Sudanese protesters condemn deal on normalizing relations with Israel

Sudanese protesters have staged a mass rally to express their outrage and reject the North African country’s decision to move forward with normalization of ties with the Israeli regime.

During a visit by Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen to Khartoum on Thursday, Israel and Sudan announced the finalization of a deal to normalize their bilateral relations.

“It has been agreed to move forward towards the normalization of relations,” the Sudanese foreign ministry said after a meeting between Cohen and his Sudanese counterpart Ali al-Sadiq.

On Sunday evening, Sudanese demonstrators took to the streets in central Khartoum, chanting slogans against Cohen’s visit and condemning normalization.

They shouted “No peace, no negotiation, no recognition,” “Al-Quds is ours,” and “Normalization is treason.”

The protesters also carried banners reading “No to normalization,” “Palestine is not for sale,” “Al-Aqsa is a belief,” “Khartoum will not betray al-Quds” and “Traitorous rulers do not represent us” in Arabic.

The protest came at the invitation of the Sudanese Against Normalization coalition, which officially launched its activities in February 2020 to put pressure on Sudan’s military leader General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan to stop the normalization process with Israel.

The Sudan People’s Movement–Democratic Revolutionary Current also in a statement voiced its outright rejection of normalization with Israel.

Sudan agreed to take steps to normalize ties with Israel in a 2020 deal brokered by former US president Donald Trump’s administration, alongside normalization agreements between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco known as the “Abraham Accords.”

Sudan’s military, which has been in charge of the country since an October 2021 coup, is seen as having led the move towards establishing relations with Israel.

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