Walid Jumblatt: National Stature and Historic Leadership

It escapes the notice of those who presumptuously assail the national leader Walid Jumblatt that whenever crises grow more complex and dangers intensify, his name comes to the fore as the bold leader most capable of reading subtle shifts in Lebanon and the region and foreseeing the future. For decades, his political presence has served as an element of balance in national life, and he has occupied a leading position in defending civil peace and safeguarding stability in Lebanon, drawing on long political experience and a deep-rooted national legacy. Since entering the political arena, Walid Jumblatt has been distinguished by his ability to combine political realism with commitment to national principles. At critical stages of Lebanon's modern history, his stances reflected a clear determination to avoid sliding into internal strife, and in equal measure he had the boldness to confront challenges and stand up to sedition. As for the stances of leader Walid Jumblatt on developments in the Druze arena, they must be read in a context beyond a mere immediate political position, and rather within a historical vision of the community's role in the Arab Levant and the sensitivity of its position in regional balances. Walid Jumblatt, who has always been keenly concerned for the Unitarian Druze community and its national and Arab role, proceeds in his positions from a deep awareness of the particularity of this community, which throughout its history has played pivotal roles in defending the independence of the states to which its members belong and preserving their identity. With his remarkable intuition and foresight, leader Walid Jumblatt realized that there are suspicious attempts to co-opt the Unitarian Druze community and efforts to employ it in regional and international conflicts, along with the repudiation of the community's history and the dangers threatening its existence and future that this represents. This prompted him to confront the matter, paying no heed to the attempts of insolent detractors to undermine his national role, and affirming that the Unitarian Druze have always been an authentic part of the Arab and Islamic fabric, and that their true strength lies in their integration into their homelands, not in their isolation or in turning them into a tool in the conflicts of others. On this basis, leader Walid Jumblatt seeks to adopt a discourse founded on a balance between protecting the community and engaging in a broader national project. He recognizes that the strength of the Unitarian Druze has never lain in sectarian insularity, but rather in their historical role as part of the Arab national movement, from the Great Arab Revolt through to their participation in building modern states in the region. Nor can Walid Jumblatt's national role be understood without pausing to examine the political legacy he bears. He is the son of the late leader, teacher, and martyr Kamal Jumblatt, one of the most prominent national leaders Lebanon and the Arab world have known, and one of the leading advocates of reform, social justice, and the defense of the Palestinian cause. He is also the grandson of Emir Shakib Arslan, the Prince of Eloquence and staunch fighter, who called for the unity of Arabs and Muslims and was thus described as "a statesman without a state," and who believed that the nation can rise only through the solidarity of its people on a foundation of faith, knowledge, and justice. Accordingly, it may be said that the stances of the national leader Walid Jumblatt regarding the Unitarian Druze community have always aimed at upholding three fundamental tenets: protecting the unity of the community and preserving its cohesion, preventing its use in regional conflicts, and maintaining its national role within the framework of the state and its legitimate institutions. For Walid Jumblatt's strength lies in his presence and his unifying national role, and in his serving as a safety valve for civil peace and internal stability, as well as in his commitment to the continuation of the historical role of the Unitarian Druze in the political life of the Arab Levant and the world. A leader of such national stature and historic leadership, possessing rarely matched political experience, will not be undermined by sowers of sedition or those who fish in troubled waters, whether some like it or others do not.

• Member of the Confessional Council of the Unitarian Druze Community

Translated from Arabic with AI. Read it in Arabic