An Anti-Israeli fever has been noticed these last days in Yemen, the foreign country with the longest and strongest involvement, interest and commitment in Somalia. The Yemenite allegations may be to some extent relevant to traditional ´fear´ of Israel, but there are some undeniable facts.
In an insightful background of the MV FAINA piracy crisis, Ecoterra states the following:
"Nyna Karpachyova, the Ukrainian parliament's human rights ombudsman, said that the real owner of the weapon-ship is an Israeli citizen with the name Vadim Alperin (alias Vadim Oltrena). It is extremely rare for ships to be registered to individual investors such as Mr Alperin. Vadim Alperin was further investigated to have acquired this ship from a Russian state auction during the era of Boris Yeltsin. The ship was refurbished and later conveniently registered to fly the Belize flag. Other ships by the same owner where found to be operating as casinos including one based in the Gulf to entertain rich Arab clients. Vadim Alperin was once quoted to be a "Mossad brother" running a number of clandestine front companies including one Kenyan Meat export company enjoying "good trade" with middle eastern countries, but covertly used for gathering intelligence from countries such as Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia".
(http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/78934 and
http://en.rian.ru/world/20081001/117372437.html).
In another analysis, Ecoterra quotes the Yemenite president Ali Abdallah Saleh stating that Somali pirates have been caught to have telephone links with the office of a former Israeli premier. More specifically:
"The foreign existence in the Red Sea will make nothing" president Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen said, "German, U.S. Dutch and French warships have been there and could not prevent pirates" he added. If the international community does not work on rebuilding Somalia, it will remain the one of the worst spots in the Horn of Africa. He highlighted that the direct reason of the piracy phenomenon is disintegration of the Somali State, calling on the international institutions to contribute to restructuring Somali institutions. President Saleh during the conference revealed also that the arrested terrorist cell proved to be linked to Israeli intelligence and in contact with the former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office (http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/78939).
In today´s Yemen Times (issue 1201, vol. 16, 23 – 26 October 2008) an article signed by Najeeb Al-Ghurbani renders in English the contents of an earlier article published in the Yemenite Arabic daily Al Tagheer (´the Change´). Although the title seems to apply to the present crisis (´Israeli strategy to occupy Bab Al-Mandab Strait´), the contents are of rather historical interest and cover mostly the period 1945 – 1975. This can be an effort to offer a historical background to the alleged present interest of Israel in the area for which we will have to expect further publications in the Yemenite media.
I republish the article integrally as it bears witness to the importance that Yemen attributes to the developments unfolding around the Hobyo scenery and the MV FAINA piracy.
Israeli strategy to occupy Bab Al-Mandab Strait
Najeeb Al-Ghurbani
http://yementimes.com/article.shtml?i=1201&p=opinion&a=3
The first President of the Zionist
government David Goryon expressed his state´s
aspirations to control the Red Sea in 1949. He
rather said, "We are besieged from land
frontiers while sea is the only passage to the
outside world and the only means for
establishing communication with other
continents".
The Zionist President indicated that
development of Éylat will be a primary
objective, which our efforts are progressing
toward achieving it. The Arab states
overlooking the Red Sea felt they are at risk,
which is the main reason why Egypt cooperated
with Saudi Arabia in 1950 for the sake of
granting numerous islands of strategic
significance to the former in order to control
entrance to Al-Aqaba Gulf.
The two islands, Teran and Sanafeer have
become under the Egyptian military control
with the aim of restricting the Israeli
navigation activities. Such a procedure was
taken as part of a package of Arab actions to
prevent expansion of the Israeli occupation,
thereby leading to the three-side aggression
against Egypt in 1956.
When Egypt imposed a blockade on the Zionist
state by occupying the Al-Aqaba Gulf, which
was the primary reason behind war against both
Egypt and Syria in June 5, 1967. The Zionist
state launched a wider military operation, via
which it occupied other new Arab lands.
At that time, the Arab states overlooking the
Red Sea realized the potential risk
threatening their security and stability. They
also realized how important the Red Sea is to
the Arab strategy, particularly in the Bab Al-Mandab
Strait, which constituted a vital location for
serving as a point of contact between the
Zionist State, and Africa and Southeast Asia.
During the time period 1970 – 1973, the
Zionist State increased its activities in the
Red Sea, thus posing a real threat to states
of the region, while Yemen prepared itself
within this time period as a party in the
Arab-Israeli conflict. That was evident
through a position adopted by the Yemeni
policy during the wars that took place between
the Arabs and Israel.
During a meeting at the Arab League, Yemen
presented the Zionist activities along the
Eritrean coastline and in the vicinity of Bab
Al-Mandab Strait. As a result, the Arab League
exerted precious efforts in this regard,
thereby discovering that the Zionist State is
renting from Ethiopia the Abu Al-Tair, Halib
and Dahlak islands and the lease was made in
cooperation with the United States.
Yemen and other states overlooking the Red Sea
were invited to a conference in the Saudi city
of Jeddah on July 15, 1972 and on July 11,
1973 during which participants discovered an
espionage network in the Tarim Island near Bab
Al-Mandab Strait.
The espionage network was in charge of
collecting information about southern entrance
to the Red Sea and monitoring any Israeli
ships, as well as protecting them and ensuring
them safe voyages through Bab Al-Mandab
Strait.
On Oct. 6, 1973, the Egyptian and Syrian
armies attacked Israel, and an Arab
coordination was conducted for the first time
in order to ensure the Arabs´ right to embody
their sovereignty over their territorial
waters, most notably the Red Sea. That was
also followed by closure of the Bab Al-Mandab
Strait on the face of the Zionist state, and
therefore Yemen sent troops to several islands
in the Red Sea to prevent any an Israeli
attempt aimed at occupying the islands.
