Ibb and Al Houthi.. An inevitable clash on the anniversary of September 26

On social media, on the walls of houses and rooftops, in car songs, halls, streets and markets, Ibb Governorate is witnessing early preparations this year to celebrate the immortal anniversary of September 26, when the people of the governorate played a prominent role in overthrowing the Imamate. Therefore, it is natural for the celebrations in Ibb to be more ardent than others.

In contrast, the Iranian Houthi militia is aware of these manifestations, and feels the flames of revolution, the people’s resentment against it, their growing anger against it, and their overwhelming desire to sweep it from their governorate. It feels that it is racing against time to postpone the decisive explosion in its face.

Between the vigour of the people and the residents of the province against the Houthis, and the Houthi machine of oppression and brutality, on the sixty-second anniversary of the September 26 Revolution, a very complex battle is taking place. The residents of the province, especially school and university students, and the youth of the neighborhoods and villages, are preparing to organize unprecedented celebrations for the anniversary of the revolution, and the Houthi intelligence and its repressive apparatus are carrying out an increasing campaign of threats and kidnappings.

A Houthi leader named “Ghalab” last week warned the governorate’s schools against celebrating the revolution anniversary, and the Houthi repression, intelligence, security and preventive services kidnapped at least five people in the first week of the revolution anniversary who had pledged on social media to celebrate the anniversary of the republic’s revolution in a proper manner.

The Houthi brutality against the five kidnapped in its prisons was not done all at once, but rather over several days, meaning that the Houthi kidnapping of the first of them did not deter the other four from preparing publicly to celebrate September, especially in the As-Saddah district, which witnesses the largest level of celebrations annually and the most popular due to the affiliation of a number of September leaders to that district.

Therefore, it is not expected that the Houthi militia will be able to suppress the residents’ celebrations of this anniversary, which may soon turn into a revolution led by the residents themselves. There are many indications of this that the Houthi leaders are certain of, and their hearts are filled with fear of its signs, and their tyranny, like Pharaoh’s, pushes them to try to delay it.

In the last two years, and specifically since the truce, Ibb Governorate witnessed the first demonstration ever in the areas controlled by the Houthis, openly calling for the departure of the Houthis from the city. Slogans have been spread on the walls of the city for several months, peacefully threatening to overthrow the Houthis and remove them from power. The majority of these activities are led by younger youth, from teenagers to young men in their twenties, in addition to school students. Female students in schools and universities are an active element in these demonstrations.

It is clear that the youth of Ibb Governorate are watching the heroic acts of the Palestinian resistance in the West Bank, which shock the Zionists daily, individually and collectively, especially in refugee camps such as Jenin and others, and they are inspired by the values of struggle with the available capabilities on the individual and collective levels. Posts on social media indicate the growth of the phenomenon of collective action to organize September celebrations, reminiscent of the resistance battalions in the West Bank, which also operate openly there.