The racism here is astounding. After an Arab wins an athletic sporting event, he needs to defend against suspicion that he took performance enhancing drugs. If it was a white man, all we would hear about is how one man beat the odds. They would call it a Cinderella story.
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matnashed
@matnashed
Journalist. Sometimes analyst. Covering MENA, with a close eye on Sudan. Bylines in , and many others.
Media & News Companyon the moveJoined November 2013
matnashed’s Tweets
The difference is racism.
That's it.
#Sudan
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'You were coming up with safe routes from Ukraine, would it be sensible to do the same from Sudan?'
On #BBCBreakfast Jon questions Home Secretary Suella Braverman about the evacuations of people from Sudan
bbc.co.uk/news/live/worl
Musk's new tweet limit will have a major impact on human rights reporting, citizen journalism, the democratic flow of information and campaigns to stop atrocities and save lives in real time.
Musk is killing off users who use twitter for social justice, not profit or status.
Western diplomats (and their governments) left hundreds -- maybe 1000s -- of Sudanese visa applicants stranded in a warzone without a passport.
Human rights lawyers say that these countries may be liable.
My latest for with
#Sudan
🧵on #Sudan Multiple friends/colleagues alerted me to intense clashes throughout Khartoum. Many are scared and some said their homes are shaking. My thoughts are with everyone there. In one sense, it is unimaginable what is happening. At the same time, this was predictable.
Sudan's security rivals have plunged the country into war. But how #Sudan arrived to this point is a story in itself.
One of autocracy, greed and failed international mediation.
This my attempt to make sense of it all for
For Sudanese analysis we need to center Sudanese experts. These are some of the best:
I have learned so much the voices above whether the are aware or not. #Sudan
When Russia invaded Ukraine, the west criticized African states for failing to condemn the Kremlin.
Now with a war in #Sudan , the west has hardly provided emergency relief or safe legal channels.
We must critique the unequal power dynamic in global calls for solidarity.
I know the Dutch and Swedish diplomats in Sudan have evacuated and stranded people who had their passports in their embassies.
Does anyone know what other embassies have done this? British? Spanish? Any confirmation of others will be really helpful #Sudan
I have covered #Sudan 's resistance committees for some time. Indeed, no structure is perfect nor should any structure be romanticized.
But I'm in awe of them.
The level of coordination, integrity, sacrifice and sheer courage that they collectively display is remarkable.
They aren't even aware of it...
Too many Europeans, and by extension their political culture, believe they are far more sophisticated than they really are, especially compared to the rest of the world. In reality, their views are tainted by recycled tropes of the "other."
With aid groups suspending their work, resistance committees have filled the void. Their informal networks -- once used to hold anti-gov protests -- are being utilized to rescue civilians and maintain social cohesion amid the war.
My latest on #Sudan
After getting evacuated, western officials -- and capitals -- appear to be abandoning civilians in a war between two men that the west has backed and legitimized for years.
Now the west isn't even prioritizing aid into #Sudan
My latest for
Breaking news: The UAE/Saudi backed government in the U.S refuses to transfer power to a rival administration that won a free and fair election, according to global observers. Analysts say that the refusal to hand over power could trigger unrest in the former British colony.
Note to western journalists, don't do this. Don't mask your ignorance of xxx country by writing a story that reflects western hysteria, and which effectively erases basic local context.
There is a way to talk about nefarious activities of Wagner. This isn't it.
#Sudan
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The current debacle facing #Sudan is homegrown - Sudanese security leaders are primarily responsible for this mess. Putin/Prigozhin minions have lent a helping hand, but so have others. telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/04/1
The global south is akin to an exotic laboratory for western officials. Fun and interesting for them to try already failed experiments, then ditch when there is an explosive chemical reaction.
What a joke. #Sudan
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Thank you to all the Sudanese who supported our evacuation convoy during the long journey from Khartoum to Port Sudan - even by providing coffee.
شكراً لكل السودانيين الذين دعموا قافلة إجلاء الأمم المتحدة خلال الرحلة الطويلة من الخرطوم إلى بورتسودان - حتى من خلال تقديم القهوة.
Would anyone in #Sudan like to share thoughts with me about feelings of helplessness -- even bitterness -- towards western countries that are evacuating diplomatic staff and leaving behind a mess that western capitals (partly) helped create.
