4 - Unity in Name Only

Summary

When the united Republic of Yemen was formed on May 22, 1990, it was an historic achievement in an ancient, divided land. The cameras flashed before Ali Abdallah Salih and Ali Salem al-Bid, as they stood together with dozens of other officials and dignitaries from both sides of the border. In the individual faces of the photographs taken that day, one can see the great sense of national pride in united Yemen. Standing together were Yemenis representing nearly every region of the country, the highlands and the midlands, Aden and Lahij in the southwest and Hadramaut in the east. One can easily distinguish the Zaydi judge, posing in a long robe and turban, from one of Aden’s socialist technocrats in a collarless business suit. The highland tribesman, standing with a curved dagger sheathed in his belt, contrasts with the lone southern woman who attended the event without an Islamic head scarf. North and south Yemenis appeared in front of the cameras as one people united without divisions.

There was a time after Yemen’s unification when copies of this official “Unity Day” photograph hung in nearly every government office around the country. It made a powerful symbol of national unity, showing northern and southern political leaders together as one. The photograph represented the hope and promise that brought the two political regimes together. Unfortunately, this was just a ceremonial display of unity. In the following months, political disputes quickly ended what little sense of trust the two regimes had for each other, exposing their worst motives, and leading the country onto a path of more conflict and warfare. More than twenty years later, one never sees the old unity photograph because it has come to symbolize something very different – a mixture of betrayal and false expectations.