Sarkha

{{about|the political slogan|the village in Iran|Sarkha-ye Pain}}

{{Infobox flag

| Name = Sarkha

| Image = Slogan of the Houthi Movement.svg

| Imagetext = {{Font color|#00c86f|God is the Greatest}}
{{Font color|#fd0000|Death to America}}
{{Font color|#fd0000|Death to Israel}}
{{Font color|#fd0000|Curse be upon the Jews}}
{{Font color|#00c86f|Victory to Islam}}

| Noborder = no

| Nickname =

| Use = 000000

| Symbol = {{IFIS|Equal}}

| Adoption = {{circa|{{Start date and age|2003}}}}

| Design = Vertical white banner with a green border and five Arabic statements from top to bottom in the centre: green text for pro-Islamic statements and red text for anti-American, anti-Israeli, and antisemitic statements.

| Designer = Hussein al-Houthi

| Type =

}}

The Sarkha ({{langx|ar|الصرخة|lit=The scream / The collective outcry}}) is the political slogan of the Houthis, a Zaydi-Shia revivalist political and military organization in Yemen, that reads "God is the Greatest, Death to America, Death to Israel, Curse be upon the Jews, Victory to Islam" on a vertical banner of Arabic text. It is often printed on a white background, with the Islamic statements coloured green and the statements about the group's enemies appear in a red font resembling barbed wire.

Design and symbolism

Modeled on a motto from revolutionary Iran,{{Cite news |author=ShahidSaless, Shahir |date=30 March 2015 |title=Does Iran really control Yemen |url=http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/02/iran-yemen-houthis-axis-of-resistance.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150213230210/http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/02/iran-yemen-houthis-axis-of-resistance.html |archive-date=13 February 2015 |newspaper=Al-Monitor |quote=Despite some differences in their religious beliefs, when it comes to foreign policy, very little separates the Iranian Twelver Shiites from Houthis, who are Zaidi Shiites. The political narrative that Houthis have propagated is “Death to America, Death to Israel,” which is modeled on revolutionary Iran's motto.}} the Houthi slogan, called the Sarkha, is: "Allah is the Greatest, Death to America, Death to Israel, A Curse Upon the Jews, Victory to Islam."{{efn|{{langx|ar|الله أكبر، الموت لأمريكا، الموت لإسرائيل، اللعنة علی اليهود، النصر للإسلام|translit=Allāhu ʾakbar, al-mawt li-ʾAmrīkā, al-mawt li-ʾIsrāʾīl, al-laʿnah ʿalā 'l-Yahūd, an-naṣr li-l-ʾIslām}}}}{{Cite news |last1=McKernan |first1=Bethan |last2=correspondent |first2=Bethan McKernan Middle East |date=2018-11-21 |title=Who are the Houthis and why are they fighting the Saudi coalition in Yemen? |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/21/who-are-the-houthis-fighting-the-saudi-led-coalition-in-yemen |access-date=2025-01-12 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077 |quote=The Houthis’ slogan, known as the sarkha, or scream, is “God is great, death to America, death to Israel, curse on the Jews, victory to Islam.”}}

The Sarkha was originally not tied to the Houthi movement and its exact origin is disputed. The slogan was first chanted at the Imam al-Hadi school in Razih, Saada in January 2002, although it is claimed that the then-leader of the movement, Hussein al-Houthi, used it after seeing footage of the killing of young Palestinian Muhammad al-Durrah during the Second Intifada in 2000.{{cite journal |author=Winter |first=Lucas |date=2011 |title=Conflict in Yemen: Simple People, Complicated Circumstances |url=https://www.academia.edu/2084257 |journal=Middle East Policy |volume=XVIII |issue=1 |pages=102–120 |doi=10.1111/j.1475-4967.2011.00476.x}}{{Cite web |last=Center |first=Sana'a |date=2024-06-05 |title=Houthi Media: A Study in Ideological Warfare |url=https://sanaacenter.org/publications/analysis/22797 |access-date=2025-01-12 |website=Sana'a Center For Strategic Studies |language=en |quote=The Houthis claim that their slogan, known as al-sarkha (the collective outcry), was first voiced by Hussein al-Houthi in 2002 in tribal areas of north Yemen to “confront the American project in the most dangerous conditions that the umma [Muslim nation] has experienced.”}}