Effectively, leaving Sudan behind.
Oh, these guys learned well from all those workshops on human rights law that western INGOs and UN agencies happily provided.
Thanks to them, the RSF is using the language of international law -- while violating those laws -- as a weapon of war against its rival.
#Sudan
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Replying to @RSFSudan
Since the outbreak of the fighting last Saturday, SAF has been committing outrageous crimes against civilians in violation of international humanitarian law and the rules of engagement. In addition, SAF has breached the truce agreed upon by international mediation.
I'm not so empathetic to #Qatar for a simple reason: They could have avoided much of this onslaught of criticism by actually (not just in name) abolishing Kafala and adhering to international human rights standards.
The best P.R for human rights is to just improve human rights.
More attention needs to be on Darfur. There are no monitoring mechanisms and huge protection concerns, especially for the roughly 1.6 million IDPs.
This is a window into how #Sudan 's war is unfolding there.
My latest for
Army bombing hospitals and the RSF raiding churches and raping women.
The moral depravity. I'm appalled, angered and disgusted -- not just at both these belligerents but also their regional and global enablers.
Don't forget the people of #Sudan
If you have had your passport trapped in an embassy in #Sudan and the diplomats left and abandoned you without giving it back, please do get in touch for a story for if you are interested to share your story.
Since war erupted in #Sudan , thousands have made an impossible choice: Stay or pack their things and flee.
The mass exodus has made the once bustling city of Khartoum, where war is unprecedented, a ghost town.
My latest for
Not surprised that Sudan's military is weaker than anticipated. Throughout MENA, militaries are fortified to inflict maximum policies/repression against civilians at home. #sudan_update
However, they often display a worrying lack of capability when fighting in combat.
I can't say I'm surprised that a mass killer is welcomed back with open arms into a useless fraternity of Arab dictators, some of whom are mass killers themselves.
#Syria is not an exception to the Arab League. It is a reflection of it.
UN envoy Volker Perthes claimed that there was no 'early warning' of a war between RSF and military in Khartoum. Not only is that ludicrous. but I personally warned about it myself in this piece for AJE a month earlier.
Many others did too. #Sudan
I think internationals and commentators forgot that SAF and RSF murdered at least 120 people on June 3, 2019 and were behind gruesome violence in Nuba Mountains and Darfur.
Since Bashir fell, leaders of both forces pretended to be statesmen, but they were always warlords. #Sudan
The RSF is blackmailing international aid agencies to do propaganda videos for them in exchange for granting access to reach those in need.
The RSF is a ruthless mafia.
#Sudan
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أطباء بلا حدود: لجنة المساعدات الانسانية بقوات الدعم السريع تعاملت مع أنشطتنا وفق القانون الدولي بتسهيل وتأمين عملياتنا
#RSFLive
#RSFSudan
#معركة_الديمقراطية
#حراس_الثورة_المجيدة
I'm hearing reports that the police have armed citizens in al-Genina to fight against the Janjaweed. And that Arab tribes are now fighting for the RSF. The ethnic character here is entirely predictable and incredibly worrying. #KeepEyesOnSudan
Everyone saw a potential war coming, but the UN envoy for #Sudan didn't see it coming.
I don't believe him at all. But whether true or not, that should tell you all you need to know about how dismissive he was of the very people dying on Khartoum's streets for democracy.
What's striking about #Sudan is that despite the little resources that friends, colleagues, neighbours and communities have, their efforts are so much more impactful than western officials in crisis mode.
The former is a source of solidarity. The latter couldn't give a damn.
My story for on the role of the internationally backed Framework Agreement -- and the ad-hoc political process it launched -- in accelerating this bloody confrontation between the Rapid Support Forces and army. #Sudan .
The RSF has raided and looted homes and turned apartments and hospitals into military outposts.
These actions violate the laws of war.
My latest for on #Sudan
Some of my views about geopolitics and #Sudan in this piece by
"[Egypt] views security in the conventional sense. They'll always back the institution of the military, or back military men that want to create a military institution."
1/My main issue with the CNN investigation on #Sudan is it reduces the October 25 coup to Russian involvement. This is a serious distortion that could negatively impact policy making. Egypt, the UAE, Saudis and Israel had an outsized influence and/or were complicit in the coup.
