‘Normalizing’ ties with US, Israel won’t help Sudan

By Abayomi Azikiwe

The decision by the head of the Sovereign Council to “normalize,” and I put that in quotes, because it has not been decided by any legislative body, which is still under formation in the Republic of Sudan. There hasn't been any widespread debate among civil society, and other sectors of the Sudanese population.

This is purely an opportunistic move in regard to normalizing relations with the United States in order for Sudan to be taken off the state sponsors list for terrorism, which they never should have been put on anyway. In order to be taken off the list they have to go through Tel Aviv. They have to normalize relations with Israel. This is a joint program of both Israel and the United States.

I believe that there is going to be even more objection to these moves. Also, it is paving the way for further financial assistance from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which have both “normalized” relations with Israel. They have not been in war with Israel since its formation in 1948. So how can they sign a peace accord when they have not been in any direct military confrontation with Israel in decades?

So I think that this is a major issue that's going to be impacting African Union member states. All of them are under pressure to either normalize or upgrade their relations with Israel.

This is a tragedy because it will not benefit in any way the majority of the people who live in those countries. Even in Egypt, which was the first to normalize relations with Israel back in 1978-1979 as a result of the Camp David Accords, the masses of people in Egypt, still suffer from poverty. Normalization of relations with Tel Aviv has not improved the general wellbeing of working people, poor people or farmers in Egypt. 

Egypt gets a lot of military assistance from the United States. They have collaborative projects with the "Israeli Defense Forces." Yet the country is still facing profound economic crises.

So the same situation will prevail in Sudan. The internal problems that are going on right now within the Sovereign Council particularly the recent arbitrary efforts by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who is the chair of the Sovereign Council. These undemocratic decisions are causing a lot of internal problems inside the country.

So this is going to have to be worked out by the Sudanese people themselves. This is something that cannot be imposed either by Israel or by the United States.

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Abayomi Azikiwe is an African American journalist who is editor at the Pan-African News Wire, an electronic press agency that was founded in 1998. He has worked for decades in solidarity with the liberation movements and progressive governments on the African continent and the Caribbean.

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