Burhan Ahmed
Introduction
In April 2023, a Saudi delegation was invited to visit the Houthi-held capital of Sana’a. Over the next couple of days, the media arm of the Houthi group (Ansar Allah) distributed a series of photographs to international and local media outlets featuring Mahdi al-Mashat, head of the Houthi Supreme Political Council, smiling warmly in a stately reception hall and shaking the hand of Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Yemen, Mohammed bin Saeed al-Jaber.[1] These photos were extensively reprinted, appearing on NBC,[2] Reuters,[3] BBC,[4] and Al-Arabiya,[5] as well as in local outlets from the Baltics[6] to Beijing.[7] This sleek image of Houthi diplomacy is far from the militant and adversarial rhetoric circulated by founder Hussein al-Houthi and the outrage voiced by insurgent forces over his killing in 2004. Understanding this radical revision is essential to grasping the dynamics of the complex conflict in Yemen.
This paper seeks to correct the larger trend of analysis focusing predominantly on Houthi military actions or political machinations while overlooking their media strategies. Interviews conducted in Yemen from 2020 to 2021 appear to show that Houthi propaganda can be surprisingly effective: around 80 percent of respondents living in Houthi-held territory in Hudaydah and Ibb said in one survey that they trust their local officials and believe that Houthi-run media, such as television network Al-Masirah, would not publish disinformation.[8] While such figures may reflect respondents’ fear of retaliation, they may also show the success of the Houthis’ long-term propaganda efforts.
No comments:
Post a Comment