'Palestine is priceless': Sudanese activists launch online anti-normalisation campaign

'Palestine is priceless': Sudanese activists launch online anti-normalisation campaign
As reports surfaced suggesting Sudan's plans to normalise relations with Israel, Sudanese activists took to social media to denounce the 'treacherous' move.
2 min read
27 September, 2020
Sudan is rumoured to be the next Arab country to normalise with Israel [Getty]
Sudanese activists took to social media on Saturday in an online campaign against normalisation with Israel, after reports on Friday emerged of a possible normalisation deal between Sudan and Israel next week.

The campaign denounced the use of the Palestinian cause as a bargaining chip in efforts to remove Sudan from the US terror list, saying it would not accumulate into any real positive economic change on the ground.

The activists also called normalisation with Israel as a stab in the back of Palestinian brethren, saying the cause is "priceless".

The move comes as reports suggest Sudan could become the next Arab country to officially form diplomatic relations with Israel, after the US hinted at more Arab countries joining accords struck between the Jewish state and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

Citing Hebrew-language newspaper Maariv, Israeli broadcaster i24 News stated Sudan and Oman are holding US-brokered talks with Israel so as to announce peace deals next week.

US Ambassador to the United Nations Kelly Craft on Wednesday revealed a third normalisation agreement between Israel and an unnamed Arab country may happen in the next day or two.

i24 News previously reported Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will likely meet with Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, the leader of Sudan's transitional sovereign council, in the coming days in Uganda, the second meeting between both officials.

In return for the normalisation deal, Sudanese officials hope Khartoum will be removed from the United States' State Sponsors of Terrorism list.

The designation, in place since the 1990s, exposes Sudan to harmful sanctions and limits the amount of international aid available to the country amid a spiralling economic crisis. 

On its end, Oman expressed support for last month's normalisation of ties between the neighbouring UAE and Israel.

Since the UAE and Bahrain signed an agreement to establish full diplomatic ties with Israel earlier this month, speculation has pointed to a handful of other Arab countries on the brink of reaching similar deals, with Oman and Sudan as the most likely candidates.

The Trump administration has made Israeli-Arab normalisation a key focus of its Middle East foreign policy close to the US elections on November 3.

The Palestinians have been vocal in their opposition to the agreements, arguing such decisions remove any incentive for Israel to end its occupation of the Palestinian territories.

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