# You Could See The Blood From Space: Sudan Genocide Explained | Sh. Ammar AlShukry

**Author:** Sh. Ammar Alshukry
**Series:** Explained
**Published:** 2026-04-13
**YouTube:** https://youtu.be/DZUBoarvXak
**URL:** https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/explained/sudan-genocide-explained
**Topics:** History, Politics & Practical Theology, Social Justice

## Summary
This video challenges the widely promoted narrative that Muslims hate America and Americans, arguing instead that anti-American sentiment in Muslim-majority countries stems from U.S. foreign policy rather than religious or cultural hatred. The presenter traces the concept of 'blowback' — the idea that harmful foreign interventions eventually produce domestic consequences — through voices ranging from Malcolm X to Ron Paul to Tucker Carlson. The video exposes a deliberate Islamophobia industry, citing a 2011 Center for American Progress report that tracked $42.6 million funneled by seven foundations to manufacture fear of Muslims, reinforced by Hollywood (over 300 films demeaning Arabs and Muslims) and a media landscape where attacks by Muslims received 357% more coverage than identical attacks by non-Muslims. It then documents U.S. military interventions — in Afghanistan ($2.3 trillion spent, hundreds of thousands of civilians killed, the same government left in power), Iraq (invaded on the false pretext of weapons of mass destruction, resulting in a million civilian deaths), and Gaza (ongoing bombardment funded by U.S. tax dollars with repeated U.S. vetoes of UN ceasefires) — as the true sources of grievance. The video argues that Islamophobia serves as a distraction from domestic failures including homelessness, $38 trillion in national debt, unaffordable healthcare, and elite corruption. It concludes by humanizing Muslim communities — describing them as a diverse, two-billion-strong global population responsible for founding the world's first universities and hospitals — and insisting that what Muslims hate is not American freedom or culture, but the injustice carried out against their children, schools, hospitals, and lives, often with American weapons, funding, and political cover.

## Key Points
- The narrative that 'Muslims hate America for its freedom' is a manufactured distraction from the real causes of anti-American sentiment: harmful U.S. foreign policy and military interventions.
- The concept of 'blowback' — that bombing people's homes and futures eventually produces consequences — has been acknowledged by figures across the political spectrum, from Malcolm X to Ron Paul.
- A 2011 Center for American Progress report traced $42.6 million from seven foundations deliberately funneled to manufacture fear of Muslims in America.
- Hollywood has produced over 300 films demeaning Arabs and Muslims, and between 2006 and 2015, attacks by Muslims received 357% more media coverage than identical attacks by non-Muslims.
- U.S. military interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq resulted in hundreds of thousands to over a million civilian deaths, with the architects of those wars facing no legal accountability.
- U.S. funding of Israeli military operations in Gaza, combined with repeated vetoes of UN ceasefire resolutions, is a primary driver of anti-American sentiment in the Muslim world.
- Islamophobia functions as a political distraction from domestic crises including 750,000 homeless Americans, $38 trillion in national debt, unaffordable healthcare, and elite corruption.
- Muslims are not a monolith — they are two billion people across Africa, the Arab world, Asia, Europe, and America — and are known for hospitality and warmth when encountered directly.
- Islamic civilization contributed the world's first universities and hospitals, and authentic Islamic teachings are characterized by peace, not hatred.
- Muslims do not hate Americans as people; they hate the injustice carried out against their communities with American weapons, tax dollars, and political support.

## Transcript
**[0:00]** I had a chance to go to Sudan this past January and just touching down in Sudan after three years and not being able to go because of the war left me in tears. Sudan is filled with resilient heroes. I met Dr. Yasir Jabra, a man who'd be making a salary of $400,000 if he was working in America

**[0:19]** as an ER doctor and he gave that up to earn just $200 a month serving patients in Sudan for three years. A country facing what the World Health Organization calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis on earth where a child dies every three hours from starvation in a land

**[0:34]** that is rich with agricultural resources while preventable diseases like cholera, the measles, malaria and dengue fever spread across displaced tent-dwelling families where doctors treat young girls who've gone through unspeakable sexual violence without anesthesia, without proper tools,

**[0:52]** under the threat of armed groups. Almost 34 million need humanitarian aid. More than a third of health care facilities are non-functional. Over 150,000 are estimated to be dead. April 15th marks three years since the war in Sudan began. For three years we didn't return to our homeland.

