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On December 20, 2023, the leader of Yemen's Ansar Allah Houthi Movement, Abd Al-Malik Al-Houthi, delivered a televised address two days after the United States announced Operation Prosperity Guardian, a recently formed U.S. naval coalition tasked with safeguarding international shipping routes in the Red Sea from Houthi attacks.[1]
Al-Houthi: "Global Jewish Zionism" Drives War Against Muslims
In his speech, Al-Houthi railed against "global Jewish Zionism," which he identified as the source of "aggression" against not only Palestinians, but also against the Islamic ummah as a whole:
"The Jewish Zionists are a bloc of hatred, severe hostility, and criminality, who are totally devoid of every and all human feeling," he said. "America and Israel are both an arm of global Jewish Zionism, which targets the Islamic ummah and human society with its brutal conspiracies."
Al-Houthi further claimed that "Jewish Zionists" plot against Muslims, rallying support in the U.S., Europe, and elsewhere for their supposed anti-Muslim designs:
"Those who move America to support Israel in what it is doing to the Palestinian people are the American Zionists, the Jewish-Zionist lobby which moves America even against its own interests," he claimed. He continued elsewhere: "The British [Zionist] movement, which took the lead in establishing the Zionist entity from the beginning, today moves continuously in support of the Zionist enemy. We also see support for the Zionist movement in some European countries including France, Italy, and Germany, each of which has a dark history and a heinous criminal record. The regime and governments that support the entity of the enemy have a black criminal record and are known for their moral and ethical bankruptcy, having removed morals and values from their political dictionary. When the Jewish lobby moves Western regimes, it makes them deny even liberal values, so that they act as if they are crazy, without any human values, and as a product of the laws of the jungle."
A Warning To The U.S.: America "Will Face Something More Severe Than What It Faced In Afghanistan Or What It Suffered In Vietnam"
Al-Houthi also addressed the announcement of Operation Prosperity Guardian, arguing that it "threatens the maritime navigation of all countries for the sake of the Israeli enemy and in the service of Israel." He also suggested that the naval coalition comes as the "Zionists of America strive to implicate [the U.S.] in what is not in its interests, only what is in service to Israel."
He warned: "Any American targeting of our country, we will target it and we will make American ships, interests, and navigation a target for our missiles, drones, and military operations."
Al-Houthi also directly threatened the U.S. against future escalation, stating: "If America sends its soldiers to Yemen, it will know, Allah willing, that it will face something more severe than what it faced in Afghanistan and what it suffered in Vietnam."
[1] Ansarollah website, December 20, 2023.
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