Report from supporters of Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! in Newcastle.
On Saturday 8 November, we attended an early evening protest at Grey’s Monument against the genocide in Sudan. The Monument is in the city centre and a historic location for protests. The event had been called by Youth Equality Coalition (YEC) and what seemed to be a few self-appointed leaders of the ‘Sudanese community’.
Hundreds of people attended. Women and men, some with babies, teenagers, young people. There was a lot of energy. One of the main demands was ‘UAE to the ICC’ (International Criminal Court), in reference to the United Arab Emirates supplying the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) with weapons they have used to commit massacres. There was no mention by the organisers of Britain’s role, despite the weapons the UAE has supplied to the RSF coming from Britain, and the fact that British imperialism has been involved in destabilising Sudan for over 140 years.
The other dominant slogan in Newcastle was, ‘One army, one nation.’ This is a rejection of the RSF but a tacit endorsement of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF). The SAF played a central role in side lining the Sudanese masses who rose up in their millions to overthrow the Omar al-Bashir dictatorship in 2018 and 2019. In this revolutionary movement thousands of Sudanese, with women playing a leading role, set up barricades, surrounding and laying siege to Sudan’s military headquarters in Khartoum, with sit in protests. Food, water, blankets and other supplies were organised by the masses. They knew who their enemies were. Sensing their grip on power slipping, the SAF in alliance with the RSF swept in at the last moment to oust Bashir and set up a Transitional Military Council (TMC) to rule Sudan. There was nothing transitional about it. The Sudanese people demanded the military step aside to be replaced by a civilian transitional government. They carried on with their sit in protests. The TMC responded by sending in both SAF and RSF troops to clear the demonstration. It was a blood bath. Support for the SAF is a reactionary position to take.
There is a clear split in the Sudan protests between those who support the SAF and refuse to speak about Britain’s role and those who demand civilian rule and an end to British imperialist machinations in Sudan. FRFI stood with the latter.
A Sudanese comrade of ours, who is a supporter of the Sudanese Communist Party, was initially blocked from speaking at the protest by the ‘community leaders’. Eventually he managed to speak, and as well as denouncing the role of the UAE and RSF, he denounced the role played by the EU, Britain and the SAF. His speech can be watched here.
A Sudanese woman in the crowd had been leading chants demanding civilian rule and the ousting of both factions of the military. After he spoke another Sudanese man went on the mic to disagree with his position. This is the nature of democratic debate and should be welcomed not shut down. It is our view that we can win people over to an anti-imperialist position. This is what the opportunists are terrified of.
When I asked if there would be an open mic so I could speak, I was told by a YEC member that there would not be an open mic because the ‘Sudanese people’ only wanted Sudanese people to speak. In fact, they only wanted certain Sudanese people to speak because they did not allow an open mic for the 300 Sudanese people who had turned out.
We thought it was absolutely essential that we fought for our right to speak. We are anti-imperialists living in Britain. It is our task to build a movement against the British state. The petit-bourgeois reactionaries in YEC have no interest in this whatsoever. But instead of having this debate out in the open they avoid it and hide behind identity politics – the cesspool the middle class left love to wallow in.
Nor are we interested in the sectarian wishes of self-appointed Sudanese community leaders. Yes I am white. Yes I am not Sudanese. And yes I can most certainly disagree with, argue against, oppose and fight against the wishes of Sudanese individuals on a protest for Sudan if these wishes are aimed at containing the struggle. We support revolutionary politics.
With this in mind we set our plan in motion. After YEC called the protest to an end, no one wanted to leave. A Sudanese man took the mic and continued chanting. There were a lot of people on the plinth of the Monument where the speeches were given and a lot of people in front of the Monument listening and chanting. I walked up to the plinth to stand next to the man who was chanting. When he was finished, he passed the mic to others who didn’t want to chant. I asked for the mic and stood front and centre on the plinth.
I addressed the crowd, explaining that I wasn’t Sudanese but that I supported the cause and wanted to give a speech. I asked the crowd if it was OK if I spoke. There was a roar of cheers and ‘yes!’ The vast majority of the Sudanese people in fact did want non-Sudanese people to speak. This in our eyes trumps the wishes of a craven few.
I gave a speech on Britain’s historical interference in Sudan, from the time Sudan was a British colony to the £700m Sudan ‘owes’ Britain in debt. The full speech was filmed and can be viewed here. Towards the end of the speech a YEC opportunist spoke in my ear trying to get me to stop. Evidently he wanted to cover up for Britain’s role in Sudan. He was ignored. I kept on speaking. He came back with a Sudanese man and both of them tried to wrestle the mic off me. They failed. I carried on speaking. When I began chants of, ‘Hands off Sudan!’ which most of the crowd joined in with, the flustered YEC member then decided in desperate times he must take desperate measures. He got on his hands and knees to crawl under a banner and get to the PA system which he turned off. Undeterred, I kept chanting and then another Sudanese man handed me a megaphone so I could carry on!
Afterwards FRFI supporters were thanked for their intervention by many people at the protest. The YEC however felt differently and argued that their attempts at censorship were a means to finish the protest and keep people safe. The dozens and dozens of women who stayed with their babies chatting with each other were in no rush to hurry off.
Genuine people who attend protests are spontaneously democratic. The petit bourgeois left are spontaneously autocratic. They must be fought against in order to maximise democracy and ensure anti-imperialist politics are not side lined.
Open mics on all protests!
Public planning meetings!
British imperialism hands off Sudan!
Britain out of Africa!
