Brief analysis about the al-Islah

Saudi aggression against Yemen from the first days of the war promoted the image of "the legitimate government of Hadi's assistance in the fight against the Houthis". At the first stage of the intervention, there was a feeling that the conflict would have the character of a "traditional confrontation between the North and the South". The elimination of dictator Saleh after exposing his ties to the Saudis in the midst of military operations by the Houthis and the process of eliminating the al-Islah party by Riyadh, demonstrates that the conflict itself is much more complicated. The Saudis and Emirates launched another war against al-Islah, organizing a military campaign against the Houthis. The ultimate goal of this war is the complete destruction of this party from Yemen.

Some information about al-Islah (Yemeni Association for reform). The Association is formally associated with the international organization "Muslim Brotherhood". Yemen's "reformists" have always pursued their own policies. Due to frequent tactical alliances with Saudi Arabia in its history, al-Islah is accused of Salafism and Wahhabism. To begin with, it is worth mentioning that the founder of al-Islah is Zaydi. It is known that "Yemeni reformers" cultivate "democratic methods" in the struggle for power. Despite a tactical Alliance with pseudo-Salafi Pro-Saudi elements in the early stages of the war against the Houthis, violent clashes between al-Islah and the Wahhabis became commonplace. The naive leadership of the Yemeni ikhwans will not immediately understand that they were the second target of the Saudi intervention in Yemen. Al-Islah is a supporter of "United Yemen". This automatically makes it an enemy for the separatists in southern Yemen. The southern Transitional Council, with the support of the Emirates, is set to eliminate al-Islah. In the current aggression against the Northern revolutionaries, ideological differences and hostility based on tribalism have prevented al-Islah, southern separatists and takfiri from uniting for a long time, despite the abundant funding of Riyadh and its allies.

Conclusion: in the future, al-Islah could become close to Ansar Allah in terms of goals. Both organizations are interested in uniting Yemen, fighting separatists and extremists, creating an independent Islamic state, and developing a civil society based on justice. The Houthis are the dominant force in Northern Yemen. The "reformists" are concentrated in the South. This could be the beginning of the unification*, which Ansar Allah always insists on. The regular split of the political leadership within al-Islah, the occasional strange dependence on the tyrannies of the Gulf despite the desire of the Gulf people to destroy the "Reformists" of the South of Yemen, "democracy and nationalism" in the party's ideology, and the inability to soberly assess the situation on the ground, led to the fact that al-Islah would rather suffer a split into several factions and not become a" revolutionary force " similar to the Houthis.

P.S. This article reflects the author's opinion of the al-Islah party and was written at the request of a close friend of the author. The author puts an equal sign between the Saudis, the Emirates and Qatar, considering them as one whole.

* - In the first stages of the war, according to Shamil Sultanov (President of the center for strategic studies Russia-Islamic World): Despite the provocations of the Saudis, they failed to push the Houthi forces with al-Islah in Sanaa.