Mafraj Radio Episode 10: Remembering al-Karamah, Panel Discussion

On this special episode, we mark the third anniversary of the day known as Jum‘at al-Karamah, or the Friday of Dignity, on which regime forces massacred unarmed protesters in San‘a's Change Square. The massacre, which is powerfully documented in the Oscar-nominated film Karama Has No Walls, became a turning point in the Yemeni Revolution of 2011. We're screening films about the Revolution as part of our inaugural International Film & Arts Festival. At last weekend's Festival event in Washington, DC, we invited a panel of expert special guests to join us for a discussion of the films, the Revolution, and its aftermath. This episode of the podcast features excerpts from that fantastic discussion panel.

About our guests:

Amal Basha is a prominent human rights activist, and the head of the Sisters' Arab Forum. She was a delegate to Yemen's National Dialogue Conference, and served as spokesperson for the NDC's technical committee. She is also the mother of activist-filmmaker Ammar Basha, whose documentary series Days in the Heart of the Revolution is featured in our Festival, and the aunt of Mohammed Albasha, below.

Mohammed Albasha is the spokesperson for the Yemeni embassy in Washington. He is one of the most visible--and controversial--public faces of the Yemeni state.

Sama'a al-Hamdani is a political analyst and researcher, based in Washington, DC. She writes one of the most respected blogs on Yemeni affairs, and tweets at @Yemeniaty.

Laura Kasinof is a freelance journalist, writer and researcher whose work focuses on the Middle East. She was the Yemen correspondent for the New York Times during the anti-government protests of 2011, as part of the Arab spring. Laura’s first book, Don’t be Afraid of the Bullets, about her experience in Yemen, is to be published in Fall 2014 by Arcade. She tweets at @kasinof.

Nabilah al-Zubair is a prominent Yemeni activist, and served as a delegate to the National Dialogue Conference.

Mafraj Radio Episode 9: Yemen's humanitarian crisis, human rights issues, and al-Mahrah's experiment in democracy

On this episode we discuss Yemen's dire humanitarian crisis with UNOCHA's Trond Jensen. We also get a rundown of key human rights issues from Belkis Wille, Yemen researcher for Human Rights Watch, and learn about an exciting experiment in local democracy taking place in al-Mahrah, Yemen's easternmost governorate. 

UPDATE: The second segment of this episode, my interview with Belkis Wille of Human Rights Watch, includes a short discussion on the international community's repeated threats of sanctions against spoilers in Yemen. A few days after the episode aired, the UN Security Council voted unanimously to adopt a resolution setting up a sanctions committee. Read about that here.

UNOCHA (United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) is responsible for coordinating international responses to humanitarian crises around the world. In Yemen, the office--headed by Trond Jensen--works to coordinate the efforts of more than 100 local and international NGOs to address Yemen's humanitarian crisis. Yemenis are suffering from food insecurity, lack of access to water, and severe poverty. In addition, several hundred thousand Yemenis have been displaced from their homes by conflict in the past decade. Our interview with Trond Jensen looks at the scope of the crisis, and challenges facing OCHA as it works to respond. You can find OCHA's website for Yemen here, with links to the recently-released Humanitarian Response Plan for 2014.

A few of the NGOs working in Yemen are listed below. While the international community will almost certainly fail to fully fund this year's Humanitarian Response Plan, you can do your part by donating to these organizations.

Human Rights Watch does an excellent job of tracking a number of important human rights issues in Yemen. Our interview with HRW researcher Belkis Wille covers President Hadi's failure to hold members of the former regime responsible for past abuses, the president's lack of control over the military, and the ongoing effort to raise the legal age for marriage and end child marriage in Yemen. You can also find Belkis Wille on Twitter. You can find all of HRW's reports on Yemen here.

Dr. Elisabeth Kendall is a senior research fellow at Pembroke College, Oxford. She spoke to us about her work on a groundbreaking public opinion survey recently undertaken in Yemen's easternmost governorate, al-Mahrah, and about the subsequent establishment of a new majlis, or representative council. This experiment in grass-roots democracy is particularly remarkable for the fact that al-Mahrah is extremely remote and sparsely populated. In 2011 the estimated population of the entire governorate was only 108,000. The new Mahri Majlis has a website, which is updated in Arabic and English, where you can find the Majlis code of conduct, and more information about how the council was formed.

Mafraj Radio Episode 8: Revisiting al-Hirak, and meeting the future of Yemeni music

On this episode we talk with journalist Iona Craig about the complex reality of the Southern Movement, and we meet Ahmed Alshaiba, a young Yemeni ‘oud player who wants to change the future of Yemeni music. 

