"God is great ! Death to America! Death to Israel!”
In a video report broadcast by AFP, around ten men sing anti-West cries in chorus on the deck of a ship.
They are dressed in a traditional dress accessorized with a dagger at the belt.
These men are Yemenis invited by the Houthi rebels to visit the
Galaxy Leader
, a cargo ship that belonged to an Israeli businessman.
They captured this ship last November and have since made it a site to their glory.
Selfies, traditional dances to music... like real tourists, these Yemenis take advantage of the attraction for the equivalent of a dollar, the price of a meal.
They all traveled more than 200 kilometers from Sanaa, the capital of Yemen, to Hodeida, a large city beyond the control of official authorities, located on the coast of the Red Sea.
Zubair al-Haidari, a resident of Sanaa, came to
“visit the Israeli ship
,” he told an AFP journalist on site.
“It is an honor and a pride for the Yemeni people and a proof of support for our Palestinian brothers in Gaza
,” says a Houthi fighter, Abu Imad, an AK-47 assault rifle on his back.
In the AFP images, we see the men climbing aboard a small wooden boat which takes them from the port to the giant blue cargo ship.
Visitors hold up their phones to film the crossing, while chewing qat, a euphoric plant widely consumed in the poorest country on the Arabian Peninsula.
It is
“an honor and pride for us (...) that our armed forces are carrying out this tremendous work in support of their oppressed brothers in Palestine and Gaza
,” continues Zubair al-Haidari to AFP.
Armed men stand on the beach as the Galaxy Leader anchors off the coast of al-Salif, Yemen, December 5, 2023. KHALED ABDULLAH/REUTERS
Solidarity with Gaza
The Galaxy Leader was owned by a British company, itself owned by an Israeli businessman.
It was chartered by a Japanese company when it was captured on November 19, with its 25 crew members, by the Houthi rebels, claiming to act
"in solidarity"
with the inhabitants of the Gaza Strip, prey to the war between Israel and Palestinian Hamas.
These insurgents close to Iran have since carried out numerous attacks on ships believed to be linked to Israel off Yemen, a key maritime zone for global trade, prompting the United States and the United Kingdom to strike their positions.
In this context, the Houthis have made the Galaxy Leader a symbol of their fight, organizing excursions there five times a week, reserved for men.
Hizam al-Assad, a member of the Houthi political bureau, even speaks of it as a
“tourist destination”
.
“This is proof that the Yemeni people (...) are impatient to meet the enemy and confront him
,” he says.
This propaganda message was widely echoed by Yemeni influencer Rashid Al Hadad, nicknamed
“Timhouthi Chalamet”
on social media.
Since November 29, the 19-year-old has regularly published videos of himself posing on the
Galaxy Leader
.
On his profile, he describes himself as
“ready for sacrifice and eager for martyrdom”
and calls for a
“free Palestine”
.
Also read “Timhouthi Chalamet”, the Yemeni influencer “hungry for martyrdom” and defender of a “free Palestine”
Rashid Al Hadad, aka Timhouthi Chalamet.
MOHAMMED HUWAIS / AFP
“Source of pride”
After around ten minutes at sea, AFP films Zubair al-Haidari and his companions finally boarding the cargo ship, where they rush to take souvenir photos.
Some begin a traditional dance, using the daggers that most Yemenis carry on their belts, to the background of songs in praise of the Houthis.
A guided tour by Houthi rebels on the Galaxy Leader, November 22, 2023. - / AFP
Hamada Al-Baydani, for whom the ship is
“a source of pride for Yemenis”
, says he came from Al-Bayda, 400 kilometers away.
The journeys, organized twice a week between the provinces of Hodeida and Al-Bayda on bumpy roads, can take up to eight hours, for the equivalent of $22.6.
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On the deck of the Galaxy Leader, none of the visitors met by AFP said they had seen the original crew members, Bulgarians, Filipinos, Ukrainians or even Mexicans, whose fate is unknown.
A few days after the ship's hijacking, the Houthis released a video showing a general welcoming a group of people, presented as crew members, but they have not communicated about it since.
Only the Yemeni and Palestinian flags now fly on the cargo ship as well as banners with anti-American and anti-Israeli slogans.