A Catastrophic Famine the World Chooses to Ignore

What influences the hierarchy of world crises?

In a land far away, Muslims are facing starvation on a massive scale. A prolonged war which re-erupted in 2023 is producing massive civilian casualties. Credible reports of genocide are emerging, as many are being targeted for their ethnicity. Thousands of children are dying.

What land am I speaking about? Surely it can only be Gaza.

Certainly, pro-Palestinian activists would have the world believe that Israel’s actions in that region constitute the most atrocious oppression imaginable. And, I have absolutely no intention of trivialising the difficulties and challenges faced by civilians there, whose food supply risks drying up rapidly in the next few weeks if there isn’t a change in Israel’s blockage of aid – a policy that does not, yet, appear to be working as they seek to put pressure on Hamas to release the remaining hostages.

Unimaginable suffering

But, no, it wasn’t Gaza I was referring to. Rather, an emerging humanitarian catastrophe on the African continent – in the predominantly Islamic nation of Sudan. But you’d hardly know about it if you don’t pay attention to the news stories that appear ‘lower down’ in the headlines. It certainly gets nothing like the prominence in the international media that the Israel/Hamas war gets.

Two years since the outbreak of war in Sudan, a staggering 25 million people, half of the country’s population, require humanitarian assistance and protection. Over twelve million have been forced from their homes, including more than three million who have fled to neighbouring countries. Famine has been confirmed in many areas, and many others are at risk of it. Lack of funds and insecurity mean that food aid is not getting to most of those in need. Tens of thousands have already died.

Famine has been confirmed in many areas, and many others are at risk of it.

There have been attacks on the limited medical facilities that exist, and refugee camps have been targeted by shelling. War crimes have been documented by both warring factions caught up in the fighting. The level of suffering is unimaginable.

Leni Kinzli, head of communications for Sudan for the World Food Programme, has said, “We don’t see the level of international attention on Sudan as we do for other crises. There should not be a competition between crises. But, unfortunately we’re seeing with everything going on in the world, other conflicts, other humanitarian crises and other things making headlines, that unfortunately Sudan is – I wouldn’t even call it forgotten – it’s ignored.”

The big question

Why on earth would a humanitarian disaster on this scale be consistently ignored?

Of course, it’s quite natural and understandable that a war nearer home between Ukraine and Russia would take up a lot of attention for European leaders. And the economic uncertainty triggered (or at least exacerbated) by Donald Trump has, unsurprisingly, dominated headlines in the West. The Middle East has been unstable for a long time and frequently commands attention. It’s not that these occurrences don’t deserve our attention – they do.

where are the Muslim political candidates putting themselves forward at English council elections to offer a pro-Sudan option on the ballot box?

But where do we find the so-called ‘human rights’ activists wrapping themselves in Sudanese dress by way of identifying with their suffering? Where are the protesters flying regional Sudanese flags and waving banners denouncing the barbaric and totally unnecessary civil war which is causing such untold misery, and putting pressure on world leaders to help bring about a ceasefire? Where are the demonstrators disrupting sporting events on behalf of Sudanese suffering? And where are the Muslim political candidates putting themselves forward at English council elections to offer a pro-Sudan option on the ballot box?

They’re all non-existent, of course. It would appear, to the whole world as if these victims simply don’t matter.

And why would that possibly be? They are human beings after all – in their millions – aren’t their human rights worth defending? Could it have anything to do with the fact that their antagonists aren’t, erm, Jews? And because Sudan’s problems aren’t considered to have been caused by ‘colonialism’?

Suffering and persecution

Sudan’s population is predominately Sunni Muslim (90%). Over 5% are Christians. Sudan holds a particularly bleak history of prosecution of Christians (and Jews); still today, believers have been consistently targeted by both armed factions since the beginning of the Sudanese war, in acts that constitute war crimes against humanity. But the suffering endured in Sudan includes vast numbers of Muslims too – by sheer numbers of the population, Muslims civilians are also facing violence on a horrendous scale.

Often, however, as in Sudan, their oppressors are themselves fellow Muslims – think Syria, Eritrea, Afghanistan, Iraq …

There are, of course, also substantial numbers of Muslims who face persecution and violence across the globe, and whose fate needs the world’s attention, not least the Rohingha people in Myanmar, and the Uighur population of China who are facing slave labour and forced sterilisation, amidst another possible genocide. Often, however, as in Sudan, their oppressors are themselves fellow Muslims – think Syria, Eritrea, Afghanistan, Iraq …

Motives revealed

Yet Muslim activists invariably focus their efforts entirely on the strip of land known as Gaza, and on the ‘evil’ ‘colonial’ Israel – openly celebrating the murders of Israelis, and campaigning for boycotts.

Other well-meaning, but naïve, sympathisers join in with them, thinking they are standing up for a thoroughly oppressed people, in what they are led to believe is perhaps the worst injustice of the modern age.

Yet this only demonstrates what is staring us in the face, yet is so often sidelined – the motivation behind the support for Gaza and Hamas can only be a hatred of the Jewish people. Stark antisemitism, in other words.

How else can the ignoring by Muslim activists of the worst imaginable suffering being experienced by fellow Muslims be explained? 

How else can the ignoring by Muslim activists of the worst imaginable suffering being experienced by fellow Muslims be explained? (Not all Muslims are ignoring the Sudanese crisis, of course – Islamic Relief, for example, is raising money for those in need there – I’m specifically referring to activists.)

It’s high time the world – and the media – took a good hard look at the actions of pro-Palestinian protestors and asked themselves why their protestations are solely directed against one group of people in all the earth, when horrendous human rights violations are taking place in all corners of the world.

If they’ve already posed this most basic of questions already, then they need to find backbone enough to acknowledge what to the rest of us seems glaringly obvious ....
 … it is indeed because they’re Jews.

Note
If you want to donate to the efforts to support the people of Sudan, Christian Aid and Caritas are appealing for funds, as are MSF, Barnabas Aid and UNICEF.