Banners bearing the Sarkha are printed on a white background, with the written text in red and green; the pro-Islamic statements are coloured green while the statements about their enemies, United States, Israel, and the Jews, appear in a red font resembling barbed wire.{{Cite web |last=Phillips |first=Sarah G. |date=2024-02-11 |title='America is the mother of terrorism': why the Houthis' new slogan is important for understanding the Middle East |url=https://theconversation.com/america-is-the-mother-of-terrorism-why-the-houthis-new-slogan-is-important-for-understanding-the-middle-east-222865 |access-date=2025-01-12 |website=The Conversation |language=en-US}} The Anti-American sentiment of the slogan was a result of the resentment of the Houthis towards the U.S. war on terror as they viewed the then-president Ali Abdullah Saleh’s participation in the war as an implied approval of America’s "occupation and colonization of the Middle East."{{Cite journal |last=Porter |first=Hannah |date=2018-01-01 |title="Screaming in the Face of the Arrogant": Understanding the Logic and Symbolism of Yemen's Huthi Movement |url=https://www.academia.edu/38151253 |journal=Master's Thesis, University of Chicago |pages=4–5}}{{cite journal |author=Winter |first=Lucas |date=2011 |title=Conflict in Yemen: Simple People, Complicated Circumstances |url=https://www.academia.edu/2084257 |journal=Middle East Policy |volume=XVIII |issue=1 |page=103 |doi=10.1111/j.1475-4967.2011.00476.x}}{{Cite journal |last=Farag |first=Mahmoud |date=2024-04-02 |title=Domestic Diversionary War and Conflict Endurance in Weak States: The Houthi Conflict in Yemen (2004 – 2010) |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13698249.2024.2302733 |journal=Civil Wars |volume=26 |issue=2 |pages=330–353 |doi=10.1080/13698249.2024.2302733 |issn=1369-8249}} Hussein al-Houthi noted during a sermon in January 2002 that he had included Jews in the slogan because "they are the ones who move this world" and in another he said Muslims "will not be delivered from the evil of the Jews except by their eradication, and by the elimination of their entity [Israel]".{{Cite web |title=Why Do Houthis Curse the Jews? {{!}} ADL |url=https://www.adl.org/resources/news/why-do-houthis-curse-jews |access-date=2025-01-14 |website=www.adl.org |language=en}}

History

File:Huthi-Logo.JPG, bearing the Houthi slogan banner]]

The slogan eventually became a sign of public protest against the dictatorship of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh. It was first widely used during a visit by Saleh to Saada in January 2003. At the time, the President intended to make a speech during the Friday prayers, but was drowned out by locals who chanted the slogan to protest against his policies. The Yemeni government responded with a crackdown, and 600 people were arrested for having used the slogan. This only worsened the situation, and the slogan spread in northern Yemen.

The Houthi movement officially adopted the slogan in the wake of the widely condemned 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq.{{cite web |author=Riedel |first=Bruce |date=18 December 2017 |title=Who are the Houthis, and why are we at war with them? |url=https://www.brookings.edu/blog/markaz/2017/12/18/who-are-the-houthis-and-why-are-we-at-war-with-them/ |accessdate=20 April 2019 |work=Brookings Institution}} This brought the movement on a collision course with the government, as the government maintained its official pro-American politics despite public opposition. The slogan was outlawed. The Houthis refused to discard it, arguing that the constitution of Yemen protected free speech. By 2004, crackdowns against both the slogan as well as the Houthi movement intensified. Many Houthis were imprisoned and even tortured for having used it. The conflict between the Houthis and the government eventually resulted in the outbreak of the Houthi insurgency.

