful to have such good friends.
The 5th of June was another anniversary – now it’s been four months. I thought I was doing very well, but missing Henry so much, so I called our home phone and listened to his Ebbets Field message on the answering machine. It was startling to hear Henry’s voice again – I wasn’t doing as well as I thought. However, we just go on...
The night of the 5th was eight year old Hunter’s baseball game. Afterwards he was sad, as they lost by one run. I pointed out to him that Pop loved winning, but more than that, he simply loved playing. Hunter very seriously informed me that baseball is “all about fun”, and he has lots of fun “because Pop is always with me.” Really? I asked, how do you know that? He looked at me with those liquid hazel eyes the size of huge marbles, and said, “I just know. I can feel him here.”
With that, I can say I feel Henry’s relief that I returned from Yemen - without an incident. What a fabulous trip. I last wrote of visiting the American Ambassador, which led into my observations on qat.
Now, here is my perception of the next topic of discussion: terrorism in Yemen. The American government does not see the Yemeni government asserting itself in a good way to exercise authority with terrorists. This is political speak for the fact theYemeni government will not extradite the convicted nationals who bombed the Cole for trial in another country. While these convicted bombers were under house arrest being rehabilitated, they attacked the oil facilities in the south. The American Government was less than impressed with the Yemeni method of dealing with criminal terrorists. There is a major difference of opinion between Us and Them on how to wage the War on Terror.
There was some talk of an Al Qaeda presence attempting to destabilize the government. The newer generation adheres to a dogmatic “pure” ideology. This is a sobering moment in Yemen’s history, what with the South feeling like an occupied territory, tribal wars in the north, economic malaise, terrorism threats – there had been ten terrorist attacks in Yemen, March 18th until that day, April 20th . Add to this, great corruption in the government, dwindling oil supply, extreme poverty, and the information that Yemen has the highest guns per capita of any nation in the world. Well, I think this is due to the fact that Yemen is the market place for military weapons, the middleman, supplying guns for conflicts all over the world. This is not a cheerful subject.
The final idea I came away with, if I understood the gist of the discussion, is Yemen has no system of checks and balances – whether by two or three powerful families as in some Gulf States, or by government agencies.
As we left, the head of security whispered, “Be safe. Don’t go to the souk.” We had just that morning had our first walking tour of the souk.
Our first day finished with a sumptuous dinner on the third floor of a popular restaurant, where the fish and shrimp sizzled in their platters, and the thin flat bread, each round about three or four feet across, arrived steaming hot - the waiters piled it into the middle of the table, a communal bread trough.
The day was not quite over. There is no rest for the weary. Ignoring jet lag, after all, one can sleep at home! we attended yet one more meeting – this time our group was welcomed into the home of Dr. Abdul Karim Al-Eryani. You really should be impressed. This marvelous tiny little man is known as The Brain. He is the heart and soul of Yemen. He is the same age as Henry. He grew up “in the 13th century”, as he likes to say, in a tiny village in the Ibb region, never seeing cars or electricity until his late teens. He managed to get to Cairo and take night school, attained a 9th grade education; then was lucky to be one of the first forty Yemeni to be educated in the States. He studied from 1958 to 1968, graduating with a Ph.D. in biology from Yale. He returned to a Yemen “grown to the 17th century.” He held various government posts, was Prime Minister, and now, among other projects, serves as Head of the Shura Council, a group of men who no longer are in elected government positions, but who are advisors to President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Dr. Al-Eryani is pleasant and positive and will never give up until his dying day.
Dr. Anthony and he are dear friends since 1968, they were delighted to greet each other. The atmosphere was, well, easy. Vibrant. The conversation was relaxed. As our spokesman, Dr. Anthony posed the question: What do you want us to take back to the USA, for our understanding?
We are an old state, our civilization is documented to 2800 BC – he didn’t mention that he, just four year ago, was instrumental in having the excavation done at Sabean sites, where the incense trade began. A few days later we saw some of the excavated artifacts in a museum. So strange, it was as if being in a museum in Crete, or Greece. Had no idea there was a Mesopotamian civilization in the south of Yemen!
We need clever leadership to move our country without violence into the modern world.
And then, he expounded on the same subjects we heard daily on the rest of the trip, except this man was best at putting things into perspective for us – for me, at least. For those of you who skim read starting about now, here is a summary from my understanding:
Yemen has always been in conflict; today, war in the North, economic troubles in South.
Of the third world, Yemeni problems are most dire.
Corruption plays a role in the Middle East; Yemen has formed a Supreme Committee to combat this condition, so serious in their country.
Major problems are qat and lack of work.
Other major problems are lack of education, lack of resources, fast growing population.
No Gulf State needs, nor will hire, Yemeni workers except Saudi Arabia, but since Yemen’s pro-Iraqi stance in the Iraqi-Iran War, and the Gulf War, Saudi is not hiring Yemeni. Without those remittances sent back to Yemen, (a word heard time and time again throughout the trip) the Yemeni people cannot, are not, surviving.
There is a large Yemeni population in the States, but they are not active for Yemen.
Terrorism is now a problem. Terrorist are externally created - from Iraq.
Tourism and Terrorism do not live together.
The Iraq War has become American’s Vietnam. He thinks it will be over in five years.
Since JFK every American president has emphasized allegiance with Israel.
The Palestine issue is a series of injustices; as Arabs, they feel solving this is important.
He feels the thing to do is create two states: Israel and Palestine.
There is great pride in the Yemeni who immigrated throughout Indonesia and Malaysia, citing several high ranking officials of various Eastern countries who are Yemeni.
How did I do? With a summary? I find this vastly interesting, at least it was while there, since these subjects were the conversation, in the meetings, while riding in the van, at dinner. Yes, we did talk shopping. But mostly, we talked history and politics.
Or, I should say, some talked, I listened and listened, hanging onto edges of the vast knowledge incorporated in the education of this group, these Malone Fellows.
Our last event of the evening was admiring Peter Kenyon’s new by two weeks passport. As the NPR correspondent based in Cairo, he travels extensively, so where everyone else has a few pages, he has about an inch deep of pages. And such beauty on those pages! The art, the symbols, and then, the RFID chip, that would be radio-frequency identification, the “magic chip” on the cover. A citizen’s life is incorporated into that chip, actually, the passport information is on the chip, including the passport picture. Now, we are all waiting for our passports to expire so we too can possess that state of the art, work of art, difficult to forge, passport.
So, ends the day. Much love to those of you out there who skimmed to the bottom!
Bonnie and the Cook Family