Jumblat: Fear-inciting Remarks on Islamists a 'Scarecrow'

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat on Monday noted that the latest “fear-inciting remarks on the rise of Salafist or fundamentalist (Islamist) movements … are being used as a ‘scarecrow’.”

“These remarks remind us of the old-new approach that calls for an alliance of minorities” in the region, Jumblat said, adding that such an approach “has destroyed Lebanon.”

In his weekly column in his party’s Al-Anbaa newspaper, the Druze leader hit back at Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi without naming him, warning that “linking the issue of arms to the issue of naturalization (of Palestinian refugees) will keep Lebanon endlessly entangled in regional conflicts.”

“Linking Lebanon’s fate to the liberation of the Shebaa Farms and the entire conflicts in the region is rejected,” Jumblat added.

He stressed “the importance of the Resistance’s weapons concerning national defense,” but noted that it is also “necessary to come up with a defense plan, through which arms would be gradually incorporated into the Lebanese state, as stipulated by the Doha Accord, in order to strengthen the Lebanese state’s capability to deter any possible Israeli aggression.”

“Domestically, the best way to tackle the issue of naturalization would be through improving the temporary living conditions of the Palestinians … and ending the siege on the (Palestinian) camps,” Jumblat noted.

Tackling the Syrian crisis, the PSP leader reiterated that “only a political solution would pull Syria out of this dilemma,” rejecting “any foreign intervention.”

“The demand for freedom, democracy, pluralism and justice cannot be segregated,” he added.