The Houthi group, internationally designated as a terrorist organization, has once again released videos of their captives confessing to targeting education in Yemen on behalf of the United States and Israel.

These detainees, who previously worked for UN organizations, international agencies, and embassies in Sana'a, were abducted from their homes and held incommunicado by the Houthi group before being paraded on state media, forced to admit to being members of a "spy network."

The group first aired such videos on June 10th, showcasing 10 individuals as "spies," coinciding with a wave of abductions targeting international organization employees in Houthi-controlled areas. Human rights reports indicate that over 70 employees, including five women and their children, were abducted within days.

Extensive Confessions

On Sunday, the group released a new video titled "Extensive Confessions of the American-Israeli Spy Network on Targeting Education in Yemen." The footage, featuring some of the same individuals from previous videos, depicts them claiming to have targeted education in Yemen for the benefit of the US and Israel.

Among those featured is Dr. Mohammed Hatem Al-Mekhlafi, a 65-year-old expert in general education and literacy systems in Yemen, and a faculty member and dean at several education colleges at Sana'a University. The Houthi group abducted him from his home on October 12, 2023, holding him incommunicado before presenting him as a "spy" on their media.

In what the group calls "confessions," Al-Mekhlafi alleges that "educational curricula in Yemen are designed to promote atheism." He cites the Arabic language curriculum's phrases "the rain falls" and "rain is a gift from heaven" as evidence, claiming these texts were "written under instructions from American intelligence."

Houthi media outlets have also published graphics showcasing Al-Mekhlafi CV, highlighting his academic degrees and awards as proof of his alleged "espionage and treason."

Barbarism

Commenting on the Houthi group's accusations against Al-Mekhlafi, Yemeni lawyer and human rights activist Abdulrahman Barman stated, "This is an indictment and a list of evidence against Professor and education expert Mohammed Hatem Al-Makhlafi. The charges include his studies in America, his chairmanship of committees responsible for developing curricula for the early grades, and his position as dean at several colleges."

In a tweet on the X platform, monitored by "Barran Press," Barman added, "These are indeed crimes in the lexicon of the Imami clergy." He concluded his statement with, "When barbarism and brutality come together, they produce such monstrosities."

Farce and Mockery

Journalist and human rights activist Sadeq Al-Wesabi described the Houthi group's claims of an "American-Israeli spy network targeting education" in Yemen as nothing but farce and mockery.

In a tweet on the X platform, monitored by "Barran Press," he added that this move "reveals the depravity and baseness of this group in its dealings with the Yemeni people."

Commenting on the video released by the group, Al-Wesabi stated, "Listen to this nonsense and these ridiculous confessions that these innocent people were forced to make, and you will understand the magnitude of the disaster that Yemenis have been living through for years with this backward, clerical group."

Dumbing Down Yemenis

Yemeni researcher Nadwa Al-Dawsari, denounced the Houthi group's actions, stating that "their war on education is ongoing." In a tweet on the X platform, she highlighted that " the Houthi leader criminalizes institutions that teach English, and now the group wants to label anyone who studied abroad as a spy."

Al-Dawsari explained that the Houthi group aims to "dumb down Yemenis and isolate them to facilitate the indoctrination of future generations and make it easier to impose their sectarian, tribal project on Yemen."

Yemeni researcher and human rights activist Riyadh Al-dubai echoed these concerns, stating that the Houthi group continues to target education by shutting down English language institutes in areas under their control.

In a tweet on the X platform, Al-dubai characterized this move as "reflecting their hostile approach towards spreading ignorance and preventing young people from acquiring skills and knowledge that open up future opportunities." He added that "fighting education is not just an attack on a basic right, but a deliberate attempt to weaken society and strip it of its tools for progress and development."

A Joke

Yemeni writer and activist, Hind Al-Eryani, dismissed the Houthi group's claims as "a joke."

In a tweet on the X platform, she stated, "The Houthi joke: they released a video saying that education in Yemen was targeted by America because the second-grade Arabic textbook says 'the rain fell.'" She added, "Why didn't they say 'God sent it down'?" She sarcastically remarked that "in Yemen, we study five religious subjects, so they searched for any excuse to invent a film!"

Al-Eryani concluded by posing a question to the Houthi group, "What about your books that taught children that there is a cloud protecting the Houthi?"

