Sixty-two years ago today, the Yemenis erupted against a regressive, theocratic regime that had isolated the society from its surroundings and the march of time. The countless sacrifices made by the vanguard of Yemenis throughout the twentieth century, spanning over four decades of imamate rule, in their quest for the values of citizenship and modernization, laid the groundwork for this transformation that became a vivid reality on September 26, 1962. This enlightened vanguard was a blend of traditional intellectuals, expatriate businessmen, students studying in various capitals abroad, army officers and soldiers, religious leaders, farmers, and others.
The republican project heralded by the great September Revolution aligned with the pan-Arab nationalist movement, expressing its political and social orientations and aspirations for liberation from oppression, colonialism, and class-based discrimination. However, it soon faced a fierce backlash from reactionary governments in the region, backed by colonial Western powers, their local proxies, and mercenaries recruited from across the globe. The emergence of this project in a geography that had remained isolated for centuries threatened the existence of hereditary ruling regimes in the surrounding region, at a time when the nationalist rhetoric advocating, with its slogans of "freedom, unity, and socialism," was at the peak of its influence on public sentiment, from the Maghreb to the Gulf.
On the other hand, the immense sacrifices made by Egyptians in support of the revolution and the triumph of the republican regime cannot be overlooked, nor can we deny its moral message of solidarity with the people of Yemen. With this support, Yemeni children attended schools, read from Egyptian textbooks, and learned from their teachers, and patients with chronic illnesses sought treatment at hospitals and health clinics as they found doctors who cared for them. Yemenis found courageous Egyptian soldiers defending their right to live in dignity freely, along with experts working to build the institutions of a modern state. Therefore, these sacrifices will remain an everlasting and profound debt owed by all Yemenis.
For decades, opponents and adversaries of the Republican project have sought to undermine it and label it a failure. The soft propaganda machine of the Imamate project, embodied by political Hashemism, found in the corruption of the ruling class and the voracity of the power alliance over public positions and resources as a model for dismantling the entire project. Through various tools, often hidden within the structures of civil and military institutions, they actively worked and sought to dismantle it from within, while simultaneously introducing a distorted and negative image of the republican project in the public consciousness—especially among younger generations who did not live through the darkness and harshness of the pre-September era.
“Today, the glorious September is being commemorated and revived once more, along with the revolutionary project and its legitimacy. It is recalled through the symbolism of its flag, national anthems, and songs, as well as through the diverse figures that came from different cultural, social, and regional backgrounds across all of Yemen’s geography, north and south. They were all driven by an overwhelming desire for freedom and liberation from the oppression of a closed, authoritarian regime, and even prior to that, from a conceited, deluded lineage that clung to an empty, wretched sense of superiority and delusive pretensions.”
For many years, September 26 was treated merely as a symbolic national commemoration, filled with anthems, speeches, flags, and images of the rulers. As a result, its significance as an enduring necessity for freedom, development, and prosperity in people’s lives faded. The new Imam forces, with their machinery and resources, believed that the memory of this day had completely dissipated from the community's consciousness, and that they could easily replace it with another "revolution" bearing deceptive slogans and a fabricated history, cobbled together from fragments of the great September. However, this trap did not last long, and its miserable truth was quickly exposed. The collective awareness awakened, prompting a search sifting through the memories of the past to rediscover the pure and unblemished essence of September—not as a relic of history, but as fertile soil from which new hope could be cultivated, from the earth that has drawn much from the blood of the September martyrs and their fathers, the free Yemenis.
In this context of renewed awareness, a youth consciousness has emerged, re-examining history anew without sensitivity or calculations, revealing the necessity that led to the creation of this great day. This awareness has uncovered the profound difference between a revolution that opened paths to the sun for Yemenis and a historical catastrophe that employs all instruments of oppression to return them to the graves of darkness. The architects of this catastrophe and those involved in it are solely concerned with restoring a regime they delude themselves into believing they have an absolute right to—over its resources and benefits, and before that, in fortifying it militarily and security-wise. This would ensure that the new ruling class, with its coarse hereditary legacy, remains safe from the wrath of a people they have starved, robbed of their resources and savings, and oppressed their children, while also mining their geography with the explosives of war and deadly sectarianism.
In the spirit of this remembrance, the glorious September is being commemorated once more, along with its revolutionary project and its legitimacy. It is recalled through the symbolism of its flag, national anthems, and songs—lyrics written by great poets and performed by talented artists who had either endured the fires of the imamate or lived through its years of misery. The revolution is also remembered through the diverse figures that came from different cultural, social, and regional backgrounds across all of Yemen’s geography, north and south. They were all driven by an overwhelming desire for freedom and liberation from the oppression of a closed, authoritarian regime, and even prior to that, from a conceited, deluded lineage that clung to an empty, wretched sense of superiority and delusive pretensions.
Glory to the 26th of September; may its legacy endure forever, alongside the sacrifices of its martyrs.
