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Sheikh AbdulRahman al-Marwani hands out House of Peace buttons/badges in the gun souq in Dhammar. Tactile and charismatic, the Sheikh works the crowd like a natural leader.
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Sheikh Abdul Rahman has two wives and several children of his own – but he’s become a surrogate father figure to several young House of Peace volunteers who lost their own dads in revenge killings.
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This gun trader is selling box-fresh Chinese AK-47s and well-worn second-hand rifles from Brazil, Belgium, Germany and Hungary. There’s a Colt AR15 – “property of the US government“ – on the shelves in his cubby-hole lock-up shop.
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A poster of the Dome of the Rock in al-Aqsa Mosque - in the holy city of al-Quds (Jerusalem) - has been tacked up as a sales backdrop for these new and used hand guns.
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Bullets: four for a dollar.
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Aides and policemen wait for lunch in a local official’s house. They’ve left their weapons outside the door in a gesture of respect for the Sheikh. Estimates of the number of guns in circulation in Yemen vary wildly – from nine million to 50 million.
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Sheikh Abdul Rahman schmoozes a local official in Dhammar. Yemen’s state structures are flimsy and the justice system is unreliable. After a revenge killing, guns are often held in trust by an agreed mediator until the case is settled.
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Published August 28, 2008

Tribal violence claims hundreds of lives every year in Yemen. The House of Peace encourages non-violent solutions to land disputes and 'love' crimes – violations of marriage arrangements that offend Yemen's conservative social code.

It's dangerous work. House of Peace members have died during mediation efforts, attempting to diffuse armed stand-offs.

But Sheikh AbdulRahman al-Marwani, the organization's director, also attends lengthy discussion forums with rival groups and arranges theatre workshops to spread the message of reconciliation.

The House of Peace is a rare example of effective civil society in Yemen. Its logo – a rifle with a red line through it, like a no-smoking sign – is emblazoned on water bottles, road signs and even spare-wheel covers throughout the country.

Photographs taken by Ginny Hill

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Meet Ginny Hill

by Ginny Hill
Ginny Hill is a British freelance journalist, writing and broadcasting on Yemen. She has reported for the BBC and NPR.
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