**[1:10]** For three years we didn't get to see our families. In these three years 13.6 million people have been displaced making Sudan the largest displacement crisis in the world. How did we get here? To understand this war you have to go back. In 2019 a revolution overthrew the dictator

**[1:29]** Umar al-Bashir after 30 years in power. The world watched as thousands gathered in Khartoum calling for freedom. There was real hope that Sudan could finally build something better. But on June 3rd 2019 that hope was shattered. In Ramadan the rapid support forces, the RSF, massacred over 100

**[1:47]** protesters. A friend told me that day the sky doesn't look the same anymore. It was the first time such violence would happen in the capital. Khartoum was no longer safe. A transitional council was formed but in October 2021 the military overthrew the civilian prime minister

**[2:04]** and for 18 months the army and the RSF wrestled for power. The RSF is led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo a man who rose through the Janjaweed militias during the Darfur genocide of 20 years ago and now controls gold mines worth billions. By April 2023 negotiations collapsed. Khartoum woke up to

**[2:25]** heavy artillery and gunfire. This didn't happen in a vacuum. Negative state actors in the region have been taking advantage of the fragility of the Sudanese state to launch a proxy war that will allow for them to usurp Sudan's resources. Call things by their proper names. This is not

**[2:43]** a civil war. This is genocide enabled by those profiting from Sudan's resources. When the ground met my feet after three long years I couldn't help but break down. Another hero I met was Dr. Safat Yousif who runs the largest maternity hospital in Sudan delivering 130 babies a day.

**[3:00]** When the RSF shells hospitals it belies their claim that they're seeking to rule over Sudan because why would you destroy the infrastructure of the society you're actually trying to govern? She refused to leave and stayed in the care of her patients throughout the occupation. There is incredible resilience and hope in Sudan. We attended the opening of Bahri hospital. Bahri

**[3:20]** hospital was shelled by the RSF. By early 2026 Bahri hospital had reopened after extensive reconstruction and renovation efforts spearheaded by Muslim-led organizations in the United States. When we did the reopening the community was incredibly happy. People were saying that now

**[3:38]** that they have health care again our families will be able to return, our neighborhoods will be able to return. The hospital brings life back to the community. Not only that, people were saying the hospital now looks even better and is more equipped than it was before the war. The Sudanese people

**[3:54]** are not passive victims. They are people of incredible courage, of sabr, of sacrifice, of zuhd and belief in Allah. There's a real sense of hope that Sudan can come back stronger and maybe even better than it was before. But they can't do it alone. We can't do it alone. Three years in,

**[4:11]** international attention has faded while the crisis deepens. You see it on your feed and keep scrolling, swallowing the guilt, the tents, the rib cages of children, the violence against girls, the fall of al-Fashir last October when blood could be seen from satellite images in space.

**[4:28]** So what will you do about it? First, amplify Sudanese voices. Share their stories. Follow Sudanese journalists reporting from the ground at great personal risk. Pressure media outlets to cover this. We forced the world to pay attention to Palestine. We can do the same for Sudan. Not the same crisis but the same tool, attention. Second, support humanitarian organizations delivering food,

**[4:48]** medicine and safe passage. Every dollar can be the difference between life and death. Giving your wealth will only increase your rizq. Third, demand political accountability. Contact your representatives and demand sanctions on those arming the RSF. Call out US complicity. Fourth,

**[5:04]** use your economic weight. Where you spend is where you stand. Refuse to finance systems that sustain this violence. Boycott goods. Change travel plans. And fifth, make du'a. Du'a is the weapon of the believer. Your tahajjud has a power you can't see because that power belongs to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

**[5:20]** But remember, du'a though is of the greatest of actions, we also roll up our sleeves and go to work. Three years of war, the world's worst humanitarian crisis, but also three years of unbreakable resilience from the Sudanese people. So don't forget about Sudan. Don't let the world

**[5:38]** forget about Sudan.

## Other Episodes in "Explained"
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- [Everything That Didn't Happen on October 7th](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/explained/everything-that-didnt-happen-on-october-7th.md)
- [Rohingya Genocide Explained: Myanmar's Muslim Massacres](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/explained/rohingya-genocide-explained-myanmars-muslim-massacres.md)
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