In the midst of Israel’s military actions in Gaza, a curious narrative has emerged in pro-Israel social media circles: a sudden concern for Sudan’s ongoing conflict. Less than a month into the Gaza crisis, various pro-Israel influencers began spotlighting the violence in Sudan, particularly through social media accounts that have since been suspended. They questioned why global attention was seemingly fixated on Gaza while “ignoring” Sudan’s plight, where fighting has persisted since April 2023.
One notable example was from Hananya Naftali, a social media figure tied to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s digital team. On his Telegram channel, Naftali wrote, “There is zero interest in civilians murdered in Sudan,” framing this supposed lack of interest as a selective empathy driven by antisemitism. “No Jews, no news,” he continued. Such posts have aimed to argue that the international outcry for Palestinians often conceals a deeper bias.
Some of these accounts have even attempted to link Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) with groups like Hamas and Hezbollah, claiming the RSF’s involvement in Darfur echoes actions by Palestinian groups in Gaza. These arguments are not rooted in factual connections; the RSF is not tied to Hamas or Hezbollah. Furthermore, public outcry regarding Israel’s actions stems largely from Western countries’ role in directly supporting Israel’s military. In contrast, Western involvement in Sudan remains largely inactive or diplomatically fractured.
Even Western liberal commentators have echoed these arguments. Jonathan Freedland, a columnist for The Guardian, recently claimed that activists overlook Sudan’s humanitarian crisis. Freedland asserted that for “today’s left,” conflicts are simplified into categories of “oppressed” and “oppressors,” making them “lethargic” on Sudan. He likened the reaction to Sudan’s war to the mobilization following George Floyd’s death in the U.S., suggesting it reflects a worldview that limits outrage to causes perceived as anti-colonial.
However, this narrative often ignores grassroots Sudanese activists fighting for democracy, such as the resistance committees, which are dedicated to advancing Sudan’s future and have shown solidarity with the Palestinian cause. Activists within Sudan are already deeply engaged in addressing the conflict, though the international left remains less directly involved due to Western governments’ limited active role in Sudan.
The complexities of Sudan’s conflict – primarily a power struggle between the army and the RSF – have been framed as opaque or politically ambiguous by some Western media, especially when compared to the Israel-Palestine conflict, which Western nations are actively backing with resources and diplomatic support.
For those genuinely interested in Sudan, focusing on its citizens’ struggle for democratic governance rather than using the crisis as a deflective argument could provide a more constructive and honest discourse. The narratives that seek to draw moral equivalencies often fail to address the root issues in Sudan while obscuring accountability in Gaza.