Yemen and Media Opinion: Does a Life March Take Place If No One Covers It?
Monday, December 26, 2011 at 7:37 | Josh Shahryar in EA Middle East and Turkey, Journalism and Media, Middle East and Iran Yemen's Life Watch reaches Dhamar, halfway from Taiz to Sana'a
Last week, tens of thousands of Yemenis marched 264 kilometres (160 miles) from Taiz to the capital Sana'a to demand justice for fallen protesters. To demand that President Ali Abdullah Saleh be brought to trial over his actions in suppressing peaceful demonstrators. To demand that the wishes, hopes and dreams of millions of Yemenis who brought their lives to a standstill for the past year to get rid of a despotic dictatorship will be honoured.
When the marchers reached Sana'a, they did not get justice or honour. Instead, they were gifted bullets from their current rulers, condemnation from the US Ambassador, and something akin to a deafening silence in most of the international media.
The protesters called their walk through the rugged terrain of Yemen the Life March --- but does a march for life take place if no one is covers it?
Ali Abduallah Saleh, Yemen