He is 19 years old, has green eyes, curly hair, the face of an angel and is called “Timhouthi Chalamet” by his admirers. Young Yemeni Rachid Al-Haddad, a vague double of the French-American star actor, filmed and posted himself on the deck of the Galaxy Leader, a RoRo (ship with cars) boarded by the Houthis on November 19th his videos on social media: “I decided to create a TikTok account to spread my messages and reach out to foreigners because only half of them know why the Houthis are seizing the ships: to end the Palestine headquarters explains the young man, all of whose social media accounts have now been deleted.
Contrary to appearances, “Timhouthi Chalamet” is not a pirate. He is a young man who loves taking selfies and, like many other children his age who wear the traditional Yemeni loincloth, sometimes with a rifle on his shoulder, was having fun on the deck of a ship, but does not let go of his handheld device.
However, since her capture, the Galaxy Leader has been blockaded outside the port of Hodeida, which is under the control of the Rebellion, and is serving…as a tourist attraction. Every day many young people come in small boats to film themselves on board and on machines.
The videos of the young man, who presents himself on the networks as a “media personality, actor and photographer,” have been viewed more than 13 million times. Previously ignored by the world, the Houthi uprising has become a “trend” on TikTok. At the same time, it is moving to the forefront of international relations.
The Attack of the “Galaxy Leader”
The Houthis' first coup took place on November 19, when men armed to the teeth and masked were dropped from a helicopter aboard the Galaxy Leader and took control of it without firing a shot. The clash is filmed and broadcast around the world, but this time there are no actors!
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The “Galaxy Leader”, a 189 meter long warship, passed under the Yemeni flag. Accompanied by the Houthis, it will be transported from the port of Hodeida, where it will serve as a tourist attraction. © Portal
The cargo ship sails for a Japanese company and is partly owned by an Israeli businessman. For this reason he would have been targeted. It becomes the main war prize of the revolutionary movement, which has been increasing its actions on Bab al-Mandab Street since mid-October to show its support for the Palestinians in Gaza in the name of the “Axis of Resistance”. ” », led by Iran against Israel. Around thirty drones and missiles have already been fired at Israeli targets.
The boarding of the Houthis: Around ten masked and heavily armed militiamen were brought to the bridge by a helicopter. Getty Images via AFP / © Houthi Movement
With the Kalashnikov in hand, they attack the command bridge, where they encounter no resistance. Getty Images via AFP / © Houthi Movement
Filmed and taken hostage. The 25 crew members included Bulgarians, Ukrainians, Filipinos and Mexicans. Getty Images via AFP / © Houthi Movement
Furthermore, the maritime threat is rapidly expanding to include all Red Sea cargo bound for the “Zionist entity”: 40% of international maritime trade takes this route. Shipping companies are being forced to reroute their ships from the Suez Canal to go around the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa, doubling the cost of travel. The economic consequences are not long in coming: increase in insurance premiums and extension (ten days!) of rotations, general price increases and product shortages.
As the war in Ukraine promises to be endless and Israeli operations in Gaza continue, a new trouble spot is emerging in the south that we had imagined would emerge in Israel's north, Lebanon! The situation is so tense that in mid-December an international coalition formed under US auspices to attack Houthi missile launch bases.
Support for the Palestinian cause
Joe Biden's administration announced that it had reclassified the group to its blacklist of “terrorist entities” after removing it from it in 2021. The bombings that followed, decided after a wave of 21 shots, including 18 drones and 3 rockets fired in particular at an American warship, fail to calm the Houthis' enthusiasm.
Quite the opposite: “Death to America, death to Israel!” Curse on the Jews! Victory for Islam! »: On Friday, January 12, hundreds of thousands of Yemenis chanted the slogans that characterize Houthi rhetoric as they marched through the streets of the capital Sanaa, answering the authorities' call to demonstrate against the previous day's American-British attacks . Since October 7th, there have been large demonstrations every Friday in support of the Palestinian cause. But this Friday, January 12, the crowd is electrified, sure of its rights and ready to fight. American missiles go beyond that.
