A performer at Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl halftime show unfurled a flag referencing both Sudan and the Gaza Strip, providing a brief protest referencing two wars shaking the Middle East.
Security at the stadium detained the performer shortly after waving the flag atop a car used as a prop in the performance. It’s unclear if the performer, as of yet unnamed by authorities, would face any charges. The NFL said the person would be banned for life from NFL stadiums and events, while the company behind the halftime show said it was not part of the planned performance.
But what’s happening in Gaza and Sudan? And how does it affect the wider world?
The Associated Press explains what’s going on.
What’s happening in the Gaza Strip?
The Gaza Strip is an enclave along the Mediterranean Sea bordered by both Egypt and Israel. It’s some 360 square kilometers (140 square miles) — about the twice the size of Washington and 3½ times the size of Paris. But it’s incredibly densely populated and was home to 2.3 million Palestinians before the start of the 2023 Israel-Hamas war.
That war began when Hamas, a militant group that’s ruled Gaza since 2007, stormed across the border into Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking another 250 hostage. Israel responded with a devastating ground and air campaign striking across Gaza, killing more than 47,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities, who do not differentiate between fighters and noncombatants in their count. Much of the territory has been obliterated.
A ceasefire in the war began Jan. 19 and is still holding. Palestinian militants have freed hostages while Israel has released Palestinians held in prisons there. However, worries remains over whether the peace will hold. Comments by President Donald Trump, who was on hand Sunday night for the Super Bowl, suggesting the U.S. was “committed to buying and owning Gaza,” also have upended discussions about the enclave’s future.
The Palestinians want the Gaza Strip and the West Bank for a future state of their own, with east Jerusalem as its capital. That long-sought, two-state solution for the decadeslong conflict is backed by Mideast nations and much of the international community. Israel has expressed openness to the idea of resettling Gaza’s population, with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu on Sunday calling it ”a revolutionary, creative vision.” Hamas, the Palestinians and much of the world have rejected it.
What’s happening in Sudan?
Sudan, a nation in East Africa, has been unstable since a popular uprising forced the removal of longtime dictator Omar al-Bashir in 2019. A short-lived transition to democracy was derailed when army chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan and Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces led a military coup in 2021.
The RSF and Sudan’s military began fighting each other in 2023. Their conflict has killed more than 28,000 people, forced millions to flee their homes and left some families eating grass in a desperate attempt to survive as famine sweeps parts of the country. Other estimates suggest a far higher death toll in the civil war.
In recent weeks, Burhan’s forces including Sudan’s military and allied militias have advanced against the RSF. They retook a key refinery north of Khartoum, Sudan’s capital. They’ve also pushed in on RSF positions around Khartoum itself. That fighting has led to an increase in civilian casualties. From Jan. 31 until Feb. 5, the U.N.s’ Human Rights Office documented at least 275 civilian deaths from artillery, airstrikes and drone assaults.
“Indiscriminate attacks, as well as threats and attacks directed against civilians must cease immediately,” said Seif Magango, a spokesperson for the Human Rights Office. “The Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces — and their allied movements and militias — must respect their international law obligations and take concrete steps to protect civilians from harm, including humanitarian workers and human rights defenders.”
Have these wars come up in popular culture before?
Online, activists have sought to draw attention to both the Gaza Strip and Sudan, though the conflicts have different roots and participants. However, the idea of the two conflicts being linked by their devastation has been made by celebrities.
In August, American rapper Macklemore said he canceled a concert in Dubai over the United Arab Emirates’ role “in the ongoing genocide and humanitarian crisis” in Sudan through its reported support of the paramilitary force that’s been fighting government troops there. While the UAE repeatedly has denied arming the RSF, U.N. experts reported “credible” evidence last year showed that the Emirates sent weapons to the RSF several times a week from northern Chad.
Macklemore at the time said he reconsidered the show in part over his recent, public support of Palestinians over the Israel-Hamas war. He has been performing a song called “Hind’s Hall,” in honor of a young girl named Hind Rajab killed in Gaza in a shooting Palestinians have blamed on Israeli forces opening fire on a civilian car.
