Palestine Tet – 70 – Yemenis continue to challenge Israeli-bound shipping: Washington and London considering declaring war on Yemen.
A container ship is seen near Suez Canal Bridge which is known as the “Peace Bridge” August 6, 2023. Suez Canal Authority
Do you think you’ve hit bottom?
Do you think you’ve hit bottom?
Oh, no
There’s a bottom belowMalvina Reynolds
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“If we cut off oil for one week, things will change.” A video circulating of the Sheikh of Al-Azhar ignites social networking sites. He called for confronting America and the West economically and stressed that we have everything in our hands. The situation is catastrophic and cannot tolerate procrastination. Should we do it?
The article’s title is Maersk Halts Red Sea Transits Again After Houthi Missile and Boat Swarm Attack. Its first words start off “Iranian-backed Houthi militants attacked a Maersk container vessel with missiles and small boats, prompting the company to pause all sailing through the Red Sea for 48 hours, Maersk said on Sunday.”
“Iranian-backed” – yes, no doubt Iran has supplied the Houthi’s with weapons, technical support but the image created by these particular adjectives creates a false narrative that the Yemeni Houthis are simple proxies of Iran. This is somewhere between an exaggeration and an outright falsehood. They are allies, Iran the stronger party, but as with other parties involved in the Axis of Resistance which Washington and Tel Aviv are doing their darndest to destroy, Ansar Allah – a more formal name for the Houthi-led coalition, it is the Yemenis that make their own decisions. Same goes for Hamas and other Palestinian factions that planned and executed “October 7″.
In any case, yes, as promised in response to growing threats from the United States, Ansar Allah continues to attack Israeli bound shipping heading through the Bab el Mandeb Straits and the Red Sea. The Houthis are engaging in their own special version of sanctions in solidarity with the Palestinian people suffering from genocidal attacks by Israel, supported by the Biden Administration. As political commentator Trita Parsi noted, “The Israeli plan is annexation through ethnic cleansing. Biden is on board. American taxpayers will pay for it.
This time the target was the Maersk Hangzhou, a ship with the carrying capacity of 14,000 containers, which was hit first by missile fire and then by small attacking speed boats. According to respected maritime blog, gCaptain, the crew of the container ship are safe and there are no indications of fire onboard the vessel which remains fully maneuverable, continuing its voyage north towards Port Said and the Suez Canal.
Interfering with Red Sea shipping has hurt both Israel and the global economy considerably; the United States spearheading Operation Prosperity Guardian has failed to stabilize the situation and effectively counter the Houthi threat which continues (as of December 30, 2023).
Israel’s busy Gulf of Aqaba port, Eilat finds itself in a severe crisis, some say, on the verge of collapse with hundreds of businesses closed. Eilat relies heavily on tourism and shipping both both of which have been devastated by war. Since the Houthis began attacking ships in the Red Sea, the number of oil tankers and container ships docking there has plummeted to near zero. Unemployment rates there have skyrocketed as 80% of local businesses are suffering a severe blow.
The typical Singapore-to-Rotterdam sea voyage is now almost 40% longer via South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope. In South Africa and all along the African coast the port facilities are not equipped to handle the greatly increased shipping volume to help with repairs, restocking and refueling. This will trigger yet another round of supply chain complications, all in all adding, along with shipping insurance costs, to global inflation.
The week prior to December 30 some 299 ships with a total capacity of 4.3 million containers have changed course or are planning to do so to avoid the Red Sea. That is about 18% of global shipping capacity. Major shipping companies are still unsure about using the Red Sea despite safety guarantees provided by the U.S. navy,
All this has already left the United States internationally embarrassed, its grip on global power, slipping quickly. The world is watching Washington’s inability to effectively address Houthi threats to shipping. While the U.S. Navy has offered safety guarantees, it appears that these assurances are not enough to alleviate the concerns of the shipping industry.
This reduction in Red Sea maritime traffic has enhanced the perceived risks and potential disruption of shipping safety globally and has undercut Washington’s stated commitment to providing global maritime security, one of its key responsibilities as a hegemonic power. The implications are far reaching as disruption of Red Sea shipping can impact global supply chains, increase transportation costs and potentially lead to economic consequences by intensifying global inflation.
How to reduce tensions?
If, as it appears, it will not be possible to neutralize these Houthi shipping attacks directly, then the question arises: how to stabilize this situation? The geo-political rationales for the Biden Administration’s love affair with Zionism are fast fading. Washington’s first response, naval escorts, already appears not to be working well, if at all.
Nor will its policy of continuing to arm and finance Israel unconditionally to the teeth. Any move towards Washington considering all out war against Yemen will probably backfire terribly throughout the region. Such a move, it appears, is still being seriously considered by Washington’s neo-con Biden Administration and encouraged by Netanyahu and his cabinet.
Of course Washington and London can screw the situation up that much more royally by declaring war on the Yemeni Houthis. There are press rumors that such a move is in the making. After Afghanistan, Ukraine defeats and one looming in Gaza (despite the civilian casualties), you’d think that the Biden Administration would think twice about pursuing another “forever war” this time in the Middle East. I mean, how stupid can they be? Is there always a bottom below they go, even after one thinks they’ve hit rock bottom?
There is another tact that might be taken: pressuring Israel to end its genocidal bombing, its ethnic cleansing of Gaza – end the military onslaught, accept a permanent ceasefire and withdraw all Israel Defense Forces troops from Gaza.
And now “the great fear” keeps bubbling to the surface; it’s being talked about all over the Middle East, especially in places where oil and natural gas flow out to the world. It’s the talk of an oil boycott targeting the United States and Europe, as was triggered in 1973.
Wouldn’t that be an interesting match to throw into the mix?
View from the Left Bank: Rob Prince's Blog 