Issa Al-Laith also spelt Issa Allaith, Issa Al-Layth (Arabic: عيسى الليث‎) is a

Yemeni Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to the north, Oman to the northeast, the south-eastern part of the Arabian Sea to the east, the Gulf of Aden to the south ...

vocalist and poet affiliated with the

Houthi movement The Houthis, officially known as Ansar Allah, is a Zaydism, Zaydi Shia Islamism, Shia Islamist political and military organization that emerged from Yemen in the 1990s. It is predominantly made up of Zaydi Shias, with their namesake leadersh ...

(Ansar Allah). Issa al-Laith is described as a popular '' zamil'' performer and poet for the Houthis, and is regularly featured on various Houthi media networks.

Biography

Issa al-Laith was born in 1985 in

Khamis Mushait Khamis Mushayt or Khamis Mushait (, ' , locally: ) is a city in south-west Saudi Arabia, located east of Abha, the provincial seat of the Asir Province from the national capital of Riyadh. It is the capital of the Shahran tribe in the Asir regi ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

, to a Shiite Zaidi family from the Razih district of

Saada Governorate Saada () or Sa'dah is one of the governorates of Yemen. The governorate's seat and the largest city is Saada. It is the epicentre of ZaydismYemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

. Issa grew up in Saada governorate, where he completed his Quranic and secular education. He is a member of the Houthi movement and is married and the father of four children. As a vocalist and poet, the main theme of his poetry concerns the glorification of Houthi fighters and Palestine, as well as opposing the

Saudi-led intervention in Yemen On 26 March 2015, Saudi Arabia, leading a coalition of nine countries from West Asia and North Africa, launched a military intervention in Yemen at the request of Yemeni president Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, who had been ousted from the capital, Sa ...

, being described as a champion of the Houthi cause. Many of his zawamil enjoy hundreds of thousands to millions of views on various social media platforms. The ''zamil'', rooted in cultural tradition, has been weaponised by the Houthis as a tool of propaganda and remains one of the most popular and rapidly growing platforms of Houthi propaganda, sung by popular vocalists like Issa Al-Laith and disseminated through various social media platforms including YouTube, Twitter and Telegram.

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British political and cultural news magazine. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving magazine in the world. ''The Spectator'' is politically conservative, and its principal subject a ...

describes Houthi ''zawamil'' as its most successful part of their propaganda, stressing the movement's supposed piety, bravery and poverty in comparison with the corruption, wealth and hypocrisy of their adversaries, the Saudi-led coalition, and Arab states allied to Israel. In 2023, YouTube closed various channels affiliated with the Houthis, including the channel of Issa.

References

{{Portal, Music, Yemen Zaydis Yemeni artists 1985 births Living people