Yemen-Saudi love story highlights political tensions
The recent story of a Yemeni man and a Saudi woman who fell in love and fled to Yemen highlights long-standing political and social tensions between their two neighboring states.
It is not just a love story, but one of rebellious love, with a touch of Romeo and Juliet. This Arab version features added struggle within a populist setting and crosses into the territory of geopolitics.
Huda al-Niran and Arafat Tahar, a Saudi woman and a young Yemeni man, fell head-over-heels in love in a country where romance is a crime and severely punished. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia does not tolerate emotions. Women do not even enjoy the right to drive a car, let alone fall in love with a Yemeni, which as an accusation is far more serious than one might expect.