Iona Craig writes for The Times of London, The Sunday Times, and USA Today, among others. She is also part of an exciting new subscription-based online platform, Beacon, which is trying to make freelance reporting a bit more sustainable by allowing subscribers to support writers directly. I recommend you read Iona's latest article on the Southern Movement once you sign up for Beacon. Iona tweets at @ionacraig.

You can check out Ahmed Alshaiba's Facebook page, and his Youtube channel, where he posts his latest tracks. Ahmed's tracks featured on this episode are, in order, "Adhhak 'ala al-Ayam," "Smooth Criminal," and "Dance in the Rain."

Mafraj Radio Episode 7: Inside Guantanamo, and Remembering Ibrahim

On this episode, we speak to attorney David Remes, who represents a number of Yemenis imprisoned at the US military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, about his clients and the larger political context surrounding Guantanamo. We also remember Ibrahim Mothana, a young Yemeni activist who continues to inspire his colleagues in Yemen and people around the world. 

Filmmaker and journalist Laura Poitras made the short film "Death of a Prisoner" for The New York Times in January 2013, on the death of one of David Remes' clients, Adnan Latif.

Yemeni blogger Noon Arabia also wrote about Ibrahim Mothana, and collected additional remembrances, for Global Voices Online.

Mafraj Radio Episode 6: US Intelligence, Addressing the Water Crisis, and Celebrating Ramadan

On this episode, we get an inside look at the US intelligence system with journalist and former intelligence analyst Joshua Foust, we discuss Yemen's water crisis with UNDP advisor Walid 'Ali, and we learn about Ramadan traditions from the creator of Yemen Kitchen, Wigdan al-Guneid. 

This is probably the longest episode we've done so far, and I think that's a good thing. The interview with Joshua Foust, which opens the episode, covers subjects that aren't discussed in any discussion of the US counter-terrorism program that I've seen elsewhere, and I think it's very valuable for both critics and supporters of US policy to understand how the intelligence system works. I didn't edit much out of that interview because it's so important, and because Josh's personal insights are such an asset to the discussion. We'll definitely be returning to different aspects of US policy in future episodes.

The water crisis is another subject that we'll be exploring in multiple episodes. On this episode we talk to Walid 'Ali, who oversees the environmental portfolio for UNDP in Yemen. Our interview includes a discussion of some of the possible solutions to the water shortage.

To wrap up the episode, we talk to Wigdan al-Guneid, the creator of a unique blog where she writes about Yemeni food and Yemen's cultural history. Wigdan tells us about how Yemenis observe the holy month of Ramadan and the holiday of 'Eid al-Fitr.

About our guests:

Joshua Foust: Joshua Foust is freelance journalist with a broad background in counter-terrorism and foreign policy. He currently edits the “State of Play” collection at Medium, a new platform for writing online, which covers foreign policy issues. For its entire production run, April 2010 to May of 2013, he was the national security columnist for PBS Need to Know, a weekly magazine show.

Joshua has also written for The Atlantic, the New York Times, the New York Daily News, the Christian Science Monitor, Foreign Policy, The American Prospect, and the Columbian Journalism Review. In November of 2010 he published his first book, Afghanistan Journal: Selections from Registan.net, which was praised by the New York Times as “an attuned observer of the American-led effort in Afghanistan.”

From January 2011 to March of 2013, Joshua was a Fellow at the American Security Project. Before that fellowship, he was a senior intelligence analyst for the U.S. military, a civilian adviser to the U.S. military in Afghanistan, a political analyst for the Defense Intelligence Agency in Yemen, and the in-house futurist for the U.S. Army’s Intelligence and Security Command.

Joshua tweets at @JoshuaFoust

Walid 'Ali: Walid Ali is climate change and environmental policy advisor at the UNDP office in Yemen. He oversees a number of projects relating to environmental and natural resource management.

Wigdan al-Guneid: Wigdan al-Guneid is from the city of Ta‘iz in lower Yemen. Currently residing in the US, she is an architectural designer, and is passionate about Yemeni food, culture, and history.

Follow her on Twitter at @YemenKitchen

Mafraj Radio Episode 5: NDC update & living in the dark

On this episode, we get an update on the progress of the National Dialogue Conference from NDC youth delegate Baraa Shiban and analyst Fernando Carvajal, and we talk with journalist Iona Craig about Yemen's electricity crisis. Our interview with Baraa also touches on the issue of the continued illegal detention of revolutionary activists. We didn't include much background on the electricity situation in this piece, so I encourage listeners to read these two articles on the subject by Adam Baron:

About our guests:

Baraa Shiban Baraa Shiban is one of the representatives of independent youth activists in Yemen's National Dialogue Conference. He was a prominent activist in the 2011 popular uprising in Yemen, and is an outspoken critic of repression, corruption, and foreign interference in Yemen. He previously appeared on episode 2 of Mafraj Radio.

