Love of the Land: Born-again “resister”

Born-again “resister”

Tony Badran
NOW Lebanon
07 April '10

(Welcome to the neighborhood)

Walid Jumblatt returned from his long-awaited visit to Syria last week a born-again “resister.” Completing the retreat from his previously-held positions, Jumblatt has adopted wholesale the Syrian and Hezbollah line on “supporting the Resistance.” The Druze leader faces potentially damning consequences if a new war breaks out between Hezbollah and Israel.

Well before Jumblatt went to Damascus, Syria had repeatedly made clear what would be expected of him with regard to Hezbollah. Indeed, upon his return, Jumblatt dutifully reported that he and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had “drawn a political diagram for the future that begins with supporting the Resistance and protecting the Resistance in defending Lebanon and in the continuation of the liberation process.”

Jumblatt started adjusting his approach to Hezbollah after the clashes of May 2008, and increasingly so after parliamentary elections last June. He dropped his support for United Nations Security Council Resolution 1559, which calls for the disarmament of all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias. Yet Jumblatt tried to balance this by backing Resolution 1701, which recalls Resolution 1559, and continuing to voice a desire to revive the Israel-Lebanon Armistice Agreement of 1949 (also mentioned in Resolution 1701), though not a peace treaty. He also repeated a general appeal for the eventual integration of Hezbollah into the Lebanese army.

This was not good enough for the Syrians. Sure enough, Jumblatt’s “political diagram” dropped all reference to Resolution 1701, the Armistice Agreement and Lebanese state authority. Since last year, the Druze leader has also expressed unease with the Special Tribunal for Lebanon by implying that it might indict Hezbollah members. Given that Jumblatt’s visit to Damascus was orchestrated by Hezbollah, this was not surprising.

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Love of the Land: Born-again “resister”