How would it have been without Jumblatt?

Chouf MP has always known that life was the victory of those who are strong in their spirit

BEIRUT - Hussein Hajj Ali

January/February 2006

Lebanon lived a 2005 full of turbulence. The assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri was no doubt the biggest problem the Lebanese had to face. This event initiated a series of retaliations and resulted, according to many experts, in the March 14 protest – the biggest in the history of the nation so far – which in turn resulted in the withdrawal of the Syrian troops in April after 29 years of occupation.

The Lebanese people proved to be up to the challenge as they defied threats and took to the streets to say no to Syria and its Lebanese cronies. Until that date, perhaps most analysts had thought that the majority of the Lebanese support Syrian presence in Lebanon. This impression was of course thanks to the loyalty of the two Shiite political parties, Hizbullah and Amal, to Syria. Until March 14, it was widely believed that since the Shiite parties support the Syrian regime and that since the Shiites were the biggest sectarian group in Lebanon, then the Syrian presence was legitimate and based on the opinion of a popular majority.

But March 14 said it all. It told the international community, Syria, and the Shiite parties, that the number of people who are opposed to the Syrian occupation of Lebanon outnumbers the Shiite loyalists of Hizbullah and Amal.

In March 14, the Lebanese people was certainly the most important and detrimental factor in later events.

After the people from all the sects came a number of Shiites themselves who were brave enough to break the Hizbullah and Amal monopoly and pronounce their solidarity with the rest of the nation. These Shiites went as far as holding an assembly for what they called as the Shiite third bloc. Too bad the bloc idea was short-lived and it probably came up to all kinds of pressure that might have included threats of physical abuse.

After the people and especially the Shiites among them came a number of journalists who proved that no matter how many civil wars and occupations take place in Lebanon, the Lebanese press will be as free as a bird. The heroism of these journalist came to a peak with the killing of Annahar’s Samir Kassir in June and that of Annahar’s publisher Gebran Tueni in December.

The role of the journalists was matched by an equal role of some politicians who lived up to the size of the event and brushed their routine bickering aside. By behaving like statesmen, these politicians played a big role in channeling popular sentiment and often expressing it in a proper manner. The most outspoken of these politicians risked their lives and are still – until the date of this writing – hiding for their lives.

Among those came Chouf MP and President of the Progressive Socialist Party Walid Jumblatt.

Until the date of the extension of Emile Lahoud’s mandate in November 2004, there was no indication that Jumblatt would lead one of the biggest Lebanese movements for ridding Lebanon of the Syrian corrupt influence. Jumblatt, an aristocrat with undisputed traditional following, had nothing to lose with the extension of Lahoud’s mandate or the unwelcome stay of the Syrian troops and intelligence in Lebanon.

Jumblatt has always been the leader of one of the most vibrant Lebanese sect and for that reason, his share in the state has always been saved by Syria and its cronies, even if the size of the share was often tentative.

Now what made Jumblatt revolt against the Syrian influence in Lebanon and call for the revival of the Lebanese democracy is a question whose is answer is most probably related to Jumblatt’s character and personal choice.

Unlike other traditional leaders, Jumblatt has always had his finger on the pulse of the street. Jumblatt realizes that with globalization, every corner of the world was doomed to democratize and all communities will sooner or later be seeking their freedom.

Jumblatt realizes that unlike other leaders who immediately lost their following after the Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon, he had characteristics that made him enjoy popular support without any Syrian assistance or Iranian funds (like in the case of Hizbullah).

Therefore Jumblatt revolted and he was using all of his long political skill and long experience in channeling the popular sentiment. Starting the Lahoud extension, he spearheaded a parliamentary opposition to Lahoud and his Syrian patrons.

After the killing of Hariri on March 14, he was the most outspoken of all leaders often starring on satellite television to express what more than a million in the streets had in mind.

Jumblatt’s vital role made him win enemies in Syria and its Lebanese cronies. Since March 14, Jumblatt’s personal security has been on rising alert. But this, never  got to the veteran politician. He tightened the grip on Syria by boosting his statements against the Syrian regime and its cronies and that supported democracy and freedom of both the Lebanese and the Syrian people.

Since February 14, Jumblatt has been everywhere. On TVs, before crowds at his residence, in Martyrs Square talking to young people, in newspaper. The Syrian dictatorship tried to limit his freedom by sending him threats, his response was to stick to his freedom in which he found his strength. Jumblatt certainly knows that the Syrian regime has unleashed a number of criminals that it had arrested since the days of civil war with a single mission, to get Jumblatt. Yet, this time Jumblatt knows that even if the forces of darkness win over him, they won’t defeat his words and calls for democracy and freedom for Walid has always known that life is the victory of those who are strong in their spirit.