One ‘NO’ Instead of Three! Sudanese Against Normalization

By Zeinab Abdallah

Beirut – News would read that Egypt and Jordan were the first to normalize ties with the enemy of the Arab and Muslim nation, and were then followed by the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan.

No! It is not the right way to report this particular ‘achievement’. It was the regime in each of Egypt, Jordan, the UAE, Bahrain and Sudan that started cozying up with the occupying regime. When it comes to peoples, they are not the same as their governors.

Peoples are usually blamed for what their rulers commit. However, it is certain for those who refuse to submit that they are capable of making the change despite the ruler’s will. Those people who reject humiliation and submission are ready to clean up the dirt they were forced to be covered with, and reverse the conspiracies made by their heads of states.

Those same peoples are ready to pay their lives for the freedom of Palestine. They are motivated by Muslim’s first Qibla, the holy al-Aqsa Mosque.

Commenting on the Sudanese regime’s normalization with the ‘Israeli’ entity, Deputy Head of [Reform] al-Islah Now Party, and former Sudanese minister Hassan Rizk emphasized that Sudan has been backing the Palestinian cause since 1948, had fought next to the Palestinians and Arabs in all their wars.

It was Sudan that unified the nation and raised the three No’s against peace, recognition and negotiations with ‘Israel’, he added. His comment comes in reference to the fourth Arab League summit that was held in Khartoum on August 29, 1967.

The summit took place in wake of the Arab defeat against the Zionist military in the same year, and it came up with the famous Khartoum Resolution that provides three No’s: No peace with ‘Israel’, no recognition of ‘Israel,’ and no negotiations with ‘Israel’ unless everybody’s right is returned.

Rizk referred to this event as historic and made by great leaders such as al-Mahjoub and al-Azhari, however, he explained: “After 72 years of steadfastness and challenge, there came weak leaders who wasted the cause, followed the collaborators and the colonials, and sold the al-Aqsa Mosque, Palestine, and the nation’s dignity.”

Adding that the normalizers will remain with the Arab nation’s betrayers, the former minister stressed that the Sudanese people won’t abandon their principles, but will definitely abandon their betrayers: “We will keep defending Palestine, its lands, and people, and we will be the first to liberate and enter the al-Aqsa Mosque at the end of the day.”

Mr. Rizk made clear that there isn’t any advantage from normalizing ties with the Zionist enemy, explaining that it was tried previously by other Arab and Muslim nations which didn’t achieve anything. “After Camp David, we lost the African nations that were supporting Palestine and boycotting the occupation entity. Those countries normalized ties and became markets for the enemy.”

The Sudanese minister elaborated on the repercussions of the normalization harming those who were stuck in its mud, recalling how Egypt has lost its agriculture, health, security and leadership, and how the Palestinians have lost their unity, arms, and a lot of lands, not to mention their loss of al-Quds, the construction of settlements, razing their houses, and killing and detaining their women and children.

Rizk underscored that the lack of advantage is also applied for Jordan, Mauritania, Central Africa, Eritrea, and South Sudan… among the many countries that normalized ties with the occupation entity. He then added that the ‘Israelis’ are cheap and don’t pay for the favors made for them.

For his part, member of the General Secretariat of the Arab and Islamic Gathering in Support of the Choice of Resistance, and Sudan branch coordinator, Mr. Idriss Abdul Qadir Ayess stressed that Sudan didn’t stop being the reservoir for anti-Zionist enemy rallies, noting, however, that the ruling regime has stabbed the people in  the back, fallen in the arms of the Gulf states and operated upon their orders. He then outlined that this is rejected by the people although the stance of the transitional government has affected a noticeable part of the people.

Therefore, the Islamic researcher and political activist says: “We find that the Sudanese people today are divided due to the crumpling economy. Most of them believe that it is due to the American blockade and sanctions against the nation; however, they still believe that the Palestinian cause is the main reason to resist normalization.”

Mr. Ayess added that most of the Sudanese people are resisting and rejecting normalization, citing the general gatherings made against normalization and the people’s rejection and embarrassment of this step as an example.

Commenting on the country’s opposition groups, the Sudanese political activist considered that the “Islah” Party is unheard among the people because its symbols have participated in Omar al-Bashir’s government, explaining why they are not listened to by the people.

Relatively, he noted that the anti-normalization individuals today are working strongly to make the government retreat its step through media, popular, and legal pressure. He then reiterated that the people of Sudan won’t submit to the regime’s normalization, will reject it in all means, won’t abandon Palestine and the holy al-Aqsa Mosque.

“The people will strongly operate to put the government in front of two choices. The first is that the government retreats its heinous step, and the other is to topple it,” he added.

Between the two choices stand the only “NO” that sums up the ultimate rejection of any relationship with the occupier of Palestine. There is no need to three No’s! Only one “NO for normalization” is sufficient to save the nation from this disappointment and unite it behind the first and last cause: Palestine!