The Fox Hunt, By Mohammed Al-Samawi
Scribe, £14.99
When he was just a year old, Mohammed Al Samawi had a stroke, which damaged the right side of his body. He grew up unable to run, ride a bicycle, or play in the same way other children could.
So he studied. But, growing up in Sana’a, capital of Yemen, the education he received was anti-Western, anti-Israel and, perhaps above all, antisemitic.
Through initial contact with a westerner in Yemen, then through his work with international aid organisations, and access to the internet, Al Samawi came to understand that there was a better way. One which emphasised coexistence and love rather than mindless hate.
He began to attend interfaith peace conferences and started trying to foster coexistence efforts within Yemen, risking the anger of his relatives and the fury of his community. It was an uphill struggle, which led to his receiving multiple death threats.
And then there was Yemen’s civil war. In 2015, the country descended into armed struggles between the Houtis, largely in the north, and various militia groups (including Al Qaeda, on the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP), mainly in the south. Mohammed, fearing for his safety and that of his family, fled to the reportedly safer south. But he soon came to realise that the south was just as dangerous and, as an easily identifiable northerner, he was a natural target for the Sunni militias. As the net closed in around him, his only hope was a group of coexistence activists, some of whom had never met him, who launched an operation to help get him to safety. He now lives and works in the United States
His account is partly so gripping, because the events described took place within living memory. Al-Samawi managed to escape Yemen less than three years ago. And of course the war, widely seen as a proxy between Iran (supporting the Shias) and Saudi Arabia (backing the Sunnis), is still going on.
The antisemitism, with which the population is indoctrinated in both schools and mosques, is of a frightening intensity: “The Jews tried to fight and kill the Prophet Muhammad. The Jews made Muhammad suffer… we should never trust a Jew. Even if they seem good, they’re always hiding something.”
And that’s not to mention the anti-Israel sentiment. When Al Samawi tries to set up an online study group, the revelation that one of its members is from Israel prompts a Yemenite girl to ask: “how many Palestinians have you killed today?”
But there is hope. Al Samawi, who grew up in such a toxic climate, was able to look beyond it. We often see the internet and social media as having helped to spread intolerance and hatred, violence and terror. But, without the internet, Mohammed Al Samawi would never have been able to find out that there was far more to life than what he had been taught. And, without the connections that he made through social media, he would never have been saved when turmoil hit.
And the efforts made by so many people to save him showed the goodness that can be found in the world. As he says at the end of the book, quoting both the Talmud and the Koran: “one who saves a single person, it is as if he has saved the entire world.”
Daniel Sugarman is a JC reporter