To: Yousef Al Otaiba, UAE and Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Emirates

@UAEEmbassyUS: Renounce Attack on Hodeida or Face @Emirates Boycott

Renounce intention to attack Hodeida, or face boycott of Emirates Airline.

Why is this important?

Nine Senators [1] and 55 Members of the House [2] have demanded that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates spare the Yemeni port city of Hodeida from military assault to avoid pushing Yemen into famine. But David Beasley, head of the UN World Food Program, says diplomatic efforts to protect Hodeida from Saudi-UAE assault have so far failed. [3] On May 17, Senators Murphy and Young took to the Senate floor to denounce the Saudi-UAE war and blockade on Yemen. Senator Murphy said: "The Saudis are deliberately trying to create a famine inside Yemen in order to essentially starve the Yemenis to the negotiating table." Senator Young said: "I urge the Administration to ask the Saudi government to ... renounce any intention to conduct a military operation against the port of Hodeida." [4]

The UAE is a crucial co-belligerent in the "Saudi-led" war and blockade and the threatened attack on Hodeida. On March 26, the Washington Post reported: "Yemen operations being conducted by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates [include] a planned Emirati offensive to retake [Hodeida]."[5]

Emirates Airline, owned by the UAE government, is vulnerable to public criticism in the U.S. and opposition in Congress. Americans wouldn't support an airline associated with "deliberate famine" in Yemen. Many in Congress of have opposed expansion of Emirates Airline in the U.S. market on the grounds that it is unfairly subsidized by the UAE government and threatens American jobs. [6] If Emirates Airline became widely known in the U.S. as the "deliberate famine" airline, Congressional opposition to the expansion of Emirates Airline in the U.S. would increase.

Urge UAE Ambassador Yousef Al Otaiba and Emirates CEO Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum to renounce any attack on Hodeida or face a boycott of Emirates Airlines by signing our petition.

References:
1. http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/join-9-senators-to-tell?sr_by=1135580
2. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/05/02/alarm-grows-in-washington-as-saudi-coalition-attack-on-yemen-port-appears-imminent/
3. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/15/world/middleeast/trump-yemen-saudi-arabia.html
4. https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4670011/murphy-young-yemen-murphy-saudis-deliberately-trying-create-famine-yemen
5. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/trump-administration-weighs-deeper-involvement-in-yemen-war/2017/03/26/b81eecd8-0e49-11e7-9d5a-a83e627dc120_story.html
6. http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2017/03/nj_lawmakers_seek_to_block_an_international_flight.html