علي ناصر قايد البخيتي علي البخيتي، محامي وكاتب سياسي يمني، ولاجئ سياسي مؤخرا في بريطانيا، من مواليد قرية الملحاء مديرية الحدا محافظة ذمار عضو سابق في مؤتمر الحوار الوطني اليمني والمتحدث باسم أنصار الله "الحوثيين" في المؤتمر ساند الحوثيين بقوة وكان رأس الحربة وأبرز وجوههم في معركتهم السياسية والإعلامية تغير موقفه منهم بزاوية ٣٦٠ درجة من حامل راية الجماعة إلى مناهض لهذا المشروع ليس هذا فحسب بل دخل في معركة مع الثلاثي المقدس في المجتمعات العربية، تابوهات الدين والعادات والتقاليد . . **This is a...

Independent Yemeni film and theatre director Amr Gamal returns to the podcast to share more about his work and love for Aden. He talks about the power of comedy, and says, “When you mix tragedy with comedy it’s easier to swallow.” Amr also shares how, as he’s taken his work out of the country, he’s learned that, “People everywhere can understand your art if it’s from your heart.” He speaks candidly about his devotion to the city of Aden and his commitment to do whatever he can to give Aden...

After nearly all the theaters, cinemas, and stages in Aden were either shut down or destroyed following Yemen’s civil war that ended in 1994, Amr Gamal went on to become an independent Yemeni film and theatre director. He wrote and directed 10 theatre productions between 2005 and 2014 and his play Maak Nazel became the first Yemeni production to be performed in Europe. In 2018, Amr produced his first feature film, 10 Days Before the Wedding. The film premiered in Aden during the summer of...

Alex Williams, host of Yemen News, joins Affan Syed’s podcast to continue bringing awareness about the Yemen crisis to a global audience. He describes the multiple disease outbreaks that Yemen has faced since the outbreak of the war and continues to celebrate Yemeni resilience. Alex says the real story of Yemen is the story of Yemenis who continue rising up day after day in the face of struggle. While wealthy countries continue fomenting hostility in one of the world’s poorest countries, and...

Alex Williams, host of Yemen News, talks more about different factions taking advantage of the war in Yemen and asks us to consider where all the weapons being sold to the warring parties really end up. He also describes Yemen’s tribal society as well as the impact of the war on tribal values and continues the theme of Yemeni resilience, saying, “Yemenis can’t be defeated because they have nothing to lose.” Alex and his hosts urge listeners not to take a political side, but to take a...

Alex Williams, host of Yemen News, takes a turn answering the questions as he breaks down the impact of war, cholera, and COVID-19 on Yemeni families. He tells us how the war in Yemen started over five years ago, and describes the resilience of the Yemeni people through the conflict. Alex also points out that the ongoing bombing campaign is senseless since the Hadi government that it seeks to restore to power lacks real legitimacy. He calls for global pressure on all governments arming the...

Hadil Al-Ashwal is the Founder & Managing Director of the MENA Advocates for Gender Equality. Born and raised in Yemen, she has lived in different countries in the Middle East, Europe, and North America. Hadil holds an MBA from Cardiff Metropolitan University where she was selected as a representative, exemplary woman to inspire others. Currently, she works as a consultant at The World Bank. According to Hadil Yemeni women have gained strength from their struggle against gender inequality...

Yemeni Boxer Khalid Twaiti has been fighting professionally for over three years and has a 6-0 record in his professional bouts, with three knockouts under his belt. Khalid is motivated by the resilience of the Yemeni people. Khalid says Yemeni’s have the “heart of a lion” and seeks to use his boxing career to represent Yemenis inside Yemen who can’t represent themselves. Khalid says, “With everybody’s help, not just me, we can help Yemenis be in a better...

Shroq Al Ramadi is the founder of Takween Culture Club, which exists to revive Hadhrami culture. Shroq speaks about the importance of these efforts during a time of political conflict and war that has threatened to strip Hadhrami society of its traditions and cultural identity. Her efforts to research and preserve Hadhrami culture include her graduation project, which is a plan for the Hadhrami House Museum for Art. Although life-saving aid is prioritized in a time of war, Shroq reminds us...

Mohammed Murshed is a professional artist from Yemen who addresses Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) through his work. He returns to the podcast to describe his personal experiences in Yemen’s ancient places and challenge Yemenis to spend more time researching their own history. He shares about his experiences of being pressured to conform while growing up in Yemen, and how Yemen has been weakened by ideologies and theologies that divide Yemenis rather than uniting them. He urges Yemenis...

Mohammed Murshed is a professional artist from Yemen who works with paint, sculpture, video, sound, programming for art, and video games. His work addresses the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) that he experiences as a result of living through the war in Yemen, and how he's processing its effects. He is on a journey to being healed of his trauma and wants to shine a light, and bring awareness to the worst humanitarian crisis in the world today, the situation that his home country of...

Tareq Hassan is the Chairman of the International Youth Council -Yemen (IYCY), a leading organization in Yemen active in WASH, Nutrition, Food Security, Health, Shelter, Protection, Governance, Education, Peace, Energy, Environment & Climate Change as well as Youth Development. He was elected as the UN Environment (UNEP) Regional Facilitator for Major Groups and Stakeholders for the West Asia Region in 2015, 2017, and 2020. Tareq shares with us about the importance of integrating...

