Super Bowl: What’s happening in Gaza and Sudan that sparked recent protest?
A performer unfurled a flag with the words Sudan and Gaza during Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl halftime show, protesting war and conflict in the region.
A protester holds a flag onstage during the Apple Music Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show at Caesars Superdome on Sunday, February 9, 2025, in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Photo: Getty Images/TNSThe 2025 Super Bowl – the annual league championship game of the United States National Football League (NFL) – took place Sunday, with Pulitzer Prize-winning American rapper Kendrick Lamar as the halftime show entertainer.
During the show, a performer unfurled a flag emblazoned with the words Sudan and Gaza in a demonstration over the two wars that are roiling 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. The New Orleans police said Monday the performer would face no 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.
So, what was this protest about – and how does it affect the wider world?
What’s happening in the Gaza Strip?
The Gaza Strip is an enclave along the Mediterranean Sea bordered by Egypt and Israel. It covers some 360 square kilometres (140 square miles). But it’s incredibly densely populated and was home to 2.3 million Palestinians before the start of the 2023 Israel-Gaza war.
The war began when Hamas, the Palestinian nationalist group that controls much of Gaza since 2007, stormed across the border into Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking 250 hostage. Israel retaliated with a devastating ground and air campaign across Gaza, killing more than 47,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities.
Much of the territory has been left in ruins. It is unclear how it will be rebuilt.
What one family in Gaza returned home to after 15 months of war
A ceasefire in the war began on January 19. Palestinian militants have freed hostages, while Israel has released Palestinians held in its prisons. However, worries remain over whether the peace will hold.
Comments by US President Donald Trump – who was there Sunday night for the Super Bowl – suggest the US is “committed to buying and owning Gaza”, upending discussions about the enclave’s future.
Hamas said Monday it would delay the further release of hostages in the Gaza Strip after accusing Israel of violating the ceasefire, as Israel cancelled leave for soldiers assigned to Gaza.
Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war. Most Palestinians want all three territories back for their own future state.
Israel would prefer to resettle what is left of Gaza’s population, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin 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 northeastern Africa, has been unstable since a popular uprising forced the removal of long-time autocratic President Omar al-Bashir in 2019. A short-lived transition to democracy was derailed when army chief General Abdel-Fattah Burhan and General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) 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 starving families, some turning to 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.
Sudan faces famine in 14 regions in what World Food Programme calls world’s largest food crisis
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 have also pushed in on RSF positions around Khartoum itself.
The fighting has led to an increase in civilian casualties. From January 31 until February 5, the United Nations Human Rights Office documented at least 275 civilian deaths from artillery, air strikes 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.”