Jumblat Warns Syria’s Druze of Getting Embroiled in Sectarian Strife

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat urged on Monday Syria’s Druze population to abandon the ruling regime, warning them against “getting their hands covered with the blood of the Syrian people.”

He told France 24 television: “I caution the Druze against getting embroiled in any sectarian strife with the Sunnis because that will spell their end.”

The Arab world is dominated by the Sunni sect and “therefore beware of getting involved in strife,” the Druze chief added.

This also applies to Christians and all other sects, he said,.

Jumblat pointed out however to Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi’s recent statements, which he said “stem from the damned theory of minorities” in the region.

The patriarch had voiced fears over the presence of Christians in the Middle East over the sharp drop in their numbers recently.

“We cannot support the theory of minorities because we are all a united Arab people in Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Tunisia, and Libya who want freedom, nothing more, nothing less,” remarked the PSP leader.

The MP warned that the Syrian regime may be seeking to crush the revolt in the city of Idlib, saying that it would present a heavy blow to the opposition if it succeeds.

He therefore stressed that the opposition needs to be armed “in order to alleviate the suffering of the Syrian people and establish safe zone for them because the West refuses to intervene in the crisis.”

On Russia’s position on the unrest, Jumblat said: “It appears as if it is awaiting the Syrian regime to destroy the opposition in order to then intervene and play a political or humanitarian role in the crisis.”

Russia has accused the West of taking a biased approach to the crisis with the aim of ousting Assad, a long-time Russian ally.

Russia said Friday it opposed an "unbalanced" Washington-backed U.N. draft resolution on Syria because it failed to call for a simultaneous halt in violence by the government and rebels.

Russia and China had previously blocked two U.N. initiatives because they singled out President Bashar Assad for blame and world powers have been under pressure by Moscow to tone down their condemnation of the regime.

Addressing his recent meetings with British Foreign Minister William Hague and French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe, he stated: “I concluded that international powers are currently studying a political settlement to end the unrest because the West is incapable of doing anything more than that.”

Jumblat continued: “Some western powers don’t want to topple Assad because they have grown accustomed to him… A dirty game is being played against the Syrian people.”

“All western efforts failed to allow a single ambulance into the neighborhood of Baba Amr,” noted the PSP leader.

Jumblat later noted on Monday that the values of his slain father, Kamal, are the same ones that the Syrian people are striving for, saying that he was assassinated for rejecting dictatorship and oppression.

He said in his weekly editorial in the PSP-affiliated al-Anbaa magazine: “The Syrian people’s ongoing struggle demonstrates that despite the fall of Baba Amr, they will continue their revolt no matter what the cost.”

He added: “It is no coincidence that Kamal Jumblat was assassinated on March 16, 1977 and the Syrian revolt began on March 15, 2011.”

“The Syrian people broke the wall of fear that Kamal Jumblat was never afraid of … and here he is today, scoring a victory against the same guillotine that targeted him 35 years ago,” said the Druze leader.

“Kamal Jumblat opposed Syrian military intervention in Lebanon, which took place at under American-Arab consent to strike the Lebanese left and the country’s diversity and democracy,” stated the MP.

“The Syrian regime continued its mission to eliminate the left through Kamal Jumblat’s assassination and the assassination of other national symbols in an effort to usurp the role of the national resistance and link it to axes that overlook Lebanon’s interest,” stressed Jumblat.

“Kamal Jumblat rejected the theory of minorities, demanding that Lebanon be rid of its sectarian system,” he continued.

“The Syrian regime employed this theory to assert the rule of the Assad family through the elimination of all political adversaries in Syria and arrest of tens of thousands of intellectuals, activists, and journalists,” stated the PSP chief.

“It is time to end the myth that considers late Syrian President Hafez Assad as an inspirational leader as his rule caused a tragedy for tens of thousands of Syrians, Lebanese, and Palestinians through the policy of arrests and assassinations,” Jumblat demanded.

“The Baath party employed the theory of minorities to enter Lebanon and its totalitarian views was interpreted through its refusal to recognize the other, Lebanon, and Palestine,” said the MP.

“This view fell in line with the Zionist position that also refused to recognize the Palestinian people and their legitimate rights,” he added.

“Kamal Jumblat predicted the end of all forms of totalitarian thinking and his predictions are coming true today as the Arab people are revolting in the name of freedom and dignity,” remarked the MP.