SUDAN: The Unpaved Road to Normalization
On Monday, October 20th the USA President Donald Trump tweeted that Sudan will be removed from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism and that Sudan will make a payment for terror victims for the amount of $335. Since 1993 Sudan was listed in the era of Islamic former regime by the December popular uprising led by Sudan Professionals Association, the political wing of the opposition coalition mainly formed by leftists and democratic parties. For decades Sudan had experienced economic and political difficulties on an international level as affected by the sanctions imposed under these.
But promptly, last week the events have unexpectedly developed by announcing two substantial events: delisting Sudan from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism and the normalization of diplomatic ties with the state of Israel. Sudan as so many Arabs countries in the region of The Middle East has been in the hardline of anti-Israeli policies that have shaped Arab-Israeli relations for decades. Although Sudan is considered among the remote Arab-African countries with little effect to the Israeli borders and antagonistic background to the state of Israel directly, it has committed to the boycott against Israel within the context of The Arab League’s steady opposition regarding the normalization of relations of the state of Israel. Instantly, the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced that: it’s amazing and it’s fast, there’s a serious observer who would expect to come out so to dominate within no time the head of the media.
This new deal with Israel under the sponsorship of the USA would be challenged by Sudan’s domestic policies. Currently, Sudan governs by the Transitional Council being formed of two bodies military-civilian-led, both are verified by settlement after the former regime being ousted. The decision-making has become multifaceted, indeed the powerful body is the military one backed by Arab countries normalized relations with the state of Israel such as the Gulf States in particular the UAE who championed the normalization with vast poetical and economic pressures. Secondly, as to the constitutional Accord signed by the two political bodies, there would be legal assemblies to be established to complete the state political apparatus, which are yet not fulfilled to verify any agreement which might be reached. In addition to that, Sudan is reported in a precarious situation as the socioeconomic crisis ravaged the weak country, which in turn has accelerated the process of normalization. To many, this audacious step has been taken in response to the USA pressures as President Trump would use such political gain for his presidential running to be reelected.
Seemingly, to Sudanese people the issue of normalization has different interpretations, knowingly, the state of Israel means to Sudanese people in terms of historical political and religious interpretations. Popular voices have been raised condemning the normalization with Israel, mostly the protest parties with pro-Arabism and Islamic zealousness. Mindfully, the normalization process is to be done with governments, not the peoples especially in the Arab world where unelected governments rule in the absence of their subjects. The benefits of such normalization are a hectic debate in particular the economic reforms that many experts are suspected to have achieved having brought lessons from neighboring states who had been in a state of normalization with the state of Israel for decades.
