A writer from Gaza: “From here to Sudan, their pain is our pain” | policy

In her poignant article, “From Gaza to Sudan: Their Pain is Our Pain,” Palestinian journalist Lina Ghassan Abu Zeid writes from the heart of Gaza about the deep human connection between the suffering of the Palestinians and the suffering of the Sudanese, stressing that wars, hunger, and destruction are not isolated events, but rather connected chapters of a single human story that is absent from the global conscience.

In her article on the American website The Intercept, the author describes the scenes of daily life in Gaza under bombardment, where there is fear, hunger, and destruction. She then links this to what is happening in Sudan, especially in Darfur and El Fasher, where civilians live under a stifling siege and lack water, food, and medicine, while hospitals and schools collapse amid painful international silence.

Speaking from the heart of besieged Gaza, Abu Zeid says that she sees the Sudanese tragedy as a mirror of the Palestinian tragedies, and stresses that destruction, hunger and siege are not local issues, but rather a common human pain that brings together the afflicted peoples.

The author’s point regarding the coincidence of the Gaza tragedy and the Sudanese tragedy can be summarized in 5 points:

• First: a life between fear and hunger

The author describes the daily scene in Gaza, where people live under bombardment, counting the days between one meal and another, and moving between fear and hope in a never-ending cycle. Gazans thought their suffering was unique, until they watched Sudan burn with the same silence that surrounded their tragedies.

In Gaza, as in Sudan, people are dying of hunger and under rubble, while cameras are absent, as if the pain in the Global South does not deserve to be seen in the Global North.

• Second: another version of pain

Abu Zeid moves to Sudan, where civilians in Darfur, El Fasher, and Khartoum are living in a tragic situation similar to what Gaza experienced, noting the killing of more than 460 civilians in one day in the city of El Fasher at the hands of the Rapid Support Forces, and the displacement of more than 14 million Sudanese inside and outside the country, compared to a displacement rate of about 90% in Gaza.

The author describes how the siege, hunger, and lack of water and medicine made Sudanese cities areas of slow death, similar to what the Gazans experienced after the bombing and destruction.
She adds that Sudanese civilians have become hostages of a war in which they are subjected to killing, kidnapping, and forced displacement, without international protection or media attention.

True humanity is not measured by the position of victim, but by responding to the pain of people wherever they are

• Third: global silence

The writer believes that what multiplies the pain in Gaza and Sudan is not only the bombing or hunger, but the silence of the world, and she condemns the double standards of the international community, which raises human rights slogans at conferences, while ignoring the victims of the wars in the south.

She says, “What hurts us more than hunger is the silence of the world,” and stresses that true humanity is not measured by the position of victim, but rather by responding to the pain of people wherever they are.
She describes this silence as a “double betrayal” that makes victims feel that the world sees but chooses not to speak.

• Fourth: The same wounds

Abu Zeid believes that what unites Gaza and Sudan is not geography, but wounds. The blood of children in Darfur is the same as the blood of children in Gaza, and the destroyed schools and hospitals in Khartoum are completely similar to those that were razed to the ground in Deir al-Balah and Nuseirat.

Whenever I read about death in El Fasher or El Geneina, I feel that their pain is our pain

It confirms that the wars in the global south, whether in Palestine or Sudan, are merely different faces of the same suffering, and that history repeats itself because the world does not learn from its silence.
She writes, “Whenever I read about death in El Fasher or El Geneina, I feel that their pain is our pain,” embodying the unity of pain between the two peoples.

Fifth: A call to humanity

The author concludes her article with a sincere appeal to the world:
“Talk about Sudan, just as you talk about Gaza. Silence kills just as bombs do.”

Talk about Sudan, just as you talk about Gaza. Silence kills just as bombs do

The author calls for breaking the cycle of media silence and paying attention to the suffering of forgotten peoples, because humanity is not a privilege, but rather a moral duty.
She emphasizes that every word written and every story told can alleviate pain and restore some dignity to victims.

Abu Zeid concludes her article with a phrase that summarizes her message: “Do not leave Sudan alone as Gaza was left. The pain is shared, and humanity is everyone’s responsibility.”