Solomon’s hoopoe is absent from Yemen, whose current circumstances require a miracle.
How will Yemen recover its stability at a time when miracles have ceased, the scene is blurry and the road difficult after the country got a new and strange political system imposed by force and fraud?
Time doesn’t permit writing about Yemen’s literature, history and wisdom. It was the first home to the Arabs who lost many eras after the hoopoe.
No one realises the consequences of the current events in Yemen, not even those who met last Friday at the presidential palace in Sana’a for the establishment of a new set-up in a country torn by diverse forces and ideologies.
Where is Yemen heading? This is a question difficult to answer even for the Houthis, who are ruling the country with armed force and an imported ideology.
Since September 2014, when they were determined to impose their power and besiege the government, they have lost confidence to run the country, leading Yemen to a complicated situation that is hard to understand and has no quick solution.
There were betrayals, sold consciences and failed efforts, including the Gulf initiative, which was signified by the person of President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi, who represented a fragile consensus among conflicting parties.
There are those stirring up trouble in order to push Yemen towards a situation in which the country will become a haven for opportunist forces and terrorists targeting the entire Arab region and its regimes. In addition, the secessionist movement in the south threatens to divide Yemen into two.
Whoever points out that underlying the conflict is the ideological clash between the Salafis and Houthis, who are directed from Tehran, also knows that many powers are looking for influence in Yemen for strategic reasons.
The Gulf states could do nothing at this stage except meet US Secretary of State John Kerry during the Munich Security Conference to shape a global response to the conflict. The only effect of the Gulf intervention was to raise the issue to the global level and produce a warning of urgent action, probably military, depending on the circumstances and a clear indication from the US that it opposes the Houthis’ acquisition of power and dismantling of government institutions.
The situation in Yemen affects all the parties involved and it has worsened due to the lack of a clear vision.
The Houthis lack confidence in managing the country, and instead of wielding authority are being authoritarian. They are rejoicing in their victory without elaborating on how they will manage a country like Yemen. They keep waiting for orders from Iran, which highlights their political allegiance to that country.
However, Yemen’s future cannot be based on a narrow vision that excludes all but on faction of Yemeni society, and on seizure of power by fabricating events, buying consciences and encouraging hostility between different groups.
Wisdom is needed to solve the Yemen issue. Didn’t Prophet Solomon, despite miracles, correct the creed of Sheba with wisdom, through his letter to its Queen, Bilkis?
Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said that wisdom comes from Yemen. Developments in Yemen require more than ever wisdom and prudence on the part of all the parties involved, not emotions or shows of force. Who will bring back this wisdom?
The author is a columnist
