On this episode we learn about the National Organization for Drone Victims, a new network seeking to give voice to the suffering of Yemenis affected by air strikes. We also learn about a program helping Yemeni-American youth in New York express themselves.
Since 2002, the US military and CIA have been responsible for a huge number of air strikes inside Yemen, targeting members of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. At least 15% of those killed in the strikes have been civilians. Because the US targeted killing program is operated in secret, researchers have struggled to compile accurate statistics on the strikes (we'll talk more about this in our next episode). Two organizations that try to track strikes and casualties are the Bureau for Investigative Journalism and the Long War Journal.
The Arab American Family Support Center, in Brooklyn, New York, provides a wide range of services to immigrant communities in Brooklyn. Visit their website here. Photos from the public screening of youth-made videos from the Center's "I need to be heard" program can be found here.
Check out the outstanding video for "Happy," produced by #SupportYemen and Gabreez Production.
And here's a bonus video: Guns 'n Roses' "Sweet Child O Mine" as performed by young Yemeni musicians Methal AlHammadi, Bashir Rami and Hamzah Alwazeer, at last year's TEDxSanaa event (sampled in this episode of the podcast).