Yemeni protesters take shirts off in bid to prove they’re peaceful

Since the start of the unrest in Yemen, anti-government protesters have vowed that their movement is peaceful. In the southwest city of Taiz, male protesters decided to prove it by going shirtless to show they were not bearing arms.

Just last week, Taiz, the third-largest city in Yemen, was the scene of violent clashes between security forces loyal to President Ali Abdullah Saleh and anti-government tribal fighters. Eighteen people were reportedly killed, including eight civilians and five soldiers. According to local residents, the government’s security forces used heavy artillery in different parts of the city.

Protesters in Taiz say that although some armed groups have decided to take it upon themselves to defend protesters, the protest movement itself, which began nine months ago, is peaceful in nature.

These potos were taken by Abdelkarim Alzari in Taiz on November 9, and posted on his Facebook page.

“They protest with their shirts off to show they are unarmed and non-violent”

Abdelkarim Alzari is a freelance journalist in Taiz.

Since the start of the revolt in Yemen, young people in Taiz go out every day at 10 a.m. to protest in the streets. Very often, these protests are violently shut down by security forces. Thursday, yet another protester was killed, and several were wounded. They are now protesting with their shirts off to show they are unarmed and non-violent. I heard them chant ‘Get out!’ [referring to Yemen’s president] but also ‘We’ll kick you out with our bare chests!’. The protesters carried portraits of three men (see top photo) who they see as inspiration for their movement. The portrait on the right is of Abdul Fattah Ismail, a socialist leader who was assassinated in the 1990s. In the middle is the man we call ‘the Leader’. He was one of the leaders of the current protest movement; he was assassinated last week. On the left is Ibrahim Al Handy, a former president of Yemen, who was assassinated in 1977. He stood against tribalism, and many Yemenis feel the country was much more prosperous under his rule than it is today. Many of them now regret this time period.

Comments

Yemen Peaceful Protests

Submitted by Hani Almemary (not verified) on Sun, 13/11/2011 - 07:26.

The Entire World Knows that Protests in Yemen against the Dictator Saleh and his Regime are peaceful; However, Saudi and US interests in Yemen and the Region undermine Yemen Protests and keep them out of their revolutionary dimensions of Arab Spring. The entire world undergoes moral crisis as double standards as utilized in dealing with nations of Arab World.