Flood of people in Sanaa, the day after a fifth round of American and British attacks on Houthi military sites. January 19th. via AFP / © Anadolu
The atavistic hatred of Israel and the United States
How could an insurgency that had previously been limited to a regional struggle acquire such aura and weapons in such a short time and become the spearhead of resistance against Israel and the United States? The Houthi movement was born in the mountains of Sa'ada province in northwestern Yemen and takes its name from a Zaydi family, a local Shiite movement.
This family is that of its first leader, Hussein Badreddine Al-Houthi, who died in 2004 and whose clan is partly made up of descendants of the Prophet Muhammad, who ruled the country more or less until 1962. The establishment of a republic in Yemen ends the privileges the Al-Houthi. In the decades that followed, the Zaydis, already a strong minority in Yemen, were socially degraded and Salafist schools sprung up all around them, funded by powerful Sunni neighbor Saudi Arabia.
In competition, they entered into resistance, founded a political party, forged a network of young believers united in atavistic hatred of Israel and the United States, and in the early 2000s bit the hamstrings of a despotic power, the “Ali Abdullah Saleh. Between 2004 and 2010, the government fought six wars against the Houthi insurgency. Each time the rebellion emerges stronger.
In 2011, the Arab Spring reached Yemen, Ali Abdallah Saleh was deposed, Houthi forces descended from their mountains, defeated entire brigades of the regular army, seized the arsenals and marched on until they captured the capital Sanaa in 2014. Massively dependent Due to their dependence on Iran, which supplies them with increasingly sophisticated weapons, the Houthis now control the entire northwest of the country, where 70% of the population lives, while the official government, supported by Saudi Arabia, has withdrawn to the city of Aden .
This boat was intercepted by American commandos off the coast of Somalia on January 11th and was carrying a shipment of Iranian weapons destined for the Yemeni rebels. ©UPI
The civil war between them has already claimed several hundred thousand victims and millions of displaced people. Almost ten years ago, the Houthis fought with rusty Kalashnikovs. Today they have ballistic missiles with a range of 2,000 kilometers, allowing them to reach the city of Eilat in Israel even if all the missiles they have fired so far have been intercepted.
Every American bomb that falls on them is a form of recognition, every missile a consecration of their status as martyrs.
In the areas they control, the Houthis have established a form of harsh and strict theocracy that is tiring of the local population, despite being indoctrinated from a young age. They broke unpopularity records on the eve of the Hamas attacks in Israel on October 7th. Since the beginning of the Gaza war, they have cleverly managed to sway public opinion in their favor by exploiting the pro-Palestinian sentiment of their population.
In a country where they are a very small minority (5 to 10%), Zaydi Muslims are gaining solid legitimacy by fighting America, Israel and imperialism. Every American bomb that falls on them is a form of recognition, every missile a recognition of their status as martyrs committed to the service of a just cause. For their part, the Saudis, who once waged war against the Houthis with missiles, are working behind the scenes on a diplomatic solution.
After moving closer to their arch-enemy Tehran in March last year, they hope to reach a ceasefire with the rebels in exchange for money. As for Iran, it is skillfully pulling the strings of this proxy game. After the start of the Israeli offensive in Gaza, a reaction from Hezbollah in Lebanon or Tehran itself was expected. No doubt due to fear of American or Israeli reprisals, this reaction did not occur or only occurred in a suppressed and controlled form.
The Houthis were much less exposed and received free weapons from the Islamic Republic. They took over the vacant role and became disruptive agents that were not expected. Thanks to them, Iran de facto controls the Bab al-Mandab Strait and the Suez Canal, as well as the Strait of Hormuz at the entrance to the Persian Gulf.
The consequences are concrete. While waiting for a hypothetical de-escalation, rebel attacks have already disrupted industrial activity, particularly in the automotive sector. Tesla, Elon Musk's company, announced on January 11 that it would halt production of electric vehicles at its German factory between January 29 and February 11 due to a shortage of Asian-made components.