Former Sudanese MP Abu Al-Qasim Bortom, Organizer Of Planned Citizens' Delegation To Israel: The Purpose Is To Accelerate Normalization With Israel

Former Sudanese MP Abu Al-Qasim Bortom, the organizer of an expected delegation of over 1,000 Sudanese citizens to Israel, said in an October 12, 2020 interview on Al-Arabiya Network (Saudi Arabia) that the purpose of the delegation is to accelerate normalization with Israel. He argued that Sudan's issue with Israel is political rather than religious, and he said that the delegation will be welcomed by various Israeli NGOs. Adding that the visit would be a humanistic and cultural visit rather than a political or economic one, Bortom said that the Sudanese people have no enmity towards Israel.

Abu Al-Qasim Bortom: "The purpose of this initiative is to accelerate the normalization with Israel. I am completely convinced that the issue with Israel is political and it is not an ideological or religious issue. The political issue has caused Sudan a lot of problems that we are all aware of. So the purpose of this initiative is to accelerate normalization [with Israel] and to break the psychological barrier, caused by 60 years of plundering the Sudanese citizens, in the name of fighting Israel.

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"We were in touch with a large number of NGOs and popular groups, and they all welcomed this [proposed] visit warmly. As I've said, this is a humanistic-cultural visit that has nothing to do with economy or politics. The framework for this visit is humanistic. We received very welcoming responses from a group of Israeli NGOs. [We were in touch] with a large number of [Sudanese citizens]. Over 1,000. This comes to show you that ordinary citizens have no problem with this. As Sudanese, we have no enmity towards Israel, with the exception of people who have been ideologically brainwashed."