There is no Silent Night in Sudan. There is no Holy Night with genocide. While we celebrate Christmas and Hanukkah with lights and gifts in America, Sudan drapes herself in black, mourning the loss of more than 400,000 of her men, women, and children. These are modest numbers.
For the past ten days, a revolution has plagued the streets of Sudan. The people shout in defiance, “What do we want, justice! When do we want it, now!” Close family sources say the people are hungry, there is no money in the banks, and the hospitals are without medicine. We see images of the militia gunning down children demonstrating for basic human rights.
Now here we are across the pond in America, enjoying our Silent Night, disregarding the atrocities that have murdered almost a half a million people in Sudan. Yes, our government is Silent, but the communities of Sudan in America shout against the Sudanese dictatorship, “Sooru Sooru!”
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The Sudanese people are victims of oppression from the government. No one has the freedom to speak or the freedom to leave. They are exchanging blood for blood.
For 30-long-years, the people have suffered from this tyranny, and they are fed up—their hearts are broken. The government serves to divide and conquer. The communities are geographically scattered—fighting over skin color and prophets, tribes and bigotry.
Maybe it’s time for new leadership. Maybe it’s time to transfer the power from the ruling party to the technocrats.
Either way, the Sudanese people must unite. No more black skin or white skin. No more one method ideologies. No more killing in the name of Christianity or Islam. No more allegiance to Darfur or Khartoum—just one people; one Sudan.
Is a two-year peaceful transition foreseeable with a new constitution—a new government for the citizens of Sudan? We can only hope, all the while knowing, the blood of the martyrs is the dowry for freedom.
Like the one we celebrate for this season, we pray for Sudan in His name. No more violence. We pray for peace and a Silent Night.
As-salamu alaykum Sudan.
