It is called Yemen and its nickname is Arabia Felix. For months now, Yemen has been burdened by the “vigor” of the peaceful demonstrations and protests, and the “fever” of the confrontations, the clashes, the arrests and the bloodbath. The reason: Ali Abdullah Saleh's stay in power. President Saleh exits the country while wounded on board of a Saudi medical plane to heal his heart and lungs and improve the appearance of his face and hands following the explosion of the Nahdain Mosque. However, he does not learn and does not listen to the political and medical advice. He continues to hold on to the chair and refuses to place the country's and the people's interests ahead of his own narrow interests. Saleh believes that his sons come first, his men second and his party third, without giving any importance to his people. The idle 2010 looks nothing like the active and vibrant 2011. The “panoramic” view in the Arab countries is changing and the people remain alert despite the governments' justifications. The people are confidently advancing to tear down the official forts and break the security fists with popular cheers of steel, under the major headline “the people want to change the regime.” The people showed patience to the point where patience grew bored of them. Consequently, they decided to stand proud in long queues to topple the dictatorships and rose to gain their freedom. The latter regimes for their part kept stalling and maneuvering, either in the name of democracy or under claims of reform. The final result was the absence of democracy, justice, reform and action. Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali quickly fled to Jeddah thanks to Bouazizi, while Hosni Mubarak “forcibly” stepped down upon a decision from the youth on Tahrir Square, after they arranged their ranks and yelled with one voice: “We are all Khaled Said.” As for the Libyan revolutionaries, they faced the killing machines, Gaddafi's mercenaries and his sons' “chauvinism” and won, thus lighting up Tripoli's night with pride, dignity and the smell of freedom. Gaddafi consequently disappeared and all that remained of him were the screams of the humiliated. For their part, the Syrians rose from Daraa and Jisr al-Shughour to undermine the “reserves” of Bashar al-Assad and his regime, as well as his mouthpieces in Damascus. They defied the “thugs” and the callers for submission and worship within the Ba'th Party, and the president is on his way to face Gaddafi's bleak fate. Yemen, the land of history and civilization, the Land of the Two Paradises, the Sheba civilization, the Minaean Kingdom and the Himyarite Kingdom is facing difficult times due to Saleh's insistence on occupying the presidential chair for an additional period of time. The Gulf position toward what is happening in Yemen is still not favoring the wishes and choices of the people. Some believe that the Gulf initiative was a mere gesture in form, considering that Yemen's children have grown white hair while awaiting Saleh's signing, in light of his rejection, disregarding, eating away at the flesh and drinking of the blood of this initiative. It is an insane insistence on power although the president saw death with his own eyes, along with the escalation of the armed confrontations. He is insisting on stalling and reiterating “you have missed the train” in a country “without a train” as Saudi Twitter user Mohammad Alomar tweeted on his page. Saleh has been governing Yemen for around 33 years. But they are not enough and he is still trying to outsmart the others and refusing to leave, although he is heading a presidential state in which power only belongs to the people. Saleh believes that Yemen is an exclusive “reserve” for him and his family, thinking that Yemen's women only gave birth to him and that no leader will succeed to him except from among his sons or from within his party because the counter keeps on going. It is simply a moment of insanity and selfish thinking, even if half the people were to suffocate and the other half were to get killed. Saleh “suddenly” returned to Sana'a under the pretext of arranging the situation, but he would be mistaken if he were to think that the Yemeni demonstrators will return to their homes after having drawn up the longest list of demands written with the blood of the martyrs. Saleh gives you the impression that Yemen is the victim of “duality,” i.e. the duality of unity and secession (the North and the South) and the duality of tribalism versus urbanism. What is certain is that Saleh is also mistaken because blood was spilt and retaliation in Yemen never dies, especially since eight months ago, the country has entered a critical and important revolutionary stage, following which the demonstrators will not go backward before Saleh and the figures in his regime leave. In the meantime, the brothers in the Gulf states are hoping that the parties in Yemen will be able to overcome the current crisis without paying a hefty price. But Saleh is not recognizing these wishes and not listening to the popular demands that shake the squares throughout the Yemeni provinces. What is certain is that the coming days will witness a major explosion affecting the Yemeni situation, in case Saleh were to delay the signing of the Gulf initiative and were to continue maneuvering and stalling to gain time. This requires the Gulf leaders to launch an active and pressuring diplomacy that would force the president to quickly step down, in order to protect Yemen, prevent its slide toward civil war and keep it from being led into the tunnel of the “unknown fate” in a state whose pillar is the presence of weapons in the homes of the big and small.