Every morning I wake up hoping the #Sudan war ends or that at least a ceasefire holds, entirely.
Each morning, after checking the news and remarking on the diplomatic failures of the last 4 years, I wrestle with a mix of despair and anger.
Thinking of all those trapped inside.
Was nearly arrested by at least two plain-clothes police officers that cornered me against a wall, tried to open my bag, assault me, and confiscate my phone. I resisted and caused commotion until passerby's intervened. I'm thankful for them. #Sudan
THREAD on #Sudan : U.S. officials and sources in Khartoum told Foreign Policy that Burhan and Hemeti were wary to hand over power for fear that they could face arrest for committing war crimes—particularly the massacre of nearly 130 civilians protesting Bashir’s rule in June 2019
this is really scary if true. The Greyzone is a fringe conspiracy sight grounded in smear campaigns, not truth. The fact Amnesty Finland would be relying on this as a source is do so alarming. Thought maybe this should be drawn to your attention.
Four UK PMs resigned in a little more than 7 years. The instability requires a trilateral mechanism that offers technical assistance while facilitating a political process that enjoys consensus from all political actors, including the monarchy and army if they want. #Sudan
It's amazing the number of people still on twitter that claim to be in solidarity with oppressed people, yet seize the first chance to gaslight millions of #Syrians who have been barrel bombed, summarily executed, and systematically denied relief by the Assad regime.
I'm very angry. This is the result of a lazy political process that accelerated a confrontation all in a rush to get a 'deal done.' #Sudan .
Hoping friends are safe and that this ends soon.
Hamdok's resignation illustrates the perils of crafting a foreign policy around a single figure. It's time for a reset, both in policy and in thinking. World powers must act with delicacy and purpose, with the ultimate goal of supporting bottom up democratic structures in #sudan
The social media pages of the RSF have called the army to uphold international law, while violating those laws itself.
The info-ops is just one cog in a soft power campaign designed to whitewash the group's violent past.
My latest for #Sudan
Since December 2018, Sudan's young revolutionaries have seen their peers/friends killed in the street, tortured in prisons, massacred in sit-ins and now bearing witness to a civil war between two war lords.
The trauma inflicted on them is unimaginable. #Sudan
I must say that many of these suggestions are concrete and I agree with them.
Civilians must be empowered to shape the future of #Sudan and political and aid processes/operations must be bottom-up --not top-down.
A new way of doing politics is possible.
In West Darfur, people are being massacred by Arab militias and the RSF.
Not maybe. Not allegedly. Not men in RSF uniforms.
Call the perpetrators out. Don't gaslight the survivors by forcing them to listen to diplomatic doublespeak that covers up for the perpetrators. #Sudan
Replying to
Exactly. We looked into this for AJE. There was simply no prioritization of humanitarian protection or emergency response. In fact, the latter was scaled down.
Replying to
7/ All internationals need to be on deck to stop this conflict. This won't be good for the UAE or Egypt -- two patrons of the RSF and army, respectively. Washington and the EU can't afford the Horn of Africa destabilizing. There is no room for wait and see.
#Sudan is now at war
A life is a life.
But it's indicative that western capitals don't see it that way when they fail to take advantage of evacuating embassy staff to at least establish humanitarian/aid corridors for those left behind.
#SUdan
Ethnic killings are terrorising civilians in Sudan's troubled West Darfur region.
Residents say that no place is safe and that Sudanese Arab fighters stormed a hospital to execute 12 wounded non-Arab civilians on May 14.
Read my story for AJE. #Sudan
Do I know IHL lawyers in the UK, Holland, Germany, or Sweden that might be able to offer insight on the culpability of diplomats in abandoning Sudanese nationals whose passports were in the possession of European governments?
#Sudan
Genuinely curious.
Friends and Family are searching for their loved ones in #Sudan . At least 190 people have gone missing since the war began on April 15, with many believed to be in RSF custody.
Others may have died in the crossfire.
My latest for
Really tired of diplomats -- who after appeasing #Sudan 's generals for years while they were killing and abducting protesters in the street -- are now wagging their fingers at them in apparent shock that they kill/rape/loot with impunity.
