“Freedom is, after all, man’s dignity.” -Kamal Jumblatt
I just finished reading I Speak for Lebanon – one of the greatest books of all time – written by the teacher, philosopher, leader and politician, Kamal Jumblatt. A renowned political figure and the founder of the Progressive Socialist Party (PSP), he played a central role in the Lebanese Civil War. I Speak For Lebanon is his political testament, which was completed shortly before he was assassinated.
In his book of memoirs, Jumblatt describes his military, political and social strategy during the Lebanese Civil War – explicitly analyzing Lebanon’s ominous situation at the time, and reflects on his experiences as the religious leader of the Druze community and his spiritual views. He also addresses the power struggle between the Maronite elite and other sects, the Palestinian struggle, and the issues of Arab socialism and authoritarianism and solutions for these issues.
Though Jumblatt disliked violence and hoped for a peaceful resolution of the Lebanese conflict, he understood that a person must defend oneself and fight for an ideal, and “when one had an ideal and that ideal was in serious danger, when the choice is between submission and violence, then one must opt for violence.” However, Jumblatt was one of the few opposition leaders that had a vision for the post-civil war period. He wanted to build a secular Lebanon, far from sectarianism and confessional politics, far from corruption and nepotism, and most importantly, he hoped to establish a welfare state based on social justice. Thus, he had hoped that by allying with the Palestinian militias against the “isolationists” (i.e. the Maronites) he would be able to force the latter to bring about constitutional reforms. Yet, he was very well aware of the major obstacle that stood in his way; even though he demanded the abolition of the confessional system in Lebanon, he was also aware that nearly all the Arab States based themselves on a confessional and religious status. Therefore, if he had succeeded in Lebanon, it would have triggered a wave of change throughout the Arab world. The elimination of political confessionalism and the establishment of a just democracy in Lebanon could have had a domino effect in Syria and the rest of the Arab world. He also knew that “a state which would be both progressive and democratic was the nightmare of all these authoritarian regimes.”
Moreover, he explained the importance of preserving the multiculturalism of the Lebanese state, which for him was proof that several communities could live and work together in peace. Its destruction was expected to provide some justification for Israel’s sectarianism and their refusal to allow the return of Palestinian refugees. For Israel, the idea of creating a racially homogeneous state –based on the isolationism of the Jewish community— was paramount; and this was why he resisted the ruling Maronite’s “isolationist” politics.
Jumblatt was a partisan of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) but he was also a realist. He had proposed a pragmatic solution for the Palestinian conflict. He used the Druze as an example of how rational they were by not leaving Palestine, unlike the majority of Palestinian Muslims and Christians. According to him, if the Muslims and Christians had remained in Palestine they would have been the majority in the country and the Israelis would not have been able to bring Jews from abroad, and the Palestinian problem would have almost been solved. He believed the Arabs, who had already lost the war in 1948, made a terrible mistake when they rejected the idea of creating a new state which would cover 46% of the territory of historical Palestine. Jumblatt believed that the Arabs lost the war because they had failed to understand the international position of the Jews after World War II. He thought that it was foolish of the Arabs to reject the project of a Judeo-Arab federation that was proposed by the UN, and that some Arab countries made a huge mistake by encouraging Palestinians to leave Palestine