Sudanese protesters voice anger against normalization with Israel

They rallied in the capital Khartoum Friday evening, calling on Sudan’s Sovereign Council chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan to reject the normalization deal.

“No to negotiations, peace ... and reconciliation with the [Israeli] regime,” they chanted. “We will neither surrender, nor will we relinquish ... We are standing with Palestine,” they cried as they set the Israeli flag on fire.

Numerous Sudanese political parties also lined up to declare their outright rejection of the normalization agreement between their country and Israel, stressing they are going to form a front to oppose the move.

Sudanese Ba'ath Party, the Sudanese Communist Party, National Consensus Forces (NCF) – a coalition of political parties - the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC) alliance, the Popular Congress Party as well as Sudan Change Now political movement stated that they are fiercely against any relationship between Khartoum and Tel Aviv.

“A few days ago, we embarked on intense political contacts with distinguished artists as well as cultural and literary figures to form a front against normalization,” spokesman for the Sudanese Baath Party Muhammad Wadaa said.

"There are a number of parties within the FFC that have warned to withdraw support for the government upon normalization, and other parties have announced similar positions."

Wadaa highlighted that there are consultations and meetings on how to stand against the normalization.

“Normalization with Israel is an unacceptable step… The government is not authorized to take such a measure with a usurping and racist regime, which practices religious discrimination,” he said.

Wadaa lashed out at the Sudanese government over making normalization with Israel a condition for resolving economic woes.

“The government must not have invoked to sell the country and Sudan's history on the pretext of economic difficulties,” he said.
“The government must resign and cede power to the people if it is unable to overcome difficulties by itself.”

US President Donald Trump announced on Friday at the White House that Sudan and Israel had agreed to normalize relations.

Trump sealed the agreement in a phone call with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Sudanese prime minister Abdalla Hamdok and Burhan, senior US officials said.

Sudan’s acting foreign minister Omar Gamareldin, however, said on Friday the accord will depend on approval from its yet-to-be formed legislative council. It is unclear when the assembly will be formed under a power-sharing deal between the country’s military officers and civilians.

Furthermore, Palestinians strongly condemned Sudan’s agreement to normalize relations with the Israeli regime.

The Islamic resistance movement Hamas said in a statement that the move has shocked Palestinians, Arab and Muslim nations, as well as freedom-loving people of the world.

“Sudan, indeed, loses its position as a leading Arab and Muslim country by agreeing to sign such a deal," the statement said.

“We call on the Sudanese people to express their rejection of this dishonorable agreement that won’t bring about stability and prosperity, but rather chaos, deterioration, and disgrace,” it added.

Hamas said the agreement "will add to the Israeli regime’s hegemony in the region and will not serve the interests of Arab and Muslim nations. It will also lead to disputes and upheavals, especially inside Sudan.”

“Hamas calls on Arab nations to fight off all forms of normalization, and denounce the establishment of any diplomatic relations with the Israeli occupation regime,” the statement said.

Separately, Wasel Abu Youssef, a member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), described the normalization of relations between Sudan and Israel as a “new stab in the back” of Palestinians.

“Sudan’s joining others who normalized ties with the Israeli occupation regime represents a new stab in the back of the Palestinian people and a betrayal of the just Palestinian cause,” Abu Youssef said in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah on Friday.

He highlighted that Sudan's decision to normalize ties with the Tel Aviv regime “will not shake the Palestinians’ faith in their cause and in continuing their struggle.”

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas also rejected the deal, saying the Palestinian Authority will take necessary measures to protect the legitimate interests and rights of Palestinian people.

His office said in a statement on Friday that the deal was in violation of the Arab League resolutions, the Arab Peace Initiative and the UN Security Council Resolution 1515.

“No one has the right to speak on behalf of the Palestinian people and the Palestinian cause. The path to a comprehensive and just peace must be based on international law and resolutions,” it said.

It underscored that a just peace should "lead to an end of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands and establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East al-Quds as its capital on the borders of June 4, 1967.”