عدن و«حمائم» جدة

At the beginning of the twentieth century, new goods were shipped from the markets of Aden to the Arabian Peninsula, marking significant changes in some areas. One of my friends, a respected Saudi dignitary, recalls a part of his childhood spent in the Jazan region, southern Saudi Arabia, and how locations were identified by names like "the route of the car purchased from Aden."

In the gatherings of Jeddah, the "echo of the telling years" resonates about "Aden... the port of Yemen," and sweet conversations are interspersed with memories of the suffering that followed the days of the "People's Democratic Republic of Yemen" after gaining independence on November 30, 1967, before it was named the economic and commercial capital of the Republic of Yemen on May 22, 1990, and then a temporary capital from February 2015.

Admirers of Aden among the people and residents of Jeddah remember the late Queen Elizabeth II's visit on April 27, 1954, on her way back from her first royal tour, just two years after her coronation; and seven years after her marriage to Prince Philip in November 1947, during which they spent their royal honeymoon in the castles and palaces of Scotland. It is not what "they communicate: they message each other via WhatsApp" that she preferred an Adeni hotel over Balmoral Castle in Scotland!

The conversation continues about Aden and how it became famous for its unique global port that receives and exports goods and commercial items, turning into a port for exporting revolutions and a launchpad for armed fronts and a branch of progressive ideology that made the beautiful city miserable and bleak. Sheikh Sinan Abu Lahoum recalls in his memoirs that after a long absence from Aden, he traveled accompanying the President of North Yemen, Ali Abdullah Saleh, for unity talks with his counterpart, President of South Yemen, Ali Nasser Muhammad, in the early 1980s. Abu Lahoum was horrified by what he saw in Aden, a state that "looked like a ghost town," as he described it... "May God have no mercy on you, you have ruined the world," he addressed President Ali Nasser, who jokingly replied, "This is progress, Uncle Sinan!"

The city of Aden witnessed bloody events that marred the independence phase, before the desired unity, followed by a short and unfortunate war that was succeeded by a significant renaissance that enabled it to host several events, including the "Gulf Cup 20 (November 2010)," preceding the Arab Spring of 2011, and the causes of the outbreak of war and the general chaos that set the stage for the "Doves and Crows" marathon from 2015 to 2025.

Aden welcomed a flock of "doves" from Jeddah... where Yemeni ministers arrived from the government of Dr. Sha'if Mohsen Al-Zandani, the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, aspiring to restore Aden and all of Yemen in a way better than it was, armed with determination and equipped with faith.

Before the recent arrival of Yemeni ministers from Jeddah, the latter had, centuries ago, sent military and commercial campaigns to Aden, according to the book by the historian of Jeddah and its brilliant thinker, Muhammad Anwar Nowailati, "Jeddah and the Others (published by Matun Al-Muthaqaf - Cairo)"; and because Aden is among the "others," Nowailati spoke of it alongside Jeddah as "two cities that draw from the Red Sea." "For the young Nowailati," there are other writings published by Jadawel for Publishing - Beirut, flashing important signals about "the philosophy of geography and the genius of place and (geohistory)." Readers' minds connect with important information about the close historical relationship between "the two cosmopolitan cities," and how they cooperated commercially at pivotal stages.

The Saudi-Yemeni connection is strengthening day by day; you read its history in a book here, hear its echo in gatherings there, and live its reality in a project on Yemeni soil. The present is a faithful witness to how much the Saudi side cherishes a good memory of Yemen as a whole, showing sustained interest and extending a helping hand for upliftment and development on the path to #Peace_for_Yemen.

Without any intention of dominance or desire for control, the Saudi brotherhood is making significant efforts to develop Aden's air and sea ports, and to carve various land routes through the "Saudi Program for the Development and Reconstruction of Yemen" with projects costing billions of riyals and dollars for the benefit of millions of beneficiaries, while continuing to support the Yemeni government and doubling interest in serving the Yemeni people.

In Jeddah, Riyadh, and the rest of Saudi Arabia, they remember Aden and the rest of Yemen not only with love and nostalgia but also document it objectively and sincerely, and they earnestly and generously strive for revival and growth; the signs are clear just as the memories are vibrant.