Houthi supporters state that their ire for the U.S. and Israel is directed toward the respective countries' governments. Ali al-Bukhayti, the spokesperson and official media face of the Houthis, rejected the literal interpretation of the slogan by stating in an interview: "We do not really want death to anyone. The slogan is simply against the interference of those governments [i.e., U.S. and Israel]."{{cite news|title=Photo Essay: Rise of the Houthis|url=http://www.newsweek.com/photo-essay-rise-houthis-305511|work=Newsweek|date=9 February 2015|accessdate=27 March 2015}} In the Arabic Houthi-affiliated TV and radio stations they use religious connotations associated with jihad against Israel and the US.{{cite news |last=Taqi |first=Abdulelah |date=12 April 2015 |title=Houthi propaganda: following in Hizbullah's footsteps |url=https://www.newarab.com/opinion/houthi-propaganda-following-hizballahs-footsteps |accessdate=15 October 2016 |work=The New Arab |publisher= |ref=houthis_slogan}}

Despite the religious overtones of their slogan, the Houthis self-identify as a Yemeni nationalist group opposed to the oppression of all Yemenis, including Sunni Muslims, by foreigners.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/middle-east/2015-03-25/houthi-who |title=Houthi Who? A History of Unlikely Alliances in an Uncertain Yemen |author=Asher Orkaby |magazine=Foreign Affairs |date=25 March 2015 |accessdate=20 April 2019}}{{cite web|url=https://www.wilsoncenter.org/article/who-are-yemens-houthis |title= Who are Yemen's Houthis? |author=Cameron Glenn |work=Wilson Center |date=29 May 2018 |accessdate=20 April 2019}}{{cite web |author=Rai |first=Manish |date=13 April 2018 |title=Iran Developing Houthis as its Long-Term Asset |url=https://intpolicydigest.org/2018/04/13/iran-developing-houthis-as-its-long-term-asset/ |accessdate=20 April 2019 |work=International Policy Digest}} Though the slogan is the most prominent symbol of the Houthi movement, often displayed on placards and flags, the Houthis also display the regular flag of Yemen as a rallying symbol.{{cite web |author=Ridgwell |first=Henry |date=4 September 2015 |title=Yemen Fighting Intensifies as Fears Grow of Sectarian Conflict |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/yemen-fighting-intensifies-fears-grow-sectarian-conflict/2948938.html |accessdate=20 April 2019 |work=Voice of America}}File:Protests in Sana'a, Yemen following the 2024 missile strikes-8.jpg]]

In April 2016, during UN-brokered peace talks in Kuwait, Houthi representatives gave the United States a "sincere apology" for the "Death to America" slogan claiming that the slogan was used for "domestic consumption as a means to attract support in the streets and create a common cause between their supporters to keep them united."{{Cite web |date=2024-10-02 |title=Houthis apologise to US over use of 'Death to America' slogan {{!}} Middle East Eye |url=https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/houthis-apologise-us-over-use-death-america-slogan |access-date=2025-01-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241002042300/https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/houthis-apologise-us-over-use-death-america-slogan |archive-date=2 October 2024 }}

During the Red Sea crisis, Houthi supporters waved the flag of Palestine every Friday during anti-Gaza genocide and anti-western attacks on Yemen demonstrations, alongside the slogan and flag of Yemen.{{cite web |last1= |first1= |date=19 October 2023 |title=Yemenis put aside their woes to unite for Gaza and Palestine |url=https://www.newarab.com/features/yemenis-put-aside-their-woes-unite-gaza-and-palestine |website=The New Arab}}{{Cite web |title=Houthi-led pro-Palestine rallies sweep Yemen in solidarity with Gaza |url=https://www.aa.com.tr/en/world/houthi-led-pro-palestine-rallies-sweep-yemen-in-solidarity-with-gaza/3178662 |access-date=2025-01-12 |website=www.aa.com.tr}}{{Cite web |title=Photos: Yemenis rally for Houthis, Palestinians in Sanaa |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/gallery/2024/1/19/until-israel-stops-yemenis-rally-for-houthis-palestinians-in-sanaa |access-date=2025-01-12 |website=Al Jazeera |language=en}} A new Houthi slogan appeared after the group's re-designation as a terrorist organisation: "America is the mother of terrorism" set on a red background.{{Cite web |last=Phillips |first=Sarah G. |date=2024-02-11 |title='America is the mother of terrorism': why the Houthis' new slogan is important for understanding the Middle East |url=https://theconversation.com/america-is-the-mother-of-terrorism-why-the-houthis-new-slogan-is-important-for-understanding-the-middle-east-222865 |access-date=2025-01-12 |website=The Conversation |language=en-US}}