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Students have rallied or set up tents at dozens of campuses in
the United States in recent days to protest against Israel's war
in Gaza, now in its seventh month.
Demonstrators have called on President Joe Biden, who has
supported Israel's right to defend itself, to do more to stop
the bloodshed in Gaza and demanded schools divest from companies
that support Israel's government.
Many of the schools, including Ivy League Columbia University in
New York City, have called in police to quell the protests.
"We are serious about welcoming students that have been
suspended from U.S. universities for supporting Palestinians,"
an official at Sanaa University, which is run by the Houthis,
told Reuters. "We are fighting this battle with Palestine in
every way we can."
Sanaa University had issued a statement applauding the
"humanitarian" position of the students in the United States and
said they could continue their studies in Yemen.
"The board of the university condemns what academics and
students of U.S. and European universities are being subjected
to, suppression of freedom of expression," the board of the
university said in a statement, which included an email address
for any students wanting to take up their offer.
The U.S. and Britain returned the Houthi militia to a list of
terrorist groups this year as their attacks on vessels in and
around the Red Sea hurt global economies.
The Houthi's offer of an education for U.S. students sparked a
wave of sarcasm by ordinary Yemenis on social media. One social
media user posted a photograph of two Westerners chewing Yemen's
widely-used narcotic leaf Qat. He described the scene as
American students during their fifth year at Sanaa University.
(Reporting by Mohammed Ghobari; Writing by Michael Georgy and
Maha El Dahan; Editing by Alex Richardson)
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