From Hammer & Hope
Inspired by a need for more grounded, non-elite analyses of the current situation in Sudan, we interviewed four people whose organizing against the oppressive policies of the Sudanese state spans years and in some cases decades. Each of them links the revolution to the current war and foreground the organizing and collective visioning processes that have and could potentially still move us toward a popular democratic future in a post-war Sudan. We are incredibly grateful to them for speaking to us despite the circumstances that they face, including telecommunications and electricity blackouts in much of the country. In this first installment, you’ll read our introduction and an interview with Abdelraouf Omer, a Gezira farmer and union organizer.
If you would like to help grassroots civil society and mutual aid groups at the frontlines of relief efforts in parts of Sudan most impacted by state violence, donate to the Sudan Solidarity Collective.
— Rabab Elnaiem, Nisrin Elamin, and Sara Abbas
I
t is now 15 months into the war in Sudan between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia. Yet the media attention Sudan receives does not reflect the monumental crisis it is facing and that threatens the broader region. When the mainstream media does cover Sudan, it tends to focus exclusively on the humanitarian catastrophe that the conflict has produced, which began on April 15, 2023, following the RSF and SAF’s joint Oct. 2021 coup. By contrast, grassroots organizers in Sudan tend to highlight the processes of marginalization, extraction, and militarization that make such a crisis productive for those in power.
The humanitarian reality is so devastating that the United Nations has described the suffering as “epic,” declaring Sudan “a nightmare for civilians.” International diplomacy and corporate extraction made this nightmare possible by legitimizing and keeping Sudan’s coup leaders in power, paving the way for this war. The unwillingness of the UN and the African Union, along with powerful entities such as the U.S. and European Union governments, to effectively leverage their power to stop the flow of arms and achieve a cease-fire is the latest example of why we cannot expect any kind of positive intervention from the state system and multinational institutions. Without a cease-fire, establishing safe passages and humanitarian corridors has proved elusive, as has stopping the targeting of civilians, first responders, journalists, homes, and remaining health and other critical infrastructure in an ever-expanding circle of bombings, burnings, sexual violence, and plunder. The suffering is epic because the world’s ethical and material failure to provide relief for those inside Sudan and fleeing across its borders has also been epic.

Sudanese protesters from Atbara make “V for victory” gestures as their train arrives in Khartoum, April 23, 2019. One of the earliest protests against ousted president Omar al-Bashir had erupted in Atbara in mid-December 2018. Photograph by Ozan Kose/Agence France-Presse, via Getty Images.
With every month, the catastrophe reaches new depths. The need for urgent attention and an immediate response remains. Yet thinking of humanitarianism alone masks the root causes of the violence, which are shaped by colonialism and racial capitalism. The desire to finally confront these historical forces gave rise to Sudan’s December Revolution in 2018, propelling the country into one of the most powerful movements for emancipation in the 21st century. The exclusion of the December Revolution and its demands, encapsulated in its slogan “Freedom, peace and justice,” from political discussions is not just a theoretical failing — it has had an effect on the ground, undermining people’s ability to exercise their agency to help themselves.
From Humanitarian Disaster to Proxy War
The humanitarian catastrophe in Sudan has produced calamitous figures. More than 10 million people have been displaced over the past year (including most of our families), with three million people crossing the border in increasingly desperate attempts to find refuge. Despite persistent warnings that famine is already underway, threatening more than 25 million people, less than 20 percent of the aid requested by the UN has been received. Looting, electricity outages and targeted attacks on farmers by the RSF has disrupted the planting season. The RSF has continued ethnic cleansing campaigns targeting the Masalit and other non-Arab groups in Darfur. In Darfur, Khartoum, and other areas of active fighting, sexual violence against women and girls is widespread and unaddressed. Across the country, 19 million children have lost access to education as state institutions collapse and defunct schools turn into shelters. As we write, El Fasher, capital of North Darfur and one of the country’s largest cities, is under a siege of bombardment and starvation not unlike Gaza’s. The dismal response by the so-called international community has been shameful and is shaped by anti-Black racism.
Abdelraouf Omer is a farmer, union organizer, and a Middle East and North Africa representative of La Via Campesina, a global peasant movement. He is based in the town of Hassaheissa, in Sudan’s agricultural Gezira region, but was recently displaced by the war.
Nisrin Elamin is an assistant professor of African studies and anthropology at the University of Toronto and a member of the Sudan Solidarity Collective. She is writing a book on Gulf Arab capital accumulation and land dispossession in central Sudan.
Rabab Elnaiem is a Sudanese activist, labor organizer, and former spokesperson for the Sudanese Workers Alliance for the Restoration of Trade Unions (SWARTU) currently based in the United States. She is a co-founder of the Ta Marbuta podcast, a feminist, anti-capitalist podcast.
Sara Abbas is a researcher of gender, the state, and social movements, with a focus on Sudan. Her publications include a contribution to Diversity on Common Ground: Ten Perspectives on Modern Feminism.