There has been a massive four-day Peace conference in Sana'a, Yemen, conducted by Houthis of the Ansar Allah Government of Yemen, with delegates from numerous countries, including China and South Africa. Western politicians and activists who disagree with their countries' silence or active policy about the genocide in Gaza were also present. It seems to be the only international peaceful initiative in the region. See at the end of this article a discussion of whether Yemeni women were present at the conference or not.
Others on Candobetter have criticised my description of this conference as a "Peace" conference, saying it would be preferable to call it a "Solidarity" conference. I'm in two minds. I see the most recent Houthi attacks on Israel and on ships delivering to Israel as responses to Netanahu's breaking of the recent ceasefire agreements. The conference attempts to solve the current impasse, and seems to be the only one happening at an International level. Feel free to correct me in the comments section.
Yemen is the oldest civilisation on the Arabian Peninsula and has reputedly never been beaten in war. It contains many ancient monuments and was a principle trading route of the Nabateans of the ancient world. It is known for its construction of very complex multi-layer underground water supplies and multi-story appartments dating back to medieval times. There are identifiable tribal-regional alliances, with tension between Houthis in the North West and the Yemenis in the South, which were for a long time, separate republics. Between 2015 and 2023 Yemen was the scene of shocking war, political intervention and full-scale military intervention from Saudi Arabia, and US-NATO sanctions which saw tens of thousands, possibly hundreds of thousands of people starve there, before the Houthis defeated the Saudis. It is therefore astonishing that the Houthis seem to retain such fighting spirit. The geography, topography and geophysics of the region are really distinctive. See more on this and maps here. Check out the Geography Now video on Yemen which we have embedded too. (Small photo is of Irish politician Mick Wallace and Brigadier Yahya Saree at the conference.)
It is interesting to see how differently the conference is reported, depending on the political sympathies of the media organs. For instance, The Jerusalem Post called it a "pro-Iran conference," and referred to the Houthis as "The Houthi terror group," whereas the Middle East Research Institute called it a "Houthi pro-Palestinian conference."
"2 days ago — The Houthi terror group host a pro-Iran conference with Hamas leaders and Western activists, sparking calls to investigate potential terror ...", Houthi Pro-Palestinian Conference Attended By Westerners, The Jerusalem Post, https://www.jpost.com › Middle East, 23 March 2025.
"2 days ago — An international pro-Palestinian conference in the Yemen capital of Sanaa held by the Houthis was attended by politicians and activist from ...," MEMRI | Middle East Media Research Institute, https://www.memri.org › reports › international-pro-pale...
MEMRI's report, whilst noting that the Houthis are considered 'pro-Hamas terrorists' and to be 'backed by Iran,' by the United States, nonetheless gives the more detailed report of who was there and what they said.
"87 Papers Presented At Palestine Conference
The four-day conference, titled "Palestine: The Central Issue of the Ummah," was held under the slogan "You are not Alone" in Sana'a from March 22-25, 2025.
The event called for a submission of "research and scientific papers," which were presented in ten "parallel sessions" on the second day of the conference. According to the Saba' News Agency, 87 papers were presented in total.[1] Among these were papers reviewing the student protest movement in American universities, the "Zionist influence on the United States," and a paper exploring "the origins of the Jewish occupation and Allah's permission to resurrect those whom He will afflict with terrible torment until the Day of Judgment." Participants from Yemen, Palestine, Lebanon, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, India, Malaysia, and other countries reportedly delivered remarks on their work."
Were any Houthi or Yemeni women at the Conference?
The lack of explicit mentions doesn’t rule out women’s attendance. Given the Houthi context—mirroring Iran’s gender-segregated public events —it’s plausible women were present in a separate area, especially since the conference was pitched as a broad "Ummah" gathering. In Yemen, Houthi-organized rallies (e.g., pro-Palestine marches in 2023-2024) have historically included women, often in segregated groups, as seen in Al Jazeera footage from October 2023 showing women waving flags in Sana’a. The conference, with its religious framing by the Yemeni Scholars’ Association, might have followed suit, allowing women to participate in a designated space, possibly unfilmed due to 'modesty' norms. Iran’s influence—evident in the Houthi’s "Axis of Resistance" alignment—supports this, as Iranian TV often shows women in separate sections at similar events, like Friday prayers or political conferences, but rarely highlights them in coverage. For all the coverage of this conference, there seems to be absolutely no official account of whether women attended, beyond Clare Daley.
There is commentary on X.com regarding lack of women visible in the audience. It makes you think to see people criticising Clare Daley (Irish politician) for attending the conference, and speaking there, on grounds that there were no other women (although I did think that I saw one in an audience shot) and that Yemenis practice female circumcision. (It is prevented by law, but persists.) However the Irish Catholics were persecuted for centuries by the British, and their women also lived under an oppressive male-dominated culture, which, until 2018, denied them access to legal abortion. This history makes many among well-educated Irish very aware to the cruel effects of colonisation, and religious domination, and not inclined to support genocide. Bombing a country like Yemen or Palestine is not a way to enhance women's rights.
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