One of the world’s worst dictators is facing an uprising

This week, Zack, Jenn, and Alex discuss the burgeoning protest movement against Sudan’s longtime dictator Omar al-Bashir. Bashir, who was responsible for the Darfur genocide and once sheltered Osama bin Laden, did not face a major uprising during the 2011 Arab Spring — but now is dealing with something similar, an uprising that could topple his regime. On Elsewhere, they continue the series on music, this time discussing a Turkish band called Grup Yorum that has gotten into major hot water with the country’s government. Zack has thoughts on the piccolo, Jenn breaks down Lindsay Lohan’s unlikely Turkish connection, and Alex quotes Heath Ledger’s Joker. References and further reading: If you want to dig deeper into Omar al-Bashir’s relationship with Osama bin Laden, Jenn recommends this book. For more on the Sudanese government’s role in the 1993 WTC bombing, page 121 of this book is a good place to start. The BBC has a very informative Q&A about Darfur. The official ICC page for al-Bashir. Jenn recommends this book for anyone who wants to understand the civil war that eventually led to South Sudan’s independence. This piece goes into more detail on the US decision to lift the sanction on Sudan. We played a small clip from this longer Al Jazeera segment on the Sudan protests, and Alex described this video of the protests. If you want to read more about the protests and the price of bread, the team recommends these three pieces. Jenn talked a little bit about “ghost troops,” but here’s more information on those.   Sudanese protesters were killed on Wednesday as part of the crackdown. A more in-depth read on Mubarak stepping down in Egypt. A guide to how the Syrian civil war started, which explains why people are worried about something similar in Sudan. Why Sudan didn’t get large Arab Spring protests back in 2011. Here’s why one Sudanese expert thinks the military might topple al-Bashir. Jenn mentioned a Daily Beast interview with a former CIA agent who talked about Sudan. Grup Yorum are longtime sympathizers of a Marxists terrorist group in Turkey, DHKP-C. Here’s the song we played a short segment from. Currently, 11 members of the band are in jail; two have sought asylum in France. In October, the lawyer defending the arrested Grup Yorum members in trial was himself jailed. 

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