Fernando Carvajal Fernando Carvajal is an analyst, consultant, and author who has been studying Yemen since 2000. He is a frequent contributor to the YPP blog, and a PhD candidate at the University of Exeter.

Iona Craig Iona Craig is a freelance journalist based in San’a, and The Times of London Yemen Correspondent. She also writes for USA Today, The Sunday Times and regularly contributes to The National (UAE) and Index on Censorship. She tweets at @ionacraig.

Mafraj Radio Episode 4: The Foreign Press Corps

This episode features highlights from a conversation with journalists Jeb Boone (Global Post, CSM), Tom Finn (The Yemen Times, The Guardian), and Laura Kasinof (The New York Times), about their experiences in Yemen--which include covering the 2011 uprising--and their observations on contemporary journalism.

About our guests:

Jeb Boone Jeb Boone is a journalist, former managing editor of the Yemen Times, and blogger at GlobalPost's "The Grid". Boone's work has appeared in The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, Time Magazine, Foreign Policy, The Christian Science Monitor, The Guardian, The Independent, The Sunday Telegraph, and Global Post. He has also appeared on the BBC World Service, BBC World News, Sky News, and Anderson Cooper 360. Jeb tweets at @JebBoone

Tom Finn Tom Finn is a British freelance journalist currently based in New York.

He lived in San‘a from 2010 until June 2012, where he worked as an editor at the Yemen Times and later as a freelancer, reporting on the mass uprising and military infighting that ended the 33-year rule of Ali Abdullah Saleh. He has written for The Guardian, TIME, Reuters, Foreign Policy, The Economist, Newsweek, and other publications.

A recipient of this year’s Alistair Cooke Award in Journalism, Tom is currently completing an MA in Journalism and Middle Eastern Studies at New York University. Tom tweets at @TomFinn2

Laura Kasinof Laura Kasinof is a freelance print journalist. From 2009– March 2012 she was based in San‘a where she reported regularly for The New York Times on Yemen’s uprising.

Her articles have also appeared in The Economist, Foreign Policy, The Christian Science Monitor, San Francisco Chronicle, and Al Jazeera International, among others. She has appeared on radio and TV outlets such as BBC World Service, Democracy Now, Al Jazeera International and NPR. Laura has also been invited as a panelist to speak about Yemen at institutions such as the Atlantic Council, Chatham House, The New America Foundation and the National Counterterrorism Center.

She also helped produce the Yemen segment of the documentary-in-progress, Shake the Dust.

Laura graduated from New York University with a degree in Middle Eastern Studies and Politics. She lived between Cairo and San‘a for nearly five years. Laura tweets at @Kasinof

Interview with Farea al-Muslimi

Episode 3 featured an excerpt from an interview we recorded last month with writer and activist Farea al-Muslimi. Because the interview contained much more valuable material than we could fit into a single segment, we decided to post the full interview here. We start off with Farea's reflections on recent visits to the embattled southern province of Abyan. After that, we discuss Farea's personal connection to the United States, and his views on US policy toward Yemen. Today, Farea became the first Yemeni to participate in a US congressional hearing on Yemen-related issues. The Senate Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Human Rights held a hearing on "The Constitutional and Counterterrorism Implications of Targeted Killing"; Farea joined two high-level military officers and two legal experts on the witness panel. He was by far the most impressive of the witnesses.

You can watch the entire hearing here. Farea's full written testimony, which is a moving and informative read, is here.

Farea's five-minute oral testimony is here:

Mafraj Radio Episode 3

In this episode we take our first look at the efforts of the international community in Yemen, a subject we'll come back to in several future episodes. The first segment features an interview with the UK's ambassador to Yemen, Mr. Nicholas Hopton, who summarizes for us his government's role in the country's affairs. This is followed by a chat with Ms. Kate Nevens of Saferworld, who talks about the non-governmental side of things. The episode wraps up with an excerpt from an interview with Yemeni writer and activist Farea al-Muslimi, who shares a personal perspective on US-Yemeni relations.

