Princess: Stepping Out of the Shadows, стр. 43
I was so content to be home again and sat with a quiet happiness, looking at my husband and three children, giving thanks for life as the beautiful desert twilight turned to evening. How grateful I was to have a chance of more years to be with my family and to continue my work. How many children might I educate, or lives might I save, with the years that I hoped to live?
While sitting there, I made a silent vow to increase all efforts to help others. I was so ecstatic to still be with the living and now, with the promise of more years to come, I considered breaking into song. But since I am a woman without the talent to sing, I restrained myself and spared my family.
* * *
After returning home I rested frequently and during that time watched more television than usual. Yemen, due to the current conflict, dominated the news. During the days following my release from the hospital, I had many thoughts, memories and questions in my mind about one of our closest neighbours.
Yemen, once known as Arabia Felix, was at one time a wealthy little kingdom, rich in frankincense, myrrh, cinnamon, gum and precious stones. There was a successful caravan trade via land with parts of Asia and thriving commerce by sea with India and Egypt. The kingdom was so wealthy that the legions of Augustus of the Roman Empire desired to absorb it, but the heat and disease of the region decimated those soldiers and Arabia Felix remained independent, at least for a time.
The future was not so kind to Yemen.
A brief exploration of Yemen’s history reveals that the little kingdom has been beset by upheaval and uncertainty for centuries. It was absorbed by other empires, such as the Ottomans and Great Britain in the 1500s and 1800s, with the determined Ottomans returning to the northern sections of the country, creating havoc in their quest for dominance. A century on, in the 1960s, Yemen split into two countries, then in 1990 it was reunited, only to be threatened with separation once again. Al-Qaeda interfered in Yemeni business in the early 2000s before the Houthi insurgency brought violence, war and death to many innocent people from 2004 until the present time. The multiple bomb attacks, clashes and renewed clashes that litter its modern history are far too many to list. Most recently Iran, a dedicated enemy of Saudi Arabia, has found it agreeable to their foreign policy plans to support the Houthi movement, which champions Yemen’s Shia Muslim minority. Iran is encouraging them to commit war and violence against their rival, their Sunni neighbour Saudi Arabia.
Iran is the evil next door.
My own country is now involved in the business of Yemen, for we cannot abide a close neighbour who carries out malevolent orders originating in Tehran. Despite the marches and outcries against us – many originating in the Western world – we Saudis believe that our actions can be compared to that of the Americans during the Cuban Missile Crisis, a hard-fought, dangerous battle of wills between the American presidency of John F. Kennedy and Russia’s Nikita Khrushchev leadership in October 1962. It was a crisis that deflated like a pricked balloon when the Americans threatened nuclear war. Although war was averted, the United States made it abundantly clear to the entire world that such a close neighbour could not, and would not, be allowed to have the nuclear ability to attack America.
In Saudi Arabia, we have a similarly volatile relationship with Iran. There is little doubt that if we do nothing now, all will pay a bigger price in the future. For certain, we Saudis would be overrun with Iranian attacks from Yemen, which would instigate a much bigger confrontation in the region. To date, Saudi Arabia has been assisted by the United States, the United Kingdom and France with logistical and intelligence reports.
From my own research, I know that nearly 10,000 people have been killed and nearly 60,000 have been injured since the beginning of this war in 2015. Most people believe that Saudi Arabian bombings are the cause of each death in Yemen, but this is not true. Many Yemeni people have been killed or wounded by the Houthi – menacing rebels with authoritative attitudes and bullying behaviour. They besiege and overwhelm residents of villages and cities who do not join their cause. Chaos prevails, and it is difficult, if not impossible, to know the exact figures of who is killing whom.
But never doubt that the human cost in Yemen strikes sorrow and horror in the hearts of Saudi Arabians, for the Yemeni and Saudi people have been more friendly than unfriendly for most of our history. On a personal level, numerous Yemeni people have worked in our homes and, on some occasions, educated Yemenis have managed our businesses. We are friends with that country’s people.
Such interest and activity in a small land with few resources is creating violence, war and death for its blameless people, those who have no interest in the greater politics of the area. Iran should tuck its political ambitions in its pockets and take them home, allowing Saudi Arabia to swoop in to bind the wounds of the Yemeni people, then all would return to normal in this area.
I mourn for these innocent victims of war. As readers of my books well know, my sister Sara and I have enjoyed special friendships with two extraordinary women from Yemen.
Italia is the great beauty who was once married to Kareem’s father. Although the marriage was not a success, such was Italia’s charm that he bestowed enormous wealth upon her at the time of their divorce. Italia was such a beauty in her youth that she was married off frequently and for large sums of