A large group of Syrian politicians and cultural figures published a statement in which they declared their solidarity with the Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, in the face of what they described as a “ferocious campaign against the head of the Lebanese Progressive Socialist Party, Walid Jumblatt.”
The statement—signed by several hundred writers, journalists, politicians and defected military figures—said that Jumblatt had taken, “since the Syrian popular revolution broke out in March 2011, a position in support of Syrians’ right to life, no matter what their sect or affiliation, both Muslim and Christian; Arab, Kurdish and Assyrian. He had supported in all possible forms the hopes and aspirations of the Syrian people and had worked to bring together the words of Syrians, both openly and secretly, to release their families and those who had been arrested and abducted. The whole time, he was ambassador to free Syrians, representing them in international forums, without a fuss or with overstep, embodying the unity of the spirit of freedom and coexistence between all communities—as with the al-Jabal reconciliation with Patriarch Nasrallah Sefir, and as in Martyrs Square in Beirut, and at the international tribunal for the Hariri assassination.”
The statement criticized the, “Syrian operational security order taken in Damascus and Tehran to try to isolate Jumblatt and his comrades who refused the return of Assad’s hegemony. The pure revolution came at great sacrifice, from the blood of the martyr Kamal Jumblatt and even the blood of the martyred Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri, and all the martyrs who died on the road to freedom.”
The statement praises how Jumblatt has stood with the Syrian popular revolution and, “his pledge to protect Syrian refugees in Lebanon and his ongoing work against their expulsion towards a new holocaust at the mercy of Bashar al-Assad.”
It added, “Jumblatt provides a model to be emulated by all honorable people in Lebanon and those who wish for history to remember them favorably. However those who have forgotten how Lebanon suffered during Syria’s custodianship, live outside history and will pass into oblivion pursued by curses.”
Those who signed included Michel Kilo, Bassma Kodmani, George Sabra, Zuhair Salem, Suheir Atassi, and Fidaa Hourani.
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
