The Houthis: From 'Liberation of Palestine' Slogans to Killing Civilians

They raised slogans of “Death to America and the occupiers,” presenting themselves as defenders of Palestine. Yet the missiles bearing their slogans, which stopped targeting the occupier, began to strike civilians and civilian and economic assets in Saudi Arabia. The Houthi terrorist attacks on the Kingdom reveal the stark contradiction between the slogans and rhetoric embraced by the group and the criminal reality, the latest chapter of which was the targeting of King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh. The attack, which killed 12 people and injured 309 others, exposed the falsity of the terrorist militia’s slogans and how it shifted from claiming to support Palestine to killing innocent civilians who have no connection to wars or political conflicts. For many years, the Houthi militia claimed that the Palestinian cause was at the forefront of its political and media discourse, relying on its well-known slogan: “God is Great, Death to America, Death to Israel, Curse upon the Jews, Victory for Islam.” However, the issue was never about defending Palestinian rights, but rather using a just cause to justify military actions that harm unarmed civilians, with false slogans serving as a cover for terrorist militias. With the outbreak of the war in Gaza in October 2023, the Houthis intensified their pro-Palestinian rhetoric, announcing the launch of missiles and drones toward the occupier, and carried out attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, claiming these actions were in support of Gaza. But gradually, the group redirected the trajectory of its missiles and drones from the occupier to civilian and economic assets in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Before staining its hands with the blood of innocents in Saudi Arabia, the militia had already killed its own countrymen in Yemen. The fatalities in the latest attack on King Khalid Airport in Riyadh included four Saudi nationals, as well as one citizen each from Palestine, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Sudan, and the United States. These diverse nationalities were united in a single tragedy, after a civilian airport receiving travelers from around the world was turned into the scene of a cowardly attack.