About our guests:

Ambassador Nicholas Hopton From the Ambassador's official bio: "Nicholas Hopton was appointed Her Majesty’s Ambassador to the Republic of Yemen in December 2011 and took up his post in January 2012. Nicholas is a career diplomat who joined the FCO in 1989 having studied at St Peter’s School, York, and Cambridge University (Magdalene College).  He has also studied at La Sapienza University in Rome and ENA in Paris. With the FCO he has served overseas in Paris, Rome, Morocco and Mauritania. He is married with five children." Read Al-Sharq al-Awsat's interview with Ambassador Hopton here. Ambassador Hopton tweets at @NicholasHopton.

Farea al-Muslimi Farea al-Muslimi is a young journalist and activist based in San'a. He has made several trips to Abyan to report from areas formerly controlled by AQAP. He wrote about some of the issues covered in this interview here. Earlier this week, he wrote about a US air strike on his own village in Dhamar Governorate.

Kate Nevens Kate Nevens directs Middle East and North Africa Program at Saferworld, a UK-based international NGO. "Kate previously worked as the manager of the MENA programme at Chatham House, an international affairs think tank based in London, with a particular focus on youth and political inclusions issues in the region and international involvement in fragile states." Kate tweets at @KateNevens.

Please note: the lack of internet access and the state of the mobile phone network in Yemen makes it difficult to record high-quality interviews with people there. Please excuse the poor sound quality; we feel that the content is well worth the auditory discomfort.

Mafraj Radio Episode 2

In the second episode of Mafraj Radio, we take a look back at the Youth Revolution of 2011 with Ibrahim Mothana, and go inside the long-awaited National Dialogue Conference with a member of the Youth delegation, Baraa Shiban. We also get an update on the situation in 'Aden from activist 'Alaa Isam.

Here's the full video of Youth delegate Mubarak al-Bahar's opening address to the National Dialogue Conference, quoted in Act 1:

Here's the Aden Live TV segment quoted in Act 2, in which the pro-Hirak satellite channel covers demonstrations and crackdowns in 'Aden.

Mafraj Radio episode 1

Welcome to the home of the new YPP podcast, Mafraj Radio! Our podcast will cover contemporary political, social, and cultural affairs in Yemen and the Yemeni diaspora from a range of sources and perspectives. Our aim with this podcast is to make Yemen accessible to casual listeners who don’t necessarily have a background in Yemen or Middle East studies, while still providing a level of depth and context you can’t get from mainstream media coverage of Yemen. On this episode, we take a look at two growing movements that are threatening the established political and social order in Yemen: the Peaceful Southern Movement, also known as al-Hirak, and the Huthi movement.

Our guests on this episode are:

Adam M. Baron is a freelance journalist based in Sanaa, Yemen who reports regularly for the Daily Telegraph, McClatchy Newspapers and the Christian Science Monitor. His writing has also appeared in Foreign Policy, The Nation (US), The Daily Beast, The Economist, The Independent (UK), Brownbook, Vice and Sports Illustrated. He has been interviewed by radio and television outlets in the United States, Canada and Europe, including CBS Radio, ABC Radio, CNN, the CBC, NPR, RTE and various arms of the BBC.

Born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, he graduated from Williams College with a dual degree in Arab Studies and Religion. He has lived in Sanaa since January 2011.

You can follow Adam on Twitter: @adammbaron

Stephen W. Day Stephen Day is Adjunct Professor of Middle East Politics at the Hamilton Hold School at Rollins College in Florida (USA). He has written for many journals, including Middle East Journal, Middle East Policy, and publications of the Carnegie Foundation. His latest book, Regionalism and Rebellion in Yemen: a troubled national union, is published by Cambridge Press.

Madeleine Wells Goldburt is a 2013 visiting research fellow at the AUK and a PhD Candidate in Political Science at the George Washington University, where she concentrates on comparative politics, ethnic politics, and international relations. Her dissertation research focuses on the politics of citizenship and social benefits in the Arabian Gulf. Prior to attending GWU, Ms. Wells worked for two years at the RAND Corporation analyzing rebellion and insurgency in Arabian Gulf and Horn of Africa. She also assisted with research for the Military Leadership Diversity Commission. Ms. Wells is a co-author of the 2010 RAND monograph Regime and Periphery in Northern Yemen: The Huthi Phenomenon. She holds an MA in Islamic Studies from Columbia and a BA in Government and Near Eastern Studies from Cornell.

You can follow Madeleine on Twitter: @SwellWells

For a brief but excellent history of the Peaceful Southern Movement (al-Hirak), I recommend that you read these two posts by Yemeni blogger Sama'a al-Hamdani: Part 1, Part 2

The video for the song Dana mentions at the end of act one can be found here:

A note about this episode: we make a serious effort to include Yemeni voices in each episode, but in this case it was not possible to record interviews with any of the three other guests we had planned to speak to before our deadline.