{"id":48052,"date":"2025-05-08T18:02:22","date_gmt":"2025-05-08T15:02:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/?p=48052"},"modified":"2025-05-08T18:02:22","modified_gmt":"2025-05-08T15:02:22","slug":"how-sudans-rsf-adopts-israels-genocide-model","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/08\/how-sudans-rsf-adopts-israels-genocide-model\/","title":{"rendered":"How Sudan\u2019s RSF Adopts Israel\u2019s \u201cGenocide Model\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sudan Events \u2013 Agencies<\/strong><\/p>\n

Al Jazeera English published a report by writer Matt Nashed explaining how the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan have mirrored Israel’s methods of conducting and justifying atrocities, particularly in Darfur. Nashed argues that RSF has adopted the \u201cIsraeli model.\u201d Here’s what the report says:<\/p>\n

On April 11, RSF militia stormed the Zamzam camp for displaced persons in North Darfur, where they burned huts and shops, executed medics, and opened fire on fleeing civilians.<\/p>\n

According to observers, at least 500 people were killed \u2014 men, women, children, and the elderly \u2014 and hundreds of thousands were displaced.<\/p>\n

The attack sparked global outrage, prompting RSF to intensify its propaganda \u2014 which it had been promoting for months \u2014 claiming that Zamzam was merely a military base.<\/p>\n

Ali Misbal, an RSF adviser, told Al Jazeera: \u201cZamzam was a military area… so the RSF decided we had to evacuate the civilians,\u201d without providing evidence. He added, \u201cWe didn\u2019t want civilians to get caught in crossfire.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sudanese human rights lawyer Rifaat Makawi said labeling Zamzam as a military zone is an attempt to apply the same model used by Israel to justify bombing hospitals and schools in Gaza.<\/p>\n

He told Al Jazeera: \u201cThis is not a coincidence but a deliberate practice aimed at stripping civilians of legal protection by labeling them as combatants or tools of war.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Genocide Model<\/strong><\/p>\n

During the Sudanese civil war, RSF used language rooted in human rights and international humanitarian law \u2014 frameworks designed to protect civilians in war \u2014 to carry out its atrocities.<\/p>\n

Israel has employed a similar approach for years to deflect criticism of its killings and oppression of Palestinians, according to legal experts. Since launching its war on Gaza on October 7, 2023, it has intensified this strategy.<\/p>\n

Israel claims hospitals in Gaza are Hamas \u201ccommand and control centers,\u201d thereby justifying attacks on them \u2014 despite international law prohibiting strikes on medical facilities.<\/p>\n

It also alleges that Hamas hides among civilians and uses them as \u201chuman shields,\u201d to justify disproportionate and deliberate civilian attacks.<\/p>\n

Mass displacements are framed as \u201chumanitarian evacuations,\u201d even though people are forced to flee within hours to escape Israeli bombings \u2014 if they can.<\/p>\n

Human rights groups and UN experts accuse Israel of committing genocide in a war that has killed at least 52,567 Palestinians.<\/p>\n

Local observers and legal experts say RSF is now adopting this same Israeli strategy.<\/p>\n

Similar Claims by Israel and RSF<\/strong><\/p>\n

Luigi Daniele, professor of international humanitarian law at Nottingham Law School, said: \u201cThe similarity between RSF claims in Sudan and Israeli claims in Gaza reveals the emergence of a model rooted in genocide or actual genocide.\u201d<\/p>\n

The UN accuses both RSF and the Sudanese army of serious crimes, including killing and torturing prisoners of war since the conflict erupted in April 2023.<\/p>\n

But human rights organizations accuse RSF specifically of committing additional atrocities, including genocide against \u201cnon-Arab\u201d communities in Darfur.<\/p>\n

From Janjaweed to Human Rights Rhetoric<\/strong><\/p>\n

The RSF evolved from \u201cArab\u201d pastoralist militias known as the Janjaweed \u2014 a nickname meaning \u201cdevils on horseback\u201d in Sudanese dialect \u2014 notorious for committing atrocities.<\/p>\n

RSF and the Sudanese army remained allies until around 2021 when they staged a coup against the transitional civilian government after ousting former President Omar al-Bashir in 2019.<\/p>\n

