Republic of Sudan and Possible Recognition of Israel Soon

 Nadene Goldfoot                                              

Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in North-East Africa. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, Libya to the northwest, Chad to the west, the Central African Republic to the southwest, South Sudan to the south, Ethiopia to the southeast, Eritrea to the east, and the Red Sea to the northeast.

Sudan is the 8th largest populated Muslim majority country  with a population of 43,939,598 in 2011.  70% are Muslims.  Jews had visited the Sudan from remote times.  In 1885, the Mahdi compelled all Jews and Christians to embrace Islam.  The community dated from the end of the 19th century, but few Jews now live there.  There have been a few Greeks, however.                                                    

 US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (L) with Sudan's Sovereign Council chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan in this August 25, 2020 photo [File: Sudan's Foreign Media Council/AFP]

   Secretary of State Pompeo seeks a Sudan breakthrough before the US presidential election.  He is hoping that Sudan will "recognize" Israel, something that the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have now done.   The peace treaty between Egypt and Israel was signed 16 months after Egyptian president Anwar Sadat's visit to Israel in 1977 after intense negotiation. ... The agreement notably made Egypt the first Arab state to officially recognize Israel.

Sudan's history goes back to the Pharaonic period, witnessing the Kingdom of Kerma (c. 2500–1500 BC), the subsequent rule of the Egyptian New Kingdom (c. 1500 BC–1070 BC) and the rise of the Kingdom of Kush (c. 785 BC–350 AD), which would in turn control Egypt itself for nearly a century.  From the 16th–19th centuries, central and eastern Sudan were dominated by the Funj sultanate, while Darfur ruled the west and the Ottomans the far north.

From 1820 to 1874 the entirety of Sudan was conquered by the Muhammad Ali dynasty. Between 1881 and 1885, the harsh Egyptian reign was eventually met with a successful revolt led by the self-proclaimed Mahdi Muhammad Ahmad, resulting in the establishment of the Caliphate of Omdurman. This state was eventually toppled in 1898 by the British, who would then govern Sudan together with Egypt.

This Muslim country is remembered with the name of Darfur.

A letter dated 14 August 2006, from the executive director of Human Rights Watch found that the Sudanese government is both incapable of protecting its own citizens in Darfur and unwilling to do so, and that its militias are guilty of crimes against humanity.  Some reports attribute part of the violations to the rebels as well as the government and the Janjaweed. The U.S. State Department's human-rights report issued in March 2007 claims that "all" parties to the conflagration committed serious abuses, including widespread killing of civilians, rape as a tool of war, systematic torture, robbery and recruitment of child soldiers."

Over 2.8 million civilians have been displaced and the death toll is estimated at 300,000 killed. Both government forces and militias allied with the government are known to attack not only civilians in Darfur (over 9 million live here) , but also humanitarian workers. Sympathizers of rebel groups are arbitrarily detained, as are foreign journalists, human-rights defenders, student activists and displaced people in and around Khartoum, some of whom face torture. The rebel groups have also been accused in a report issued by the U.S. government of attacking humanitarian workers and of killing innocent civilians. According to UNICEF, in 2008, there were as many as 6,000 child soldiers in Darfur.

Sudan is one of four nations listed as a “state sponsor of terrorism” by the US, severely impeding investment as businesses worry of legal risks in dealing with the country.

Currently there are four countries designated under these authorities: the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea), Iran, Sudan, and Syria.

But Sudan was transformed last year when al-Bashir was deposed following a wave of youth-led protests. British-educated economist Abdalla Hamdok has become the new prime minister with a reformist mandate in a transitional arrangement with the military.

Gen. Abdel-Fattah al-Burhan, head of Sudan’s sovereign council, is holding talks with UAE leaders on “regional issues” amid reports concerning a Sudanese decision to normalize relations with Israel. Justice Minister Naser-Eddin Abdelbari is meeting separately with US officials. present in Abu Dhabi to discuss the “removal of Sudan from the list of states sponsoring terrorism.” This is the Khartoum government’s main proviso for going forward on formal ties with Israel as well as a demand for app. $3bn in humanitarian assistance and direct budgetary aid.

Resource:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egypt%E2%80%93Israel_peace_treaty#:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudan

The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/9/23/us-seeks-breakthrough-on-sudan-before-election