Yemen rebels turn hijacked Red Sea cargo ship into paid tourist attraction
(AFP, Hodeidah, Yemen, 29th) After the Iranian-backed Yemeni rebel group “Youth Movement” hijacked a cargo ship related to an Israeli businessman in the Red Sea more than 2 months ago, it has now turned it into a toll-free ship. It is a “tourist attraction” and attracts Yemeni people who support Palestine to visit.
Shortly after the Palestinian Islamist organization Hamas and Israel went to war on October 7 last year, the youth movement (Houthi) repeatedly launched or dispatched a large number of missiles and drones to attack ships passing through the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden (Gulf of Aden). merchant ships, claiming the ships were linked to Israel. This puts an important global trade route at risk.
The truck freighter Galaxy Leader was hijacked on November 19 last year, in what the youth movement claimed was a show of “solidarity” with the besieged Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. The ship was chartered by a Japanese company and owned by a British company, which in turn was owned by an Israeli businessman.
The Galaxy Leader, now anchored off the Red Sea city of Hodeida, is decorated with Yemeni flags and Palestinian self-government flags, as well as banners with anti-U.S. and anti-Israel slogans. Currently, only male tour groups are allowed to board the ship by wooden boat 5 times a week. The fee per person per trip is about US$1 (approximately NT$31).
Tourist Zubair al-Haidari, from Sanaa, the capital of Yemen controlled by the youth movement, said he spent five hours traveling to visit the “Israeli ship.”
“This is an excellent achievement that our armed forces have achieved in support of our oppressed brothers in Palestine and Gaza… This is our pride and honor,” Haidali told AFP.
There were about 10 visitors, including Haidali, who took photos with their mobile phones. Some of them danced the traditional Yemeni machete dance on the boat and sang songs praising the youth movement.
Visitors interviewed by AFP on the deck all said they had not seen the 25 missing crew members. The nationalities of the crew include Bulgaria, Philippines, Ukraine and Mexico.
Hizam al-Assad, a member of the Youth Movement’s Politburo, called the Galaxy Leader a “tourist attraction” and said visitors “prove that the Yemeni people…can’t wait to see their enemies and confront them head-on.”
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2024-01-29 14:50:02
