Green Left’s Susan Price spoke with Ibrahim Izzeldeen, from the Free Sudan Gazette, on November 26, about this new media project and how it is centring Sudanese voices and ensuring Sudan’s crisis and the struggle of the Sudanese people is visible in the international media landscape. Izzeldeen is a Berlin-based cultural worker and filmmaker and co-founded the Gazette, which he edits and writes for.
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What prompted the launch of the Free Sudan Gazette, and how does it gather news and information on the situation in Sudan during wartime?
The Free Sudan Gazette was born out of necessity. When the war erupted in April 2023, Sudan’s independent media collapsed almost overnight. Journalists were forced into exile, newsrooms destroyed and state-aligned propaganda filled the void. We launched the Gazette to ensure that Sudanese voices — not foreign imperial interests or military propaganda — remained central to how people understood this war.
Our reporting relies on a network of trusted contributors inside Sudan and across the diaspora. Many of them risk their safety to share updates from emergency response volunteers, local resistance committees and displaced communities. We verify all reports through multiple sources where possible, maintaining journalistic integrity even under the harshest conditions.
How is the Sudanese diaspora involved in the project, and how can international readers support it?
The diaspora is the lifeblood of this project. Sudanese writers, journalists, activists and researchers abroad contribute reporting, translation and technical support. Many have family directly affected by the conflict, which drives a shared sense of responsibility.
International readers can support us by amplifying our reporting, subscribing to our updates and donating to sustain independent journalism. But beyond financial help, what matters most is solidarity — challenging disinformation and keeping Sudan’s crisis visible in global conversations that too often move on.
Regarding the situation on the ground, do you think a negotiated solution to end the bloodshed is likely? How do foreign interests in the conflict affect this prospect?
A negotiated settlement is possible in theory but unlikely in the short term. Both warring factions — the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces — have shown little willingness to compromise. What complicates matters further is the heavy involvement of foreign actors, each backing one side to protect their own interests, whether in gold, mercenaries or geopolitical influence.
This external meddling doesn’t just prolong the war; it distorts the peace process. True peace in Sudan cannot be dictated from outside or built on elite bargains. It must come from the grassroots, from those who have borne the brunt of the violence.
What would a lasting peace for Sudan look like?
Lasting peace in Sudan means dismantling the militarisation and militia control that has dominated politics for decades. It means a grassroots-backed, civilian-led government accountable to the people, not to generals or foreign sponsors.
It would also require justice — not just for war crimes, but for the structural violence that has kept communities in Darfur, the Nuba Mountains and the east marginalised for generations. Peace is not just the absence of gunfire; it’s the presence of dignity, equality and civilian rule.
The Gazette has profiled grassroots initiatives, such as the Emergency Response Rooms, which are vital to people’s survival. Could such initiatives also help empower communities and build alternative pathways toward a peaceful and democratic Sudan?
Absolutely. The Emergency Response Rooms are among the most hopeful developments to emerge from this dark period. They show that ordinary Sudanese can organise, self-govern and support one another without the state or armed factions.
These networks have distributed food, provided medical care, coordinated evacuations and kept neighbourhoods functioning amid chaos. But they also embody a political lesson: that democracy must grow from the ground up. The same structures keeping people alive today could form the backbone of a more just, decentralised Sudan tomorrow.
Sudan’s war is not just a humanitarian crisis — it’s a struggle over who controls the future of the country. Our mission at the Free Sudan Gazette is to document, to bear witness and to remind the world that Sudanese people are not passive victims. They are resisting, organising and imagining a different kind of society.