Since the start of the war in the Gaza Strip, the hijacking of ships by a Shiite rebel group Houthis brought control of trade on one of the busiest routes on the planet. Shipping companies are looking for alternatives while… USA has just created a military coalition to try to eliminate the threat. Meanwhile, the Pirates, a Shiite Houthi rebel group that controls large areas Yemen They enjoy the moment at parties and traditional dance exhibitions on board the boats.

The Galaxy Leader, a Bahamian-flagged cargo ship owned at least in part by an Israeli tycoon, has become a tourist attraction after it was attacked by Houthi forces on November 19 and diverted to port. Hodeidah, in northern Yemen and with the largest port facilities in the country. Since then, it has remained moored at one of the docks, to the ire of the population. Drum videos TIK Tak The details of the festive life taking place on board the ship became known.

Chewing khat

It is a stimulant that causes greater sociability, agitation, loss of appetite, and euphoria.

In one scene, one of the Galaxy Leader’s crew members, identified as the captain, chews Khat or catthe one dubbed “Yemen coca”a drug widely cultivated and used in Yemen in meetings and group events for communication, and to reduce fatigue, appetite, or improve attention.

Plantations of this plant, which contains the alkaloid cathinone, a stimulant that causes increased sociability, agitation, loss of appetite and euphoria, and is similar to amphetamines, have increased dramatically in Yemen in recent decades and represent a thriving business in the country. in the Arabian Peninsula, devastated by more than a decade of civil war, famine and diseases such as cholera and diphtheria.

The captain looks happy, chewing a plant and enjoying a lute concert. Another onboard entertainment is a traditional dance show on the deck of the Galaxy Leader, wearing the usual Houthi attire and matching dagger belt. The Houthi rebels maintain the traditions of the north of the country in their clothing: they wear a “tub,” a light-colored tunic; dark jacket; brown shawl on shoulders; and the “jambiya,” a curved dagger, adjustable at the waist with a wide decorative belt.

Other images show the kidnappers smoking. hookah (water pipe) or trample imaginary US or Israeli flags with sandals, insulting the enemy. 17 Galaxy Leader crew members are Filipinos, while the remaining eight are citizens of Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine and Mexico. The perpetrators of the kidnapping assure that they will not harm the crew, who are stoically awaiting the outcome of the incident.

Threat to 10% of world trade

The Houthis, or Ansar Allah (“Guerillas of Allah”, the official name of the group), are a Shia Islamist movement that has controlled large areas of Yemen since 2014. He was born in the early 1990s to school summer camps that preached peace and a return to the essence of Zaidism, a branch of Shiite Islam that venerates Zaid bin Ali, the great-grandson of Imam Ali, who rebelled against the Umayyads in 740. when its capital was still in Damascus, many years before the last survivor fled to Cordoba – and paid for his courage with martyrdom.

Resilience to failure is in their DNA.. They come from the mountains of northern Saada – the capital of the province of the same name, 1800 meters high – and from there they managed to dominate Yemen. In just three decades, they have become the centerpiece of a country that is a labyrinth of courtly factions, from southern separatists to the local Muslim Brotherhood to the hosts of al-Qaeda and the Islamic State.

Houthis threaten new attacks

Tempered by resistance and the Western blockade they have suffered since 2014, the Houthis are again testing their resolve by threatening the Red Sea route. More than 10% of world trade passes through the Red Sea every year. Some shipping companies have chosen to avoid the Red Sea, replacing it with routes that are more time- and economically expensive. Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd started the journey, joined by the oil company BP, temporarily canceling the passage of its ships through this area. The Houthis have also launched missiles and drones against southern Israel and against ships flying the flag of the Jewish state or owned by Israeli companies in the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, which connects the sea to the Gulf of Aden.

This is a very serious threat not only to Israel, but to the whole world.

“This is a very serious threat not only to Israel, but to the whole world. While Hamas and Islamic Jihad are holding Israeli civilians hostage, the Houthis are holding the entire world hostage. “This demonstrates the danger that the Iranian regime poses to the region and the world,” he comments. Independent Avi Melamedformer senior Israeli intelligence official.

On the streets of Yemen, the capture of the Galactic Leader has caused euphoria. Added to the stream of visitors marching around the ship are live broadcasts on board or the creation of replicas of the ship that circulate around the country. The Houthis want to continue their attacks. “The coalition formed by the United States is designed to protect Israel and militarize the sea without justification and will not prevent Yemen from continuing its legitimate operations in support of the Gaza Strip,” the Houthi spokesman said. Mohamed Abdulsalamon his official X, formerly Twitter, account.

“The United States allowed itself to support Israel by forming an alliance (…) The peoples of the region have full legitimacy to support the Palestinian people. And Yemen has taken it upon itself to defend the rights of Palestinians and confront the enormous injustice in the Gaza Strip,” Abdulsalam added. “Yemen’s naval operations are aimed at supporting the Palestinian people in resisting aggression and the siege of Gaza, and They are not a show of force or a challenge to anyone.. “Whoever wants to expand the conflict must accept the consequences of their actions,” he warned, foreseeing more episodes of hijackings in the Red Sea.

International Trade Receipt

Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin called on Tuesday from Manama for global unity to stop insurgent attacks that are “already affecting the global economy.” At a virtual ministerial meeting in the capital of Bahrain with ministers, defense leaders and senior representatives from 43 countries, as well as the European Union and NATO, Austin reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to freedom of navigation and the free flow of trade in the region’s critical sea lanes.

“The attacks are already impacting the global economy and will continue to threaten commercial shipping unless the international community comes together to collectively address this problem,” he said, according to a U.S. Department of Defense statement, and repeated his condemnation of insurgent attacks on trade as “unprecedented and unacceptable.”

According to US Navy Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of the international navy’s Combined Maritime Forces (CMF), the Houthis have carried out “more than 100 unmanned aerial systems (drones) and ballistic missile attacks in one direction.” 10 merchant ships with participation from over 35 different countries.”