Sudanese political parties have rejected the government's decision to normalize relations with Israel, with officials saying they will form an opposition front against the agreement, Al Jazeera reported Saturday.

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Sudanese political parties have rejected the government's decision to normalize relations with Israel, with officials saying they will form an opposition front against the agreement, Al Jazeera reported Saturday.

Dozens of Sudanese people demonstrated in the capital Khartoum on Friday following the joint statement from Israel, Sudan and the United States on Friday saying that the two countries agreed to "end the state of belligerence between their nations".

Protesters in Khartoum took to the streets and chanted "no peace, no negotiation, no reconciliation with the occupying entity" and "we will not surrender, we will always stand with Palestine," according to Al Jazeera.

A statement from Sudan's Popular Congress Party, the second-most prominent component of the Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC) political coalition, said Sudanese people are not obligated to accept the normalization deal.

"We see that our people, who are being systematically isolated and marginalized from secret deals, are not bound by the normalization agreement," the statement said.

"Our people will abide by their historical positions and work through a broad front to resist normalization and maintain our support for the Palestinian people in order for them to obtain all their legitimate rights."

Muhammad Wadaa, a leader in the Sudanese Baath Party, which is part of the FFC, told Al Jazeera that "the government made a big mistake and it is a step that will not achieve economic abundance".

He said the anti-normalization front includes a civil force and influential parties from within and outside the forces of freedom and change.

Wadaa said there are a number of parties within the FFC that warned the transitional government they will withdraw their support if normalization with Israel was agreed to.

"Normalization with Israel is a move that is rejected. The government is not authorised to take such a decision with a racist state that practises religious discrimination," he said.

Sadiq Al-Mahdi

Sudan's former Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi also slammed the announcement, adding that he withdrew from a government-organized religious conference on Saturday in Khartoum in protest.

Al-Mahdi, who is the country's last democratically elected premier and heads the country's largest political party, said: "This statement contradicts the Sudanese national law ... and contributes to the elimination of the peace project in the Middle East and to preparing for the ignition of a new war."

He said the agreement with Israel would jeopardize the authority of Sudan's transitional government, a fragile coalition of civilian and military leaders.

Al-Mahdi, who heads the National Umma Party, was overthrown in a 1989 coup that brought the former president General al-Bashir to power. His party is allied with the pro-democracy movement that led the protests against al-Bashir.

Al-Mahdi accused Trump of being racist against Muslims and black people, and described Israel as an "apartheid state."

Kamal Omar, a leader in the Popular Congress Party, said in a separate statement that Sudan's transitional government is not elected and therefore not authorized to normalize relations with Israel.

"This transitional government hijacked the Sudanese position to satisfy regional and international intelligence agencies," he said.

The three No's

Interestingly, Sudan has traditionally played a significant role in the pan-Arab policies. Sudan hosted a landmark Arab League conference in September 1967 after the 1967 Six-Day War where eight Arab countries approved the "three no's": no peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel, and no negotiations with Israel.

The Khartoum resolution also called for insistence on the rights of the Palestinian people in their own country.

The eight Arab countries attending the Khartoum summit included: Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait Yemen, Iraq and the host Sudan.

Tellingly, the six-day war ended with Israel's occupation of the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt, the West Bank of Jordan and the Golan Heights of Syria.

Authors Bio:
Author and journalist.
Author of
Islamic Pakistan: Illusions & Reality;
Islam in the Post-Cold War Era;
Islam & Modernism;
Islam & Muslims in the Post-9/11 America.
Currently working as free lance journalist.
Executive Editor of American Muslim Perspective: www.amperspective.com