Far Away, So Close

Yemen was divided for a very long time – with the north characterized by Islam and tribal structures, while socialism reigned in the south. In 2010, Yemenis, just like the Germans, celebrate 20 years of reunification. Klaus Heymach reports

"Almanya-Yemen, same-same," said the raisin seller in Sanaa's old city market. "Germany and Yemen are the same," he repeats and to illustrate, he rubs his outstretched index fingers together. What do the poorest Arab country and one of the most prosperous states in the West have in common?

"Unification," explains the old man in his ankle-length white robe, supporting himself on the hilt of his curved dagger. He grins and repeats, "Same-same."

In fact, not only the Germans celebrated unification in 1990. On 22 May, just four-and-a-half months earlier than the Germans, North Yemen, ruled by conservative tribes, and the socialist South Yemen united to form what is still the only republic in the region. For the first time in the history of Yemen, a common state arose in the southwest of the Arabian Peninsula. And as in Germany, one part of the country proved economically and politically overpowering – with three-quarters of the total population, its system and values have spread over the entire country in the intervening years.

Foreign to this day

The north was ruled into the early 1960s by a Shiite imam, while the British ruled the south with its port city of Aden. In 1962, the Imamate in the north became the Yemenite Arabic Republic. Five years later, the British crown colony in the south achieved its independence, becoming a socialist people's republic under the influence of the Soviet Union.

Many well-educated and broad-minded south Yemenis find the north, a society ruled by conservative tribes, as foreign to this day. Aden and Sanaa developed along completely different lines, says Kamal Makrami. The country is indeed unified, but there are still barriers between the peoples, explains Makrami.

Everyone talks about unification

At least there was no death strip or "shoot to kill" orders on the border between the two states, says Martin Weiss, who headed the German Technical Cooperation office (GTZ) in Sanaa before unification. "The border was more open than in Germany. There was also a greater feeling here that people wanted to be unified." During the traditional afternoon qat chewing sessions, talk would inevitably turn to unification, recalls Weiss. "But I had the feeling that no one really believed it would happen. The Yemenis were just as surprised as we were in Germany."

For decades, the goal of unification was enshrined in the constitutions of both Yemeni states. Negotiations, however, always ended in border skirmishes. Only when the Soviet Union was nearing its collapse and the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen was bankrupt did changes rapidly take place. In May 1990, Ali Abdallah Saleh, the President of North Yemen, declared the new republic with himself at its head and the Secretary General of the Socialist Party as his deputy.

Unification assistance from Yemen?

It was at this moment when Saleh, who still holds the office of president, offered the Germans help with their reunification. The governments in Bonn and Berlin did not take up the offer, although the Yemeni unification project sounded promising. Politicians from the north and south wanted to jointly build a democracy along Western lines. Within a short span of time, two single-party states were transformed into one country with dozens of parties and newspapers.

Yet, the equal status of north and south has long been a thing of the past. The first free elections in 1993 already highlighted mistrust in the grand coalition. When the Socialists then called out for secession, Saleh's soldiers marched into Aden, plundered the city, and destroyed the only brewery on the peninsula. "South Yemen was taken over in much more brutal manner than was the case in Germany," says Weiss. "This quickly led to disillusionment, as almost all of the important posts in the state administration were suddenly controlled by northerners."

"We have taken many steps backwards," says Makrami. "It is not that the old political system was good, but today's isn't either." The south has had to give up many social achievements. "Men and women used to be equal," says Makrami about life under socialism. "Women didn't have to walk around covered up like tents."

Klaus Heymach

Translated from the German by Aingeal Flanagan

Editor: Lewis Gropp/Qantara.de

Qantara.de

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