Amir Al-Deen Abdulmalik Jahaf is the son of academics who graduated high school as a top student and was awarded a scholarship to study medicine in Egypt. However, when he returned to visit his family in Yemen on summer break, he ended up being detained without trial for two years and three months in hidden prisons. Amir shares his story of resilience with us, and how he managed to survive his harrowing ordeal and recover his well-being. He also shares with us about men who did not survive...

Yemeni writer Abobakr Alfaqeeh returns to help us understand the new controversial tax being imposed by the Houthi government as well as the Houthi government’s policies surrounding Covid-19. He talks about the suffering of ordinary Yemeni people living under governments without democratic legitimacy. In the absence of a government of the people, by the people, and for the people, Abobakr tells us how the solidarity of the Yemeni people has given him hope. Instead of waiting for the...

Abobaker Al Faqeeh has worked for both local and international media outlets, including the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. In a recent piece, he exposed how both the Houthis and the Saudi-led coalition have been actively recruiting and using child soldiers in the Yemen conflict. In this episode, he shares more about the intentional strategies that are being used by Yemen’s warring parties to target children and mobilize them on to the battlefield. He also highlights the factors...

Emad Al Akhali, the Yemeni rapper and hip-hop artist known as YemeKnight shares insights about hip hop culture in Yemen. He tells us how hip-hop culture came to Yemen and how Yemen influenced him as a poet and as a deep thinker. Emad tells us that Yemenis get a “hit of reality” early as they are confronted with issues of life and death at a young age, much like the culture that birthed hip hop. He also describes his methods of telling the Yemeni story through hip-hop by mixing English with...

Nada Al Ahdal began her activism in 2013 when she was 10 years old by refusing to be a victim of under-age marriage. She fled home to avoid an arranged marriage at the age of 11 and has since established a foundation for the protection of children's rights. Nada has been nominated for the Nobel Prize for Children and works on a myriad of issues through her foundation, including the recruitment of child soldiers, underage marriage, and child labour. In this episode, Nada tells us that without...

Nasser Arrabyee, a veteran journalist, has spent the last 20 years telling the stories of Yemenis, including the Yemenis held by the United States in Guantánamo prison who have never been given due process or brought to trial. This includes the story of Adnan Farhan Abdul Latif, one Yemeni held at Guantanamo who actually was recommended for release by a US court, but never made it home to Yemen after he was found dead in his prison cell. In this episode, Nasser talks about how the Yemeni...

Thuraya Dammag represented the Independent Women at the National Dialogue Conference that followed Yemen’s revolution. She was also the coordinator for the International Federation of Reporters in Yemen and has worked as a reporter and editor for many media outlets including the Saba News agency, and many news websites and local newspapers. Currently she works as the editor and chief of Yemen Future website. In this episode, Thuraya talks about the struggles and importance of maintaining...

Haifa Subai portrays the devastating effects of war in her art on the streets of Yemen. Influenced by the armed conflict she has witnessed in her country since the start of the Arab Spring until now, Haifa launched an advocacy campaign called Silent Victims, which highlights women’s and children’s issues in the time of war. Her special exhibition called “War & Human” is featured at the Singapore Art Museum. In this episode, Haifa shares how her supportive family environment helped her to...

Shiran Avraham is an Israeli singer-songwriter with Yemeni roots. Avraham talks about her grandmother’s journey from Yemen to Israel and how the stories her family told her about Yemen impacted her identity and her work. Although she found it difficult to connect with Arabic music while her peers were listening to the modern pop music of the 90s, she fell in love with it once she connected with her grandmother and learned about her roots. This added another rich layer to the already diverse...

Ruba Nasr is a multilingual singer and songwriter from Aden. She sings in Turkish, French, English and is now working on a modern take of Yemeni folk songs. Ruba’s journey started when she was encouraged by a teacher who overheard her singing during her lunch break at school and now Ruba finds encouragement from an emerging community of Yemeni artists and musicians. Ruba says that a key to success for Yemeni women musicians is being able to tune out negative feedback and surround themselves...

Alaa shares about her personal journey growing up in Yemen and eventually founding the Yemeni Feminist Movement. Frustration over women being consistently sidelined through Yemen’s political uprisings and war, as well as the toxic relationships between men and women in Yemen, inspired Alaa to take action. She calls us all, and especially Yemeni families, to come together and work to have healthy relationships and build communities that support the aspirations of women and men. By doing this,...

Mazen has just under a quarter of a million subscribers on YOUTUBE. He shares with us his journey from filming on his smart phone, to now working on his weekly show called “Fiuz” at Sadeem Studios. Mazen says sometimes his messaging can be counter culture and an uphill struggle, and his messaging can sometimes come with risks to him and his team. Yet, he has fun, and knows that social media has not only kept him sane throughout the 5 years of war, but can be used to send out lifesaving...

Nadine Das is a fashion and beauty influencer from Yemen with over 100,000 followers on Instagram, found at @Nadinedasofficial. Nadine also has a PhD in Linguistics and she runs a software business hand in hand with her husband in India. In this episode, we hear about Nadine’s journey and the struggles and challenges she overcomes to achieve her dreams. Along the way she breaks some social norms, while at the same time holding on to her Yemeni roots that have played a positive role in shaping...