Latest news with #WalidJumblatt
LBCI
a day ago
- Politics
- LBCI
Zafer Nasser to LBCI: Calls for upholding Sweida ceasefire, highlights Jumblatt's key role
Progressive Socialist Party Secretary General Zafer Nasser condemned the recent events in Sweida, calling them unacceptable and holding authorities responsible for addressing the situation and preventing any project that would sever Sweida from Syria. Speaking on LBCI's "Nharkom Said" TV show, Nasser said: 'The situation is not over yet, which is why we emphasize the need to uphold the ceasefire. Israel has no interest in seeing the situation stabilize.' He noted that past experience has shown Israel uses certain groups but does not protect them, adding that the Israeli airstrikes in Syria carry strategic dimensions and are messages aimed at regional powers with influence in Damascus. Nasser also pointed out that former PSP leader Walid Jumblatt was always keen to maintain a healthy relationship with the Arslan family, as part of his effort to preserve internal unity, especially during times of crisis.
LBCI
2 days ago
- Politics
- LBCI
Walid Jumblatt meets Tom Barrack and US Ambassador to discuss regional developments
Former Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt received U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy Tom Barrack and U.S. Ambassador Lisa Johnson at his residence in Clemenceau. The meeting was attended by PSP leader MP Taymur Jumblatt, as well as MPs Marwan Hamadeh and Wael Abou Faour.
Shafaq News
2 days ago
- Politics
- Shafaq News
Syria's Druze flashpoint reawakens Lebanon's strategic dilemmas
Shafaq News The eruption of violence in Syria's Druze-majority province of Suwayda has sent political tremors across Lebanon, reigniting long-dormant fears about sectarian volatility, external manipulation, and the fragility of communal identity in a region shaped by unresolved conflicts. As the clashes involved Druze fighters, Bedouin tribal groups, Syrian government forces, and Israeli forces escalated into a deadly confrontation—leaving over 900 dead and drawing in Syrian security forces and Israeli airstrikes—Lebanon's Druze community has entered a moment of acute strategic reflection. Druze Identity Under Pressure The Druze, a small but historically significant religious minority in the Middle East, have long maintained a delicate equilibrium in Syria, Lebanon, and Israel. In Lebanon, the community—concentrated in the Chouf, Aley, and parts of Mount Lebanon—has played a pivotal role in the country's political life, most notably through the legacy of Kamal Jumblatt and his son, Walid Jumblatt. While the Lebanese Druze have traditionally exercised caution in regional entanglements, the crisis in Suwayda is testing that posture. Images of civilian casualties and calls for self-defense have stirred communal solidarity, but also sharpened internal divides, particularly over how to respond to the Israeli military strikes targeting Syrian positions under the pretext of protecting Druze civilians. Inside Syria, this issue has become a major fault line. Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri, a leading Druze spiritual figure in Suwayda, has openly called for international protection and appeared to welcome Israeli military pressure on Syrian government forces. This stance, however, has not gone unchallenged. In Lebanon, the response has been far more unified—and uncompromising. All major Druze leaders, including Walid Jumblatt, Talal Arslan, and Sheikh al-Aql Sami Abi Al-Muna, have categorically rejected any Israeli involvement in Syria. Jumblatt, the most popular Druze leader in the country, while calling for dialogue between Suwayda's leadership and Damascus, warned that foreign protection schemes are historically proven traps, designed more to divide than to defend. Abi Al-Muna echoed this position, emphasizing that the protection of Druze lives cannot come at the cost of enabling regional actors to manipulate the crisis for their own ends. A Familiar Mirror: Lebanon's Own Fragility Analysts across Beirut view Suwayda not as an isolated eruption, but as a compressed replay of Lebanon's own unresolved dilemmas—sectarian fragmentation, parallel armed power centers, and the ever-present risk of foreign patronage displacing national sovereignty. The Lebanese state, already weakened by economic collapse and political paralysis, has no room for spillover violence. Yet its proximity to the crisis—and its deep communal ties to the region—makes disengagement nearly impossible. Security officials have also expressed concern over unverified reports suggesting cross-border Druze mobilization. Though no formal Lebanese involvement has been confirmed, the specter of transnational militia movements reawakens fears of regional proxy conflict, this time framed through sectarian solidarity. Internal Fractures, Regional Games The crisis has also revealed internal fault lines within Lebanon's Druze community. While Jumblatt and Arslan have