Issa al-Laith
{{Short description|Yemeni vocalist and poet}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Issa al-Laith
عيسى الليث
| birth_name = Issa Hassan Muhammad Ali Al-Laith
| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1985}}
| birth_place = Khamis Mushait, Saudi Arabia
| nationality = Yemeni
| occupation = Vocalist and poet
| party = {{flag|Houthis}}
| children = 4
}}
Issa Al-Laith also spelt Issa Allaith, Issa Al-Layth (Arabic: عيسى الليث) is a Yemeni vocalist and poet affiliated with the Houthi movement (Ansar Allah).{{Cite web |last= |date=29 March 2020 |title=المنشد المخضرم عيسى الليث يتحدث لصحيفة الثورة ويكشف تفاصيل مثيرة بشأن دربه الجهادي |url=https://www.ansarollah.com/archives/329040#:~:text=%D8%A3%D9%86%D8%A7%20%D8%B9%D9%8A%D8%B3%D9%89%20%D8%AD%D8%B3%D9%86%20%D9%85%D8%AD%D9%85%D8%AF%20%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%8A,%D9%81%D9%8A%20%D9%85%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%B3%D8%A9%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%B6%D9%84%20%D9%81%D9%8A%20%D9%85%D9%86%D8%B7%D9%82%D8%A9 |access-date=20 December 2023 |website=ansarollah.com}}{{Cite web |date=2021-04-08 |title=Rebels turn to poetry in battle for Yemeni hearts |url=https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20210408-rebels-turn-to-poetry-in-battle-for-yemeni-hearts |access-date=2024-05-16 |website=France 24 |language=en}} Issa al-Laith is described as a popular zamil performer and poet for the Houthis,{{Cite news |last=Nereim |first=Vivian |date=2024-01-24 |title=Honed at Home in Yemen, Houthi Propaganda Is Going Global |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/24/world/middleeast/yemen-houthis-propaganda.html |access-date=2024-05-16 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite web |last=Naji |first=Ammar |date=2022-02-27 |title=The Unspoken Agenda of Houthi Digital Poetry in Yemen's Current War Crisis |url=https://www.arabmediasociety.com/the-unspoken-agenda-of-houthi-digital-poetry-in-yemens-current-war-crisis/ |access-date=2024-05-16 |website=Arab Media & Society |language=en-US}} and is regularly featured on various Houthi media networks.{{Cite book |last=Hamidaddin |first=Abdullah |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IRd-EAAAQBAJ&dq=issa+allaith&pg=PA17 |title=The Huthi Movement in Yemen: Ideology, Ambition and Security in the Arab Gulf |date=2022-08-25 |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |isbn=978-0-7556-4425-4 |pages=166 |language=en}}
Biography
Issa al-Laith was born in 1985 in Khamis Mushait, Saudi Arabia, to a Shiite Zaidi family from the Razih district of Saada Governorate, Yemen. Issa grew up in Saada governorate, where he completed his Quranic and secular education. He is a member of the Houthi movement and is married and the father of four children.
As a vocalist and poet, the main theme of his poetry concerns the glorification of Houthi fighters and Palestine, as well as opposing the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen, being described as a champion of the Houthi cause.{{Cite web |last=Rogerson |first=Barnaby |date=2024-02-01 |title=How the Houthis wage war through poetry |url=https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/how-the-houthis-wage-war-through-poetry/ |access-date=2024-05-16 |website=The Spectator |language=en-US}} Many of his zawamil enjoy hundreds of thousands to millions of views on various social media platforms. The zamil, rooted in cultural tradition, has been weaponised by the Houthis as a tool of propaganda and remains one of the most popular and rapidly growing platforms of Houthi propaganda,{{Cite web |title=Lyrical Art & Politics in Yemen {{!}} Khuyut |url=https://www.khuyut.com/article/art-politics |access-date=2024-05-16 |website=www.khuyut.com}}{{Cite web |last=Dima |date=2024-02-12 |title="A call for war": Yemen's Enduring Zawamil Legacy |url=https://fanack.com/culture/features-insights/yemens-zawamil-legacy-a-call-for-war~266632/ |access-date=2024-05-16 |website=The MENA Chronicle {{!}} Fanack |language=en-US}} sung by popular vocalists like Issa Al-Laith and disseminated through various social media platforms including YouTube, Twitter and Telegram.{{Cite book |last=Hamidaddin |first=Abdullah |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IRd-EAAAQBAJ&dq=issa+allaith&pg=PA175 |title=The Huthi Movement in Yemen: Ideology, Ambition and Security in the Arab Gulf |date=2022-08-25 |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |isbn=978-0-7556-4425-4 |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Naji |first=Ammar |date=2022-02-27 |title=The Unspoken Agenda of Houthi Digital Poetry in Yemen's Current War Crisis |url=https://www.arabmediasociety.com/the-unspoken-agenda-of-houthi-digital-poetry-in-yemens-current-war-crisis/ |access-date=2024-05-16 |website=Arab Media & Society |language=en-US}} The Spectator describes Houthi zawamil as its most successful part of their propaganda, stressing the movement's supposed piety, bravery and poverty in comparison with the corruption, wealth and hypocrisy of their adversaries, the Saudi-led coalition, and Arab states allied to Israel.{{Cite web |last=Rogerson |first=Barnaby |title=How the Houthis wage war through poetry |url=https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/how-the-houthis-wage-war-through-poetry/ |website=The Spectator}}
In 2023, YouTube closed various channels affiliated with the Houthis, including the channel of Issa.{{Cite web |title=The YouTube company shuts down Yemeni channels affiliated with the national media, citing "its own policies." |url=https://dearborn.org/en/preview/the-youtube-company-shuts-down-yemeni-channels-affiliated-with-the-national-media-citing-its-own-policies-35592 |access-date=2024-05-16 |website=dearborn.org |language=en}}
References
{{Reflist}}{{Portal|Music|Yemen}}