- Title: Yemen's self-styled TikTok 'pirate' takes social media by storm
- Date: 19th January 2024
- Summary: SANAA, YEMEN (JANUARY 18, 2024) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) YEMENI, RASHED AL-HADDAD, SAYING: "Of course, I decided to create a Tiktok (account) to post my clips and deliver my messages. I posted a clip that reached two million (views), and I saw that there is significant interaction from foreigners. When they started to follow my posts, I decided to post my messages to them, and take advantage of the opportunity to deliver my messages to foreigners, because (only) half of them know why Yemen stands with Palestine... and why they (Houthis) are surrounding the ships - which is to lift the siege on Palestine.”
- Embargoed: 2nd February 2024 08:53
- Keywords: Galaxy leader ship Israel Palestinians Yemen pirate red sea ship
- Location: SANAA, YEMEN / AT SEA
- City: SANAA, YEMEN / AT SEA
- Country: Yemen
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Middle East
- Reuters ID: LVA003364519012024RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:A Yemeni teenager who calls himself a "pirate" has become a social media sensation after posting video selfies that include one showing him gripping Yemen's flag on board a commercial container ship seized in the Red Sea by the Houthis.
Rashed Al-Haddad, 19, has achieved his newfound fame as a "pirate" despite offering no evidence that he's been involved in the seizure of any vessel.
"The king of the pirates has arrived in the Red Sea. Free Palestine," he wrote on X above a video showing him on the container ship Galaxy Leader.
That post, in which he sported a thin beard and wore a khaki shirt and military-style belt, had 36,500 views and included a comment from @MaryMorrisey saying: "Got a love, a rockstar pirate."
Other posts on X or TikTok show him in a skiff alongside the vessel. One had more than 60,000 views.
The Galaxy Leader was seized on November 19, after the Houthis, who control swathes of Yemen, started attacks on ships in the Red Sea which they said were to support Palestinians during the Gaza war. The vessel is now docked in Yemen.
Speaking from Yemen, he told Reuters: "They compared me to a Hollywood actor. I did not care about these tweets at all. I tweeted and said we need to focus on the Palestinian cause."
He spoke while sitting on a living room couch, wearing a military belt typically used by soldiers to carry ammunition. At one point he had an AK-47 assault rifle beside him.
(Production Kevin Donnellan, Abir Al-Ahmar, Yara Abi Nader) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2024. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None