One Problem in the Study of the Houthi Movement (Three Сliches of anti- Houthi Propaganda)

Abstract

The article identifies and analyzes three main accusations leveled in the 2000s by the Yemeni Government against Houthis: a desire to restore the Imamate, gaining support from Iran and conversion to Twelver Shiism. It is shown that these accusations are incorrect and are consequences of the Yemeni authorities’ discrimination policy against practicing Zaydis and especially sayyids — Zaydi religious “aristocracy”. It is demonstrated that reestablishment of theocratic rule was not part of the Houthi political agenda since a majority of Yemenis were against it; the goal of allegations about Houthi connections with Tehran, made by the Yemeni political establishment, was to secure additional financial aid from Washington and Riyadh; Al-Houthi was not a Twelver Shiite and was critical of the main ideas of this denomination. The author of the article suggests that many Yemenis and several Russian and Western scholars believed the accusations due to the dominance of anti-Zaydi sentiment in the Yemeni information space and the fact that these accusations complement each other in a quasi-logical way: to reestablish the Imamate, Houthis need support, which can be gained from Iran, while conversion to Twelver Shiism guarantees such support.