{"id":14845,"date":"2026-05-21T06:00:02","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T10:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tempestmag.org\/?p=14845"},"modified":"2026-05-28T00:06:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T04:06:11","slug":"muzan-alneel-1986-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tempestmag.org\/test02\/2026\/05\/muzan-alneel-1986-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Muzan Alneel, 1986-2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

M<\/span>uzan Alneel, in many ways, represented Sudan\u2019s 2018 revolution, and the strong tradition and legacy of Sudan\u2019s women revolutionaries.<\/p>\n

Muzan was a clear-eyed revolutionary strategist. She was part of the revolutionary movement, analyzing its trajectory, while also acting as a spokesperson, communicating its importance to revolutionaries and activists around the world. Muzan participated in the Khartoum sit-in in early 2019, warning against leaving the sit-in and relinquishing power to the military. Understanding this, that the revolution could not be handed over to the military, that overthrowing Bashir and then Ibn Auf was not enough, was key to moving Sudan\u2019s revolution to its next stage. It was one of the lessons that the Sudanese revolution learned from the failures of Egypt\u2019s 2011 revolution, that overthrowing the figurehead of the regime was not enough, and one of the reasons Sudan\u2019s revolution went so much further\u2014and why so many of us held on to hope and optimism that Sudan provided a lesson that revolutionaries around the world must pay attention to.<\/p>\n

Muzan was also prescient and aware of the dangers of the agreement between the transitional government and the military, and saw the 2021 coup by the military as expected and inevitable after this. There can be no agreement between a revolutionary movement and a counterrevolutionary military that does not end in bloodshed and counterrevolution. Muzan understood both the successes and the limitations of the Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA), and of Hamdok and the transitional government. The SPA had accomplished what it could in the early phases of the revolution, galvanizing layers of workers and mass days of resistance, but now no longer represented a revolutionary alternative. Muzan highlighted the crucial importance of the neighborhood resistance committees, pointing out that they were ignored and overlooked by commentators and international media, but that they were key to the next stage of the struggle, and to moving the revolution forward. She analyzed both the potential of the resistance committees and their challenges and weaknesses, finding that in wealthy neighborhoods, the politics of the neighborhood committees were shaped by middle-class politics and thus less radical than in other areas.<\/p>\n

Muzan had the analysis needed to navigate through the ups and downs of the revolutionary struggle. She, perhaps more than anyone, understood what elements are needed for a revolution to be successful. Our movements are in desperate need of revolutionary thinkers and strategists like Muzan, for them to have a chance at success.<\/p>\n

Moreover, Muzan retained revolutionary optimism. She understood that revolutionary processes are long. Even when the war between the RSF and SAF began in 2023, she remained hopeful, while also realistic about what was needed at each moment on the ground. She knew that during the war, the resistance committees were providing needed aid, healthcare, and lifesaving services. She remained hopeful that once the war ended, the work of the revolution could continue, and the resistance committees could return to a political strategy that prioritizes the revolution.<\/p>\n

And Muzan was not bitter, even though much of the world ignored Sudan\u2019s revolution and counterrevolution. She was open to working with anyone who understood the gravity of the situation and who took Sudan\u2019s revolution seriously.<\/p>\n

The loss of Muzan is a horrific setback for not just the Sudanese revolutionary struggle but for the broader global struggle for liberation. Muzan understood that our liberation movements and revolutionary struggles are connected.<\/p>\n

Muzan was one of many incredible Sudanese women I have been lucky enough to connect with in solidarity work with the revolution since 2018. Sudan\u2019s revolutionary history, its history of left-wing activism and revolutions, has produced militant revolutionary women who are politically astute, who study revolutionary traditions and history, who note the crucial interconnections between liberation struggles like Sudan\u2019s and Palestine\u2019s. Muzan comes out of this tradition, a tradition that still deserves more attention, more solidarity, and more seriousness than it has been given. She represented its strongest edge. Our movements worldwide need to work hard to instill revolutionary seriousness, study of history, and political analysis that Muzan held and embodied.<\/p>\n

\nOpinions expressed in signed articles do not necessarily represent the views of the editors or the Tempest Collective. For more information, see \u201cAbout Tempest Collective<\/a>.\u201d<\/em><\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Shireen Akram-Boshar<\/strong> pays tribute to Muzan Alneel.<\/strong> Her sudden passing at the young age of 39 last month is a major loss for the Sudanese revolutionary movement and the people of Sudan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":216,"featured_media":14848,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,264],"tags":[142],"class_list":["post-14845","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","category-in-memoriam","tag-sudan"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/tempestmag.org\/test02\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Copy-of-tempest_feature_card-57-2.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tempestmag.org\/test02\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14845","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tempestmag.org\/test02\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tempestmag.org\/test02\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tempestmag.org\/test02\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/216"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tempestmag.org\/test02\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14845"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tempestmag.org\/test02\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14845\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tempestmag.org\/test02\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14848"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tempestmag.org\/test02\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14845"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tempestmag.org\/test02\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14845"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tempestmag.org\/test02\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14845"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}