Saeed Al-Suraihi Okaz Social media websites and apps are replete with messages advising people to be careful when dealing with Yemeni expatriates in the Kingdom. These warnings can only be described as irresponsible toward our Yemeni brothers who have been peacefully living among us for a long time. Such messages hurl accusations and false allegations about Yemeni expatriates who are too ethical and integral to commit anything that may harm the Kingdom or its people. These unacceptable messages are aimed at incriminating Yemenis in the Kingdom by accusing them of attempting to harm the health, safety and lives of Saudi citizens who consider them as real brothers and reliable friends. The warnings are cautioning us not to deal with Yemenis or eat at their restaurants lest we may be poisoned. These warnings are not only disgraceful to the Yemenis but to us if we believe or forward them. We trust the Yemenis wholeheartedly and consider them to be very close to us. If we ever became suspicious of them, this will simply mean that we, ourselves, are unethical and not worthy of their trust and friendship. If we ever doubt the good intentions of Yemeni expatriates, whom we trust and feel a strong affinity toward, this will be a sign of corruption and a lack of manners on our part. It is also an indication that we have fallen into the trap of fear and panic which is not worthy of the Saudis whose country is leading an Arab and regional coalition to ward off the danger of the Houthi rebels and restore legitimacy to Yemen. The Saudi-led Operation “Decisive Storm” has achieved great victories in a short time span and has been greatly admired and widely supported by almost the entire world. But it is not right or proper to use the ongoing fighting in Yemen as a pretext to mistrust the Yemenis living among us. The brotherly Yemeni Arab people know quite well that the military operation, with its razor-sharp airstrikes and naval blockade, is not against them or their country but against the Houthi militias and gangs. The Houthis have tried to hold the country to ransom, impose their hegemony on all its territories and deprive its people of their God-given right to choose their own legitimate system of rule and elect their political leaders of their own free will. The Saudi-led operation is not against Yemen or its brotherly people. Rather it is against the enemies of Yemen who plotted to give the reigns of Yemen to another country with evil intentions toward the Arab region particularly the Gulf area. The Kingdom is fighting the Houthis to free Yemen from their grip and liberate the will, sovereignty and independence of the Yemeni people. The Yemeni expatriates living among us and the entire Yemeni people know very well that the war launched by the Kingdom and its allies is aimed at restoring legitimacy to Yemen and achieve the aspirations of its people who took to the streets to bring down Ali Abdullah Saleh and his defunct regime. The Yemenis also organized large demonstrations in all towns and cities asking for the withdrawal of the Houthis who occupied these areas by force. Therefore, there is no meaning to the warnings being circulated on social media against Yemeni expatriates. The objective of these warnings is to shake the mutual trust between us and the Yemenis living among us. This mutual trust can never be shaken because all Yemeni expatriates know that Operation “Decisive Storm” is not against them or their country but against their enemy.