maintained a message of restraint and national unity, Wiam Wahhab, leader of the Arab Tawhid Party, has taken a far more provocative stance. In a series of fiery statements, Wahhab called for the arming of Druze factions across the region and even announced the creation of a militia under the name 'Army of Tawhid.' He issued direct threats to Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa and demanded the withdrawal of pro-government forces from Suwayda, all while appealing to Druze communities in Syria, Lebanon, and beyond to rise in armed resistance. Wahhab's rhetoric has drawn sharp criticism from across Lebanon's political spectrum. His open flirtation with the idea of Israeli air cover and his attempts to direct Suwayda's internal conflict from his base in Mount Lebanon were seen by many Druze leaders as reckless and dangerous. Sheikh Abi Al-Muna reiterated that such calls for armed escalation only endanger the broader community and risk aligning the Druze with agendas fundamentally at odds with their national interests. Talal Arslan welcomed the ceasefire in Suwayda, calling it a necessary first step to prevent further bloodshed and sectarian polarization. In a statement, he urged Syrians—Druze and non-Druze alike—to reject division and pursue dialogue over confrontation, reaffirming Syria's territorial unity and warning against the ruinous consequences of civil fragmentation. Proxy Contests and Strategic Depth At a regional level, Israel's reported aim to establish a buffer zone in southern Syria—from Suwayda to Quneitra and Daraa—is viewed in Lebanon as a strategic effort to undercut both the Syrian state and Iran's allies, particularly Hezbollah. By framing its intervention as a humanitarian mission to 'protect the Druze,' Israel is attempting to recalibrate its military presence along the Golan Heights, potentially weakening Hezbollah's logistical depth across the Lebanese-Syrian border. Hezbollah, denouncing the Israeli intervention in Syria, is widely believed to be reassessing its strategic posture in light of these developments. Any shift in control over Suwayda—and especially the emergence of Israeli-aligned Druze militias—could pose a long-term threat to Hezbollah's regional corridor. While the US-brokered ceasefire has momentarily stemmed the violence, the structural conditions that led to the Suwayda crisis remain dangerously intact—fragmented sovereignty, proliferation of militias, and unresolved grievances. For Lebanon, the threat is less about military spillover and more about political contagion: a reactivation of sectarian logic that could unravel what remains of its delicate communal balance.
Gulf Today
3 days ago
- Politics
- Gulf Today
There is widespead concern that Syria might break up
The ceasefire brokered by the US, Turkey, and Jordan appears to have ended a week of violence in Syria's southern province of Sweida where Druze militiamen battled Sunni Bedouin tribesmen bolstered by Sunni factional militiamen from elsewhere. Clashes erupted on the 13th following the Bedouin kidnapping of a Druze merchant travelling to Damascus. The number of people killed in Sweida is 940, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, and scores were injured. When the Syrian army began to intervene mid-week, Israel bombed the defence ministry in Damascus, fired missiles near the presidential palace and struck Syrian troops entering Sweida. Israel's involvement was not welcomed by Arab, Turkish and US mediators. Even Donald Trump expressed rare criticism of Israel. Syrian Druze constitute the largest Druze community in the world and the third largest minority in that country. The monotheistic faith evolved from Shiism in the 11th century and has long been a separate religion. As Druze have been persecuted for centuries, they have, as a matter of survival, adopted the practice of taqiya, dissimulation, by appearing to merge with the local population while remaining Druze. Druze number about 700,000 and constitute about 3 per cent of Syria's population. While they are concentrated in the Druze majority province of Sweida, Druze have also settled around Damascus and elsewhere in the country. About 300,000 Druze live in Lebanon and a small number in Jordan. The Druze have played important roles in the independence struggles of both Syria and Lebanon and have assumed active political careers in these states since then. Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt has followed the example of his father and acted as a kingmaker in Lebanon. Respected as a voice for Druze in the region, he condemned Israel's intervention in Sweida and convened a meeting of Lebanese Druze leaders with the aim of countering possible spillover of Syrian Druze-Sunni violence. Another prominent Arab Druze, Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, joined his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan to demand an urgent end to Israel's involvement. While Syrian Druze and Bedouin have sparred for decades, the latest bout of violence did not begin as a sectarian confrontation but over farmland, a traditional issue. After Bashar al-Assad assumed power in 2000, the government initiated economic and agricultural reforms. Farm subsidies were gradually withdrawn and restrictions on water usage and land access were imposed. While Druze villagers protested Bedouin farmers did not, generating hostility against their community. However, Druze and Bedouin farmers came together to protest over neglect by the government due to the lack of services and security. Following Assad 's ouster in December last year, Druze have been divided over their approach to the Sunni fundamentalist Hay 'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) government. Some Druze factions have tried to negotiate a new relationship with Damascus, others resist merging their militias with the country's armed forces, and many reject the presence of Syrian security personnel and soldiers in Sweida. Meanwhile, Druze and Bedouin antagonism to the government increased. Bedouin were angered by the appointment of Druze Amjad Bahr as agriculture minister, while Druze did not see this as providing them with sufficient influence in Damascus. In the absence of firm state control since the takeover by HTS under interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, there have been frequent clashes between Bedouin and Druze, who insist that Sweida must enjoy autonomy, and security must be provided by Druze militia factions — both demands rejected by Bedouin. Syria's southernmost, Sweida is a strategic province with a population of 540,400, 91 per cent Druze, according to the UN. The Druze demand for autonomy amounts to a major challenge to the government at a time the northeast, 25 per cent of Syrian territory, is ruled by Syrian Kurds who also seek self-rule within Syria. There is concern that Syria — which with Iraq makes up the Eastern Arab heartland — could fracture. This has been the goal of Israel since its creation by war 77 years ago. In a bid to weaken Damascus grip on Syrian territory, Israel Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has warned against deploying the Syrian army in the southern border regions. Last December, Israeli troops invaded and occupied the UN-patrolled buffer zone in the Golan Heights established by a 1974 agreement with Syria. Israel occupied the Syrian Golan Heights in 1967 and annexed the territory, which has a Druze population of 20,000, most of whom retain Syrian citizenship. About 130,000 Druze live in Israel, have Israeli citizenship and many have served in the Israeli army and the Knesset. Israeli Druze protested in 2018 after adopting a law defining Israel as the "nation state" of the Jewish people. Druze, who count for 1.6 per cent and Palestinian Arabs 21 per cent, cried foul as this law transformed them into "second-class citizens." The normally loyal Druze protested in the streets. Although Druze are prominent in literature, politics, business, and the military in Israel their voices fell on deaf ears. Druze have emigrated to the US, UK, Europe, and Latin America although many retain communal connections and an active interest in the affairs of this conflicted region. One of the founders in 1968 of American Near East Refugee Aid, ANERA, was Jim Sams (Abu Samra) whose family comes from the 12th century Lebanese Chouf Mountain Druze village of Baakleen. The most high-profile Druze on the global scene today is British-born international lawyer Amal Alamuddin who is married to US actor George Clooney. The couple have founded the Clooney Foundation for Justice which operated in 40 countries in defence of free speech and women's rights.
MTV Lebanon
3 days ago
- Politics
- MTV Lebanon
20 Jul 2025 13:41 PM Jumblatt calls for reinforcement of ceasefire in Sweida
Former Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt reaffirmed his commitment to the statement issued during the emergency meeting held at the Druze community headquarters, stressing the urgent need for a ceasefire in Sweida as a prerequisite to moving forward with the next stages. Jumblatt emphasized that a comprehensive political solution is the only path to preserve the authority of the Syrian state and to address the legitimate demands of the people of Jabal al-Arab. The former MP also called for the launch of an inclusive dialogue between all religious, political, and sectarian components under the sponsorship of the state. The Druze leader condemned any calls for international or Israeli protection, considering such proposals a violation of Syrian sovereignty and an insult to Sweida's national and Arab identity. Jumblatt urged an end to the escalation, the lifting of the siege on affected areas, and serious efforts to avoid further deterioration. He concluded by affirming that Syria's Druze are an integral part of the Arab and Syrian national fabric, and should not be treated as a separate entity from their natural environment.