War is truly the death of civil politics.
"With us or against us' is the rhetoric drummed up by states and rulers to evade any accountability for the grave crimes they commit in war.
It's imperative for the global community to support #Sudan 's civil society at this time.
I'm hearing from DC circles that the Biden admin views #Sudan as a tier 3 issue that should be resolved internally and by the regional states fueling the war.
The criminal neglect will generate a much larger issue that will be nearly impossible to contain in the future.
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Sudan has always been the lynchpin for wider regional security across East Africa, with ripple affects across the continent & MENA. It’s not sensationalist. The world isn’t watching, but risks and threats to the region over what is happening now, are quite simply catastrophic.
The European Union looks pathetic. It's so irrelevant and so disinterested in the affairs of the wider world, unless migrants risk seeking asylum or a better life.
They don't even try to hide it. As much as it angers me, I also pity Europe for their lack of any moral backbone.
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We are here as Team Europe to mark an important milestone in the relationship between the EU and Tunisia.
We are working with Tunisia on a comprehensive 5-pillar package. twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1
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The RSF and Sudanese army have diverted and restricted aid and imposed impediments. If aid agencies/donors don't adjust their approach, the humanitarian response risks fueling the conflict.
My deep dive on the aid response in #Sudan for
Really disappointing to see Arabs dismiss critics of Morocco who express solidarity with Western Sahara. I think it's wiser if we elevate Sahrawi voices. They shouldn't be made invisible because it inconveniences the symbolism we attribute to 🇲🇦 football team.
The fact that so many people would actively further endanger a respected researcher by smearing her as a spy goes to show that so many self-declared leftists don't care about human life or human rights.
They care only for getting some likes for their twitter 'hot take.'
Such a good piece here on the deep structural flaws of UN and western diplomatic peacemaking.
Rewarding violence only sidelines bottom up civilian movements and legitimizes/rewards warlords.
Hightime for a fundamental rethink.
#Sudan
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West #Darfur refugees who recently fled to Chad told RD of more horrors in El Geneina. One saw 20 children being killed by #RSF and thrown into the river. Bodies are scattered everywhere as 8,000+ have been killed in what many describe as #genocide
#Sudan
dabangasudan.org/en/all-news/ar
1/A few days ago, the RSF abducted two girls from a neighborhood in Khartoum. Young people and members of the local resistance committee mobilized to confront the RSF and lobby and eventually secure their release. #Sudan
Umm, no.
The solution is to stop telling Sudanese civilians that they should reward the people killing them. Or put up with war criminals because that's their fate.
That strategy -- repeated and reused time again -- is how we got here. #Sudan
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In Sudan, the key to peace is integration: Integrate the RSF into the regular army, and integrate Daglo/Hemeti into civilian politics, at the cabinet level, under former Prime Minister Hamdalla Hamdok, the most legitimate of Sudan's politicians today.
So just abandon people in a war zone and not provide any alternative legal channel for them to escape after western embassies can't give them their passports?
Sounds irresponsible to me.
Security risks apply to those that don’t have western capitals flying them out too.
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Replying to @matnashed
Can I ask, how were they going to hand people's passports back when they are under threat, and there was a huge security risk of citizens going to collect them in the middle of a gun fight. Do most journalists not apply logic anymore?
Attention needs to be paid to Al-Fasher in North Darfur. Army shelling is reportedly killing many civilians indiscriminately. #Sudan
In light of the many dubious or simply less informed accounts that have emerged to comment on #Sudan since the war, I think we should elevate voices that are Sudanese and have a history of dedicated scholarship and analysis. Below is a list (next tweet).
Might be interested to help out #Sudan twitter and look into a little bit -- an account that appeared on the radar at the start of the war to do OSNT mapping. She recently glorified Wagner and tweeted that SAF should hire mercenaries. Who is Maria?
To escape Khartoum requires money and the least privileged are going to have to cope with the worst parts of this war. Money = mobility. #SudanCrisis
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Al-Jeraif people are staying 
After 3 weeks of the "absurd" generals war, the majority of the people of Khartoum did not flee, and some of them returned to work under the hail of bullets and the Buzz of warplanes .
