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DUBAI: With a floundering economy and growing restrictions on personal freedoms, 10 years of Houthi rule has left its mark on Yemen’s ancient capital, Sanaa, where some quietly long for how things once were.
The Houthis, a radical political-military group from Yemen’s northern mountains, have imposed strict rule over the large swath of Yemen under their control, covering two-thirds of the population.
Since the militia took power in Sanaa in 2014, after long-running protests against the government, the country has gone “back 50 years,” sighed Yahya, 39, who, like many, prefers not to share his full name for fear of reprisals.
“Before, we thought about how to buy a car or a house. Now we think about how to feed ourselves,” added Abu Jawad, 45.
Yemen, mired in one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, remains divided between the Houthis and the government, now based in the port city of Aden.
The Houthis have tightened their control over many aspects of daily life.
Sanaa once had “political parties, active civic organizations, NGOs ... coffee shops where males and females can sit together,” said researcher Maysaa Shuja Al-Deen of the Sanaa Center for Strategic Studies.

Before, we thought about how to buy a car or a house. Now we think about how to feed ourselves.

Abu Jawad, Sanaa resident

“Now the social and political atmosphere has become very closed,” she added.
Men and women are segregated in public, and Houthi slogans like “Death to Israel!” are plastered everywhere, alongside photos of Houthi leaders, Deen said.
Since 2015, Amnesty International has documented numerous cases of activists, journalists, and political opponents who were convicted on “trumped-up” espionage charges.
A wave of arrests in June targeted aid workers, including 13 UN staff who are still detained.
Majed, the director of a Yemeni non-governmental organization, said he fled Sanaa for Aden before taking refuge with friends in Jordan, leaving behind his wife and three children.
“I decided without overthinking. Leaving was a risky choice, but it was the only one,” the 45-year-old said from Amman, where he hopes to find a job.
According to Deen, a Yemeni based outside the country, it is now difficult to go against the ruling authorities or even fail to show support.
“At the very beginning, being silent was an option. Now, it’s not even an option,” she said.
“You have to show that you are loyal to the Houthi ideology.”
The Houthis are adept at using social and traditional media, such as their Al-Masirah TV station, to spread propaganda, and have even revised school textbooks and changed the calendar.
The traditional holiday of Sept. 26, which celebrated the 1962 revolution against the former imam, has been moved to Sept. 21, the day the Houthis took power.
Some Yemenis chafe at the change. “Even if they forbid us from celebrating officially, we will celebrate it in our hearts,” said Abu Ahmed, 53, a Sanaa resident.
However, support for the Houthis’ attacks since November against Israel and ships in the Red Sea, in solidarity with Palestinians during the Israel-Hamas war, seems to be unanimous.
“The Yemenis have always been pro-Palestinian,” said author and Yemen specialist Helen Lackner, highlighting the hundreds of thousands of people who join the Houthis’ weekly demonstrations in Sanaa.
Despite their popularity among ordinary people, the maritime attacks have halted negotiations to end the war.
Rim, 43, who has lived with her family in ��������Ƶ for nine years, has not been able to return to Sanaa to bury her father or attend the weddings of her brothers and sisters.
“I dream of getting my life back,” said the 43-year-old. In the meantime, she is content to talk to her children about her country.
“I don’t want them to forget that they are Yemeni.”

WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden said Friday he was working to allow people to return to their homes on the Israeli-Lebanon border, in his first comments since a wave of explosions targeting the Hezbollah militia sent tensions soaring.
Biden added that it was crucial to keep pushing for a Gaza ceasefire to underpin regional peace, despite a media report that his administration had given up hope of securing a truce before he leaves office in January.
Speaking at the start of a cabinet meeting in the White House, Biden told reporters he wanted to “make sure that the people in northern Israel as well as southern Lebanon are able to go back to their homes, to go back safely.”
“And the secretary of state, the secretary of defense, our whole team are working with the intelligence community to try to get that done. We’re going to keep at it until we get it done, but we’ve got a way to go,” Biden said.
It was Biden’s first reaction since the violence shifted dramatically from Gaza to Lebanon, with thousands of Hezbollah operatives’ pagers and walkie-talkies exploding earlier this week.
The blasts — which Hezbollah blamed on Israel — killed 37 people including children and wounded thousands more. Israel has not commented on the explosions.
Months of near-daily border clashes have killed hundreds in Lebanon, most of them fighters, and dozens in Israel, forcing thousands on both sides to flee their homes.
Biden also denied that a ceasefire to end Israel’s war in Gaza following the Hamas October 7 attacks was unrealistic, following a Wall Street Journal report that officials believe it is now unlikely.
“If I ever said it’s not realistic, we might as well leave. A lot of things don’t look realistic until we get them done. We have to keep at it,” Biden said.