A Play

Lawyer and media personality, Ali Nasser Al-Awlaqi, described the Houthi group's actions as "a new play to present ordinary citizens as victims." He explained that the group's aim is to "execute their plans by portraying them as #American_and_Israeli_spies" to deceive their followers.

According to Al-Awlaqi, the Houthi group's motive for promoting this narrative about targeting education is to use it as "a pretext to change educational curricula according to their extremist ideology."

Journalist Arfat Al-Amri, in a tweet on the X platform, seen by "Barran Press", stated that "those who targeted education, turned schools into military barracks, dismissed teachers, destroyed the educational process, and changed the curricula in Yemen to spread Shiism are the Zionist Houthis of Yemen, not America and Israel."

Other activists also highlighted the Houthi group's recent crimes, including the theft of 10,000 bricks from Sana'a University grounds and the killing and injuring of 30 students at Al-Qalees School in Sana'a while they were being trained on projectiles within the school grounds.

Al-Aghbari and targeting education

In June 2023, the Houthi group released a video featuring Amer Al-aghbary, a former Yemeni employee at the US embassy. Al-Agabri, who was kidnapped on October 29, 2021, and forcibly disappeared, was shown confessing to being a "spy" for the United States. The Houthis claimed his alleged espionage activities involved working with the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and UNICEF.

One of the primary accusations against Al-aghbary was his alleged involvement in implementing a US strategy to weaken education under the guise of "education development." This strategy, they claimed, involved changing curricula, undermining teacher training and supervision, and creating a hostile environment for students. The Houthis also accused Al-aghbary of copying first-grade reading books from an Israeli model implemented in Jordan.

The Real Criminal?

Activists questioned the validity of these accusations, demanding evidence of Al-Agabri's alleged changes to the curriculum and the impact on education. They also questioned the achievements of Yahya al-Houthi, the brother of the Houthi leader, since his appointment as Minister of Education.

Activists recalled a previous report by the Yemeni Teachers' Union documenting the crimes committed by the Houthis against education since their takeover of the capital Sana'a in September 2014.

The report documented the following:

• The killing of 1580 teachers and 81 school principals.
• The injury of over 2642 teachers.
• The kidnapping of 1137 teachers.
• The displacement of over 20,142 teachers and educators.
• The withholding of salaries for 60% of education sector employees.
• The dismissal of 924 teachers from their jobs in Sana'a alone in 2019.

Regarding students, the report documented:

• The recruitment of 17,350 students under the age of 18 by the Houthis.
• The subjection of students to over 4,168 sectarian cultural events and courses in Sana'a alone.
• The imposition of regular levies on students.
• The bombing of 25 schools and the shelling of over 74 others.
• The conversion of 22 schools into barracks and prisons under Houthi control.

The report also documented the radical changes the Houthis made to the curriculum, aligning it with their agenda. They injected content glorifying their leaders and presenting them as national heroes to schoolchildren.

The Truth Behind the Accusations rights reports, citing Al-Aghbary's relatives, revealed that the kidnapping and espionage accusations stemmed from a dispute between Al-aghbary and Yahya al-Houthi.

The reports alleged that Yahya al-Houthi attempted to seize a check for $1.08 million that Al-aghbary, as Director of the Global Partnership for Education, had received for a contract to supply laboratories to 150 schools, funded by UNICEF.

The reports further asserted that the kidnapping and smear campaign aimed to allow Yahya al-Houthi to seize funds allocated to UN projects in the education sector, which Al-aghbary oversaw as Director of the Global Partnership for Education Unit at UNICEF.

Criminals at Large

On social media, activists shared images of Al-aghbary alongside Yahya al-Houthi during the implementation of a UNICEF-funded project. They also shared images and official news from Houthi media outlets about a meeting between Al-Agabri and Qasim al-Humran, the Houthi deputy minister of education and a close confidant of the Houthi leader. The meeting, which took place in February 2021, eight months before Al-Agabri's kidnapping, discussed the implementation of stalled programs under the Global Partnership Unit.

Activists questioned the timing of the accusations against Al-aghbary, considering his previous interactions with Houthi officials. They highlighted the hypocrisy of accusing Al-Agabri of targeting education while ignoring Yahya al-Houthi and al-Humran, who oversee all aspects of the education sector and receive support from international organizations.

This blatant contradiction, according to activists, exposes the Houthi regime's fabricated accusations of espionage and treason against their captives, often leading to death sentences. It further highlights the regime's criminal project against Yemen and its people.