The Houthis’ “Midri” campaign isn’t just about silencing Yemenis, it’s about blinding the outside world, suggested Fatima Abo Alasrar, Senior Analyst at Washington Center for Yemeni Studies.
Abo Alasrar added that even after Oman announced it had brokered a cease-fire between them and United States, Houthi rebels continued to do what they’ve always done in moments of pressure – tighten control, not loosen it. There was no public statement and no acknowledgment of compromise.
Through the Midri campaign, Yemeni slang for “I don’t know,” the Houthis have turned the absence of information into a governing principle. In a war where narratives are as potent as weapons, Midri is not a retreat. It is the regime’s most effective form of resistance.
Like Iran’s clerical establishment or North Korea’s Kim dynasty, the Houthis understand that power depends on monopoly of narrative. When citizens can independently document events, the regime no longer retains control over the narrative.
This isn’t merely about managing public opinion; it’s about preventing other realities from being witnessed at all. The Houthis’ Midri campaign is transforming Yemeni citizens into either complicit participants in collective denial or enemies of the state.
For the Houthi leadership’s grip on control, the most threatening weapon isn’t necessarily the guided missile but the civilian smartphone. Each captured image risks exposing the gulf between revolutionary rhetoric and reality, revealing weapons caches in residential neighborhoods, the diversion of humanitarian aid to fighters while civilians starve, or the lavish lifestyles of commanders amid Yemen’s economic collapse.
The Houthis’ “Midri” campaign is narrative warfare, calibrated to obscure facts, disorient analysts, and erode accountability on the international level. By suppressing imagery, prohibiting funerals, and quieting firsthand testimony, they seek to dominate not only the domestic discourse but also to influence perceptions in Washington, Riyadh, and Brussels. This manipulation of reality poses a direct challenge to governments and organizations trying to effectively respond to the conflict.
For U.S. policymakers, the lesson is clear: Airstrikes alone will not change Houthi behavior. Washington should integrate narrative warfare into its military strategy to preserve Yemeni voices and testimonies that the Houthis seek to silence. This means investing in robust open-source verification networks that can document strikes and abuses in real time while simultaneously supporting local journalists and civilians through partnerships, emergency assistance, and secure platforms. Success cannot be measured by the absence of evidence; policymakers should develop assessment frameworks that account for the Houthis’ strategic information blackouts.
Abo Alasrar concluded the analysis suggesting that the Midri campaign is the systematic strategy of enforced blindness. However, in their obsession with control, the Houthis forgot the oldest rule in the book: The moment a regime tells people not to look, everyone starts watching.