Sudanese businessman defends interfaith event addressed by rabbi

A Sudanese businessman on Sunday defended the organization of an interfaith event to promote religious tolerance in the predominantly Muslim country which also included Jews, Christians and Hindus.

Critics from an Islamist group had argued that such events would escalate tensions a month after Sudan’s historic decision to normalize relations with Israel under a deal brokered by the United States.

Businessman Abu al-Qassem Bortoum defended the event, which was held under tight security at a Khartoum hotel on Saturday, as “an attempt to break down the psychological barrier” between Islam and other religions , in a country in political transition.

Sudan, he said, was embarking on the path of “freedom, peace and justice by renouncing hate speech, violent speech and religious discrimination to achieve unity, tolerance and social coexistence “.

Bortoum had organized the event where the bailiffs wore T-shirts with the “Humanity Bridge Builders” logo and the Islamic crescent, the Christian cross and the Jewish Star of David.

Rabbi David Rosen of the American Jewish Committee told the meeting via video link from Jerusalem that “the pursuit of our mutual understanding is precisely what strengthens peace in the world.”

Among the guests were diplomats, a member of the Sudanese ruling council, Raja Nicola, as well as members of the country’s Christian and Hindu communities and Sudanese descendants of Jewish families.

Ahead of the rally, an Islamist group affiliated with the national opposition Umma party, Al Ansar, warned that the meeting was taking place amid “tensions between supporters of normalization with Israel and those who reject it.”

Dozens of protesters gathered and burned the Israeli flag outside cabinet offices in Khartoum after the government signed the US-backed Abraham Accords on January 6, normalizing relations with Israel.

After Saturday’s interfaith meeting, Ansar group member Ahmed Adam told Al Jazeera that “such meetings bring calamities to us and can bring fundamentalists to our country.”

Sudan has experienced a difficult transition since the military toppled former Islamist-backed strongman Omar al-Bashir in 2019 after months of mass youth-led protests against his regime.

A post-Bashir transitional government lobbied to rebuild the country’s economy after decades of US sanctions and internal strife.

Sudan signed the Abraham Accords after Washington removed it from its blacklist of “terrorist sponsoring states”. Bashir had once granted sanctuary to al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

A former congressman, Bortoum was suspended in 2015 after unleashing the fury of the Bashir regime by calling for the abolition of Islamic law and relations with Israel.

Bortoum, who is interested in agriculture and transport, already sparked controversy in October by announcing a planned “icebreaker” trip to Israel with some 40 Sudanese citizens from all walks of life.