#SupportYemen: Break the Silence

The campaign uses a website in English and Arabic as a central place for information on Yemen. Information formats include video clips, reports on Yemen, photos, blogs, and links to websites related to the revolutionary movement in Yemen, as well as a list of how to support Yemen from abroad. It also includes social networking tools: Facebook and Twitter pages provide information on the campaign and chances to join the discussions for new ideas. Printed materials include: flyers and brochures with barcodes that automatically redirect the reader to the website and Facebook page with information on the campaign, solicitation of ideas, and a membership opportunity.

Films on the #SupportYemen website include:

• US Policy in Yemen: A Recipe for Anti-Americanism? - Presented during a talk on "United States (US) Policy and Perception in Yemen" by Ibrahim Mothana at the Yemen in Transition Conference at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, US, October 19 2012.
• No to Terror, Yes to Life - Posted June 7 2012, this video shows a candlelight vigil organised to commemorate the May 21 2012 suicide attack in Sana’a that killed 96 soldiers and wounded 300. People decorated the photos of the deceased with flowers, followed by a candlelight vigil.
• Yemen Enlightenment Debate: "Foreign Aid to Yemen caused More Harm than Good" - SupportYemen, in association with Resonate! Yemen, presents "Yemen Enlightenment First Oxford Style Debate" on the motion in the film's title. The debate was held at the residence of the Ambassador of Spain to Yemen on May 3 2012.
• I Will Fight For My Rights - In this film, posted April 3 2012, a young woman sits gagged with duct tape while statements that describe gender inequities in Yemen appear (subtitled in English) with some suggestions of solutions for gender equity advocates, such as criminalising domestic violence and setting a minimum marriage age at 18.
• For Liberty - Also posted April 3 2012, this film documents a silent vigil in remembrance of student lives lost in a peaceful youth uprising that became violent.
• What Would You Do? - Posted on the same date, this film asks its audience to "take a walk in my shoes", suggesting that many take basic human rights for granted, but that for Yemenis, these rights are aspirations. The film suggests that rights advocacy can take the form of people marching for better education, better healthcare, freedom of speech, real democracy, justice, and dignity.
• SupportYemen - Break The Silence - Posted October 9 2011, this film records Yemeni youth making political and human rights statements, including specific requests for change, following the violence against the student protest movement in Taiz on October 5 2011. (Translated into Italian, French, and English, as well as subtitled in Arabic.)

Gender, Conflict, Rights

As stated on the website, the principles of the campaign include the following:

• "We completely stand against any sort of psychological, verbal, physical or sexual violence as well as using any sort of bladed, light, medium, or heavy weapons. So we only support the peaceful struggle and we are absolutely against the use of any form of violence by any party and reject all forms of strife and armed conflict.
• In this campaign, we all meet under the umbrella of humanity first and then the loyalty to Yemen, which creates a space big enough for Yemenis from all religious affiliations, sectarian, partisan, and geographical; therefore, we do not allow the exclusion of any component of Yemeni society as we believe in the importance of preserving cultural and political diversity.
• Under no circumstances should the participants in this campaign put their tribal affiliations, regional or sectarian or partisan public interest before the nation’s interests and the principles of the campaign.
• We believe in the principle of absolute transparency in our work, with one another, in our releases, and with the media."