#لا_للحرب
#still_in_khartoum
After 3 weeks of the "absurd" generals war, the majority of the people of Khartoum did not flee, and some of them returned to work under the hail of bullets and the Buzz of warplanes .
#لا_للحرب
#still_in_khartoum
Months before Hemeti and Burhan waged war, the former had traveled to Eritrea to meet Isais Afwerki while the latter welcomed Ethiopian PM Abiy Ahmed.
Eritrea and Ethiopia now could be drawn into #Sudan 's war.
My latest for
My latest for on the threats and attacks targeting Sudanese journalists who are bravely staying in the country to offer a neutral and factual based narrative of the war in #Sudan
Residents in Khartoum are bracing for what they believe is a looming army offensive. Many say they are scared of dying in the crossfire. Others say they support the army to try and recapture the city from the RSF.
My latest for #Sudan
Army officials and their supporters are smearing and threatening medics for maintaining a neutral stance in #Sudan 's war.
The threats have pushed some medics into hiding as others contemplate fleeing the country.
My latest for AJE.
This is a long THREAD on #Sudan about the three most relevant internal political forces vying to shape the country's future. They are as listed below:
The Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the Local Resistance Committees (RCs), and of course the military.
International community all blaming one another. You are all to blame, so stop it.
Now is the time to coordinate to save lives.
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Replying to @Beltrew
SUDAN: a senior UN official told me today’s clashes were not a surprise. Over the last week there were “so many SOS and May Day calls” made to the U.S. State Department about the gravity of the impeding crisis “but they were ignored”. “The international community failed”.
After 100 days of war in #Sudan , credible reports implicate the RSF in genocidal violence. The group is assassinating the intelligentsia of the Masalit tribe, burning villages and destroying all vital facilities.
My latest for
aljazeera.com/news/2023/7/24.
My story on ethnic cleansing in Darfur and global indifference.
I note that Volker Perthes's tweet alleging that 'men in RSF uniforms' are responsible for the violence echoes the excuse the RSF gave to deny its role in the June 3, 2019 massacre. #Sudan
Bad idea to associate Wagner = support for Hemeti. This narrative glosses over the relations between the Kremlin and the army. Both Hemeti and Burhan maintained close links -- including gold exports -- with Moscow in part to strengthen their leverage against the West.
#Sudan
Syrians also asked for a no-fly zone when Assad was raining bombs on civilians in 2012. The western response was often patronizing: "It will start world war 3," many claimed.
Few understood that lending total impunity to war criminals would soon produce wars closer to 'home.'
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What is happening now in Ukraine is out of ordinary. Putin has gone full Hitler. The response of the West should be extraordinary too. Options that were not on the table yesterday must be considered. No-fly zone over Ukraine is one of them. There are other ones too
How could this war evolve? We could see the military gain the upper hand, but not completely defeat the RSF. #Sudan
Both Burhan and Hemeti also might not be the main threats to each other. Each faces threats from their own ranks and tribe, respectively.
Anytime Glenn Greenwald talks Middle East, he utters the buzz word "regime change" before making a false equivalence between the 2003 Iraq war and (insert country) that was part of the Arab spring. Needless to say: Glenn should stop reducing the Arab world to a single sentence.
Internet blackout in #Sudan points to one single reality that neither the junta nor world powers can ignore: The former has no legitimacy on the street, so all they can do is muffle the microphone that protesters use to communicate with the world.
Western govs that claimed the Sudanese revolution inspired them have refused to open their borders and welcome Sudanese refugees. It's another moral failure not to provide safe corridors to those fleeing the very war that western diplomatic malpractice helped bring about. #Sudan
Hemeti's forces have fought the army to a deadlock in Khartoum. But back in his stronghold of Darfur, Hemeti may be vulnerable from a familiar foe.
My latest on #Sudan for
Looking for an expert that could comment to me about how the conflict in Sudan -- and instability in Darfur -- could impact neighbouring Chad.
Preferred if Chadian, but open to anyone that has good local knowledge of the country. Comments would be for AJE.
#Sudan
I honestly don't know if my friend is dead or alive in West Darfur's town of Mourni. Her brother was murdered last week. No contact from her since May 5. Nobody knows where she is and I'm resisting fearing the worst.
Just please, let's retire the phrase 'never again.'
#Sudan