Singer Kehlani Sheds Light on War in Sudan

American singer and songwriter Kehlani has began to shed light on the ongoing war in Sudan on her Instagram story on 25 October 2023.

The 28-year-old R&B singer has shared social media posts by Australian-Sudanese author Yasmin Abdel-magied to educate her followers about the war in Sudan. She has also shared stories about the rampant violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

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This comes after Kehlani’s recent activism, fearlessly speaking up for Palestine, and expressing unwavering support and unity with Palestine, due to the recent war between Israel and Hamas, which began on 7 October 2023. In addition to continuously sharing posts and news about the plight of Palestinians, she has joined pro-Palestine protests in the US and held a live broadcast on Instagram with the Jewish Voice for Peace. She has even gone as far as changing her profile picture on Instagram to the a picture of the flag of Palestine with the words, “I stand with Palestine”, and included Medical Aid Palestine’s Gaza emergency appeal on her profile.

Sudan War

On 15 October 2023, Sudan marked since months of the war in Sudan, which broke out on 15 April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), led by the de facto ruler of Sudan General Abdel Fattah Al Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by the leader of the RSF, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti).

At least 9,000 people have been killed and more than 7 million have been displaced. At least 3 million people have been internally displaced, and at least 4 million have fled the country to neighbouring countries such as Egypt, Chad, South Sudan and Ethiopia.

DR Congo

Recent months have brought a dramatic deterioration in the situation in eastern DR Congo, where thousands civilians are attacked with impunity. Citizens are experiencing extreme levels of violence, hunger and displacement. However, the country’s unprecedented and humanitarian crisis has been neglected by the outside world – without receiving apathy, funding and media coverage.

The rampant violence of armed groups in Ituri Province has displaced more than 550,000 people in recent months, contributing to a total of 1.7 million that have had to flee their homes. In June, an attack on Lala displacement site resulted in the death of 46 people, the majority of whom were children and the elderly, unable to run. More than 7,800 others were forced to flee the site.

Israel-Palestine War

On 7 October 2023, Hamas launched a series of coordinated attacks from the Gaza Strip onto bordering areas in Israel, killing more than 1,400 in Israel, which resulting in Israel retaliating by escalating its crackdown on the Gaza Strip, killing more than 5,000 Palestinians, including at least 2,000 children. This is the most violent war that has taken place in the history of Israel’s 56-year-long occupation of Palestine. The Israel–Palestine conflict is one of the world’s longest continuing conflicts.