After the coup, RSF signed a memorandum of understanding with the International Committee of the Red Cross to receive human rights training.<\/p>\n

Today, RSF leaders and their political allies use human rights language to whitewash their crimes.<\/p>\n

On March 8, the “Ta\u2019sis” political coalition \u2014 backed by RSF \u2014 tweeted: \u201cWe stand in solidarity with Sudanese women in their recent plight, having endured tragic conditions and horrific violations due to this unjust war.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, the tweet omitted reports from Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International accusing RSF of widespread rape during the war.<\/p>\n

During the Zamzam raid, the Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa \u2014 a local organization monitoring sexual violence \u2014 reported that RSF kidnapped 25 women and girls and raped others.<\/p>\n

Lawyer Rifaat Makawi said: \u201cWhat I see today in Darfur, especially in Zamzam, is not just a violation of humanitarian law, but evidence of its distortion and use as a cover for the worst crimes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Completing the Genocide?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Zamzam camp was established in 2003, about 15 km from North Darfur\u2019s capital, El Fasher, to shelter non-Arab Zaghawa and Fur communities fleeing violence in the first Darfur war.<\/p>\n

These communities suffered violence that rose to the level of genocide, driven from their lands by state-backed Janjaweed militias, making Zamzam a symbol of atrocities.<\/p>\n

The camp housed about 350,000 people, increasing to over half a million as fighting escalated between the army and RSF, which had taken control of southern, eastern, western, and central Darfur by late 2023.<\/p>\n

In April 2024, RSF besieged El Fasher and nearby towns after the \u201cJoint Forces\u201d \u2014 a coalition of non-Arab armed groups \u2014 sided with the army.<\/p>\n

Given RSF’s historic hostility toward non-Arab communities, fighters feared mass killings if RSF seized the entire state.<\/p>\n

RSF also blocked aid from any organization that refused to pledge allegiance, causing famine in Zamzam. As civilians starved, RSF pushed the narrative that Zamzam was a \u201cmilitary base,\u201d paving the way for an assault.<\/p>\n

Musab, a survivor of the massacre now living in the nearby town of Tawila, said: \u201cThe claim of a military base in Zamzam is completely false. There were some people acting as police, but no military commanders.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ali Misbal, RSF adviser, said the high civilian death toll was because \u201cthe Joint Forces used them as human shields\u201d \u2014 again, without evidence.<\/p>\n

Ethnic Cleansing<\/strong><\/p>\n

RSF has also mirrored Israel\u2019s tactics of conducting mass displacements under the guise of \u201chumanitarian efforts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since October 7, 2023, Israel has forced 2.3 million Palestinians into ever-smaller zones it labels \u201csafe areas\u201d in Gaza.<\/p>\n

It then bombs or invades these zones, claiming they have become \u201cmilitary targets\u201d due to the presence of Hamas.<\/p>\n

Daniele of Nottingham Law School said: \u201cWhat Israel has done in Gaza is effectively issue mass displacement orders under the threat of extermination, a declaration of intent to commit international crimes.\u201d<\/p>\n

On April 11, \u201cTa\u2019sis\u201d posted on Facebook urging civilians to leave Zamzam via \u201chumanitarian corridors\u201d to towns like Tawila and Korma.<\/p>\n

But on April 27, a verified video by Al Jazeera\u2019s \u201cSanad\u201d unit showed an RSF commander announcing the arrest of unarmed civilians fleeing Zamzam through one such corridor.<\/p>\n

He said they had sided with \u201cenemies of Darfur\u201d and the Arab elites (\u201cJalaba Arabs\u201d) who dominate the army and government in central and northern Sudan \u2014 adding they might be killed \u201cas a lesson to others.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though RSF claims its war is for marginalized tribes, it is committing horrific abuses against the most marginalized groups in Darfur.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sudan Events \u2013 Agencies Al Jazeera English published a report by writer Matt Nashed explaining how the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan have mirrored Israel’s methods of conducting and justifying atrocities, particularly in Darfur. Nashed argues that RSF has adopted the \u201cIsraeli model.\u201d Here’s what the report says: On April 11, RSF militia stormed …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":48053,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48052","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48052","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48052"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48052\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48054,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48052\/revisions\/48054"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48053"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48052"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48052"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48052"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}