SANA’A — “Time prolongs, but our patience has no limits,” says Mohammad Aseer, a revolutionary  who came to ‘Change Square’ at the beginning of the revolution in February last year and remains there today.

Aseer and thousands of other youth in the ‘Change Square’ of Sana’a are still struggling to complete the goals of their revolution. They despair from time to time, but their dreams have no limit, and their hopes always renew, says Aseer to the Yemen Times.

A number of the revolution’s youth insist on completing of the revolution’s goals.

“No retreat. We will go forward until all our objectives are achieved,” Iman Hussen, a protester at ‘Change Square’ in Sana’a says. “Our goals start with the departure of Saleh, do not end with the creation of a state of law, order, institutions, justice and equality. Our ambitions are even greater than that.”

Many youth are still camped out in the ‘freedom’ and ‘change squares’ despite the sacrifices they have endured. They want to achieve victories for the blood of the martyrs who were killed for the sake of Yemen’s dignity, and want the criminals and killers prosecuted, Radhwan Al-Haimi, a revolutionary of the Sana’a ‘Change Square’ told the Yemen Times.

“We will not move back. We will go on until the regime is removed, and will continue the revolution in all homes and neighborhoods. Platforms of freedom and dignity will spread everywhere.”

“We went to the squares as revolutionaries, and we will only return homes victorious,” Ahmed Al-Barati, a member of the Change Liberators told the Yemen Times.

“We have beliefs and convictions that our revolution will ultimately win and this is the reason behind our existence in the ‘Change Squares’,” he added.

Marwa Al-Ariqi, an activist in the ‘Change Square’ of Sana’a, says that she did not vote in the last elections. She did not agree with the political settlement and power sharing between the Joint Meeting Parties and the “corrupt regime.”

“I would consider myself a traitor to the blood of martyrs if I voted,” she added.

“We will stay in the squares for the sake of Yemen and for our dignity,” Al-Ariqi said, indicating that the political parties have no momentum without the youth in the squares.

“For more than a year we were under the heat of sun, the bitter cold at night and the heavy rain,” Afra Al-Jabori, an activist in ‘Change Square’ says. “We have done all these for the sake of Yemen and the Yemeni people as a whole.”

Parties play dirty games in the squares

Fatima Al-Aghbari, an activist in ‘Change Square’, says that parties have sought to use the strategy of divide and rule inside the squares. She says that they introduce doubts, make allegations and accuse some people of working as agents for the intelligence services as well as other charges.

Asked whether the residents of the neighborhood around Sana’a University have become annoyed about the ‘Change Square’, Al-Jabori, an activist said, “We owe much to the residents of this neighborhood as they have hosted us and have suffered much.”

“However, I hope they do not forget our sacrifices in the squares. We sacrificed not only for ourselves, but also for the favor of the residents of this neighborhood,” she added. “We suffered much and stayed under the shower of bullets, toxic gas and all kinds of weapons,” she added.

“They will be proud of their sacrifices after the revolution,” Amar Al-Qadasi said.

The future of the squares

“If the youth are not unified until a single name and if the parties continue to speak on our behalf, I do not think our revolution will achieve well,” said Iman Hussen, a protester at the ‘Change Square’ in Sana’a. “We should give up our disputes and disagreements.”

“The future of the squares will revive for the better, it will develop and become more flexible, and the revolutionaries will be able to overcome all their differences,” Ahmed Al-Barati said.

“I am optimistic about all the results accomplished up until now, even if they were achieved slowly,” Afra said.

“However, it is better to accomplish them with slowly and low loses. I am optimistic about the future of the squares,” she added.

“The Yemenis did not vote for Hadi, but for change,” she said, pinning hopes that the future will be better and that the power transfer will be achieved peacefully.

“That was the best way to refuse Saleh and remove him,” Afra reiterated. “The polling day was like collecting signatures to dismiss Saleh.”