By Faisal Abu Bakr | 2024-04-13

The Houthis' recently concluded Palestine conference was a ruse to boost their image in Yemen and the region by drawing attention away from their own crimes and failures, politicians and observers in Yemen said.

The four-day "Palestine is the nation's central issue" conference kicked off April 1 in Sanaa with the theme "you are not alone."

Houthi-affiliated media outlets and social media accounts flooded their channels with photos and soundbites of the conference attendees, draped with black-and-white scarves in the pattern of the Palestinian keffiyeh.

But while this was evidently intended to pull at the heartstrings of Palestinians and those sympathetic to the Palestinian cause, critics said it was little more than an empty display.

Instead of helping Gaza, the conference was a forum for Iranian and Houthi rhetoric, political analyst Faisal Ahmed told Al-Fassel.

Ahmed said he found it odd that the Houthis made such a show of their support for Palestine "at a time when they are committing violations and besieging cities like Taez" and failing to pay public sector employees.

He also found it strange that they held a conference in support of the Palestinians in Sanaa while Yemenis are suffering from the violations and scourges of the war caused by the Houthis.

The conference did not provide "any real support to the Palestinians other than supporting the Houthis, who are implementing Iran's agenda to achieve its interest in taking control of Bab al-Mandeb," Ahmed said.

It merely gave participants a platform from which to voice their support for the Houthis "to achieve Iran's interests without offering anything to Palestine," he added.

Empty rhetoric

Iran and the Houthis "don't care about the Palestinian issue," political analyst Fares al-Beel told Al-Fassel.

"What they care about is their interests, as they left Gaza reeling from the impact of the war, and did not offer anything but rhetoric," he added.

The Houthis' Palestine conference was "met with ridicule" by the Yemeni people, who "can see through the attempt by these militias to use Palestine as a pretext to achieve their ambition and the ambition of the Iranian project," he said.

The Houthis have lost all credibility, he added, "as their true nature has been laid bare, not only to the people of Yemen but also to the Arab and Islamic world."

The conference was "an attempt to cover up their crime in Radaa, where the Houthis razed the homes of innocent people and killed them under the rubble," Deputy Minister of Justice Faisal al-Majeedi told Al-Fassel.

"The Houthis believe that their image has been shattered in the wake of the Radaa crime," he said, accusing them of trying to "whitewash their ugly image" by diverting attention away from their actions.