 Hey there. I'm Danica, a national organizer with CodePink reporting live from Chicago, Illinois. I'm coming to you today because the mainstream media hasn't been talking about Yemen enough. Yemen is the world's worst humanitarian crisis, and in January, the Saudi UAE-led and U.S.-backed coalition led airstrikes that wiped out Yemen's internet for several days. It's important that people in the U.S. know the truth about Yemen. We, on the CodePink news network, will hear from experts today about the situation on the ground in Yemen, both politically and regarding the public health situation. We'll hear about legislative efforts in the United States and activism happening all around the country this week. Let's hear from Dr. Aisha Juman about the situation on the ground. The impact of war and bloodshed on the humanitarian crisis in Yemen since 2014. Yemen is considered the largest humanitarian crisis in the world. These are some key figures from the U.N. from 2021. There are 20.7 million people who are in need of humanitarian assistance out of 30 million people in Yemen. 12.1 million are in acute need, and there are 4 million people who are eternally displaced in Yemen. In terms of food insecurity, there are 6.2 million people in Yemen, almost half of the population who are facing severe food insecurity, which are phases 3 to 5 that include crisis, emergency, and catastrophe. Thank you, Dr. Juman, for covering the situation on the ground in Yemen. Just to get more context about what sort of activism is happening in the U.S. today regarding Yemen, we have Neda from Hands Off Yemen and Action Corps. This is Neda Saleh, coming to you live to report on this week's days of action for Yemen Indian organizations nationwide are calling for protests demanding an end to U.S. complicity in the Yemen war. Protesters have planned demonstrations for this week in Vermont, New York, Illinois, Rhode Island, California, Washington, D.C., Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Florida. They are asking that nations allied with Saudi use their leverage to ask for an immediate lifting of the air and sea blockade on Yemen. They are also demanding that Congress passes a war-pause resolution before the 7th anniversary of the war, and that weapon sales are halted. Finally, they demanded the people of Yemen are supported in achieving sovereignty. We needed to cover Yemen ourselves. And despite approaching the 7th anniversary of the war, mainstream media chooses not to talk about Yemen. While the dire situation in Ukraine enjoys thorough and accurate coverage, Yemen's sovereignty is being violated with U.S. backing. It's time to talk about Yemen too. Thank you so much, Neda, for telling us what activists in the U.S. are up to today. But to get more context about the war-powers resolution, what it is, and what it would mean to pass it, we have Hassan El-Tayyab from FCNL with us today. Hello, everyone. My name is Hassan El-Tayyab, and I'm FCNL, or Friends Committee on National Legislation's Legislative Director in Middle East Policy. And I'm here to talk about Yemen. This month, reps from Milit Jaiapal and Peter DeFazio announced their plans to introduce and pass a new Yemen war-powers resolution before the 7th anniversary of the conflict on March 25 of this year. This is a direly needed step to put an end to America's ongoing complicity in what the UN describes as the world's worst humanitarian crisis on the planet. With continued U.S. participation, the Saudi-led coalition is carrying out a major escalation in its brutal air campaign, and January of this year was one of the bloodiest months of the entire conflict. Saudi airstrikes killed 90 civilians at a detention center and wounded 200 more, and also cut off water supply to 120,000 Yemenis in desperate need. The United States for years has enabled these vicious attacks against civilians and its pastime for Congress to end U.S. complicity in these atrocities by passing a Yemen war-powers resolution. Following Biden's announced policy change last year, we expected to see robust limitations on weapons sales and military support to Saudi Arabia. Unfortunately, the president's announcement amounted to nothing more than a public relation stunt that gave the appearance of change while obscuring the fact that U.S. policy hadn't meaningfully altered. The administration never defined the distinction between offensive and defensive support and proceeded to approve over $1 billion of weapons sales to Saudi, including new attack helicopters, air-to-air munitions, and new defense contracts. The Pentagon also acknowledged that the United States is still providing spare parts, maintenance, and logistical support for Saudi warplanes conducting offensive operations. Unsurprisingly, Biden's strategy failed to induce any real significant changes in Saudi behavior, and some trends got even worse. In 2021, Saudi launched as many air strikes as it did in Trump's last year in office in 2020. Saudi also doubled down on its blockade, further tightening restrictions on fuel imports. Now the World Food Program is warning that these restrictions and access to vital commodities are setting the stage for what could be the worst famine in modern history. In recent years, Congress has repeatedly made its opposition to this war known and even passed another Yemen war powers resolution through both the House and Senate. Unfortunately, Trump vetoed that resolution and we saw a breakdown in diplomacy. And while the United States can't unilaterally bring about a ceasefire, it must use its vast leverage to try to persuade Saudi to lift its blockade and end its air strikes targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure. War powers resolution would take us a long way to seeing a world where U.S. complicity would end and the Saudis would have to be forced to a ceasefire. Thank you, Hassan, so much for explaining the war powers resolution and why we need to pass one so urgently. To get more geopolitical context, we have Anel from the Quincy Institute with us up next. This is Anel. She line of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft in Washington DC. U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia in December seem to have emboldened Saudi Arabia and the UAE to go on the offensive in Yemen. January was one of the worst months for Yemeni civilian casualties. In response to this increased aggression, the Houthi rebels responded by firing drones and missiles at the UAE. The U.S. administration responded by sending our most advanced fighter planes and a U.S. Navy destroyer to support the UAE. Yet why should the deaths of three civilians in the Emirates count for so much more than the hundreds of thousands of Yemeni civilians that have died as a result of Emirati and Saudi aggression against their country? The Biden administration maintains that the U.S. is only involved in helping the Saudis and Emiratis defend themselves. But this distinction is absurd. The administration has never clarified what they mean by selling offensive as opposed to defensive weapons. And only selling so-called defensive weapons now allows the Saudis and Emiratis to go on the offensive with greater impunity. Using the billions of dollars of offensive weapons the U.S. has sold these countries for decades. By taking the side of the Saudis and Emiratis, the U.S. prolongs Yemeni civilian suffering and also risks plunging the U.S. deeper into the war. U.S. soldiers stationed in the region are now at risk because the Houthis rightly see the U.S. as a belligerent. Service members stationed at Adafra Air Base in the UAE had to take shelter in bunkers and fire Patriot anti-missile defenses to deflect recent Houthi drones. What will happen if a Houthi drone kills a U.S. soldier? Will Biden drag the U.S. into another unnecessary and futile war in the Middle East? The U.S. is on the wrong side in Yemen. Instead of supporting Emirati and Saudi aggression against one of the poorest countries in the world, the U.S. must end all weapon sales to these wealthy Gulf states until they end their bombardment and blockade of Yemen. Thank you Dr. Shirin Aladimi for being with us and for being for all of our guests today. Very much appreciated and this has been Code Pink News Network and our coverage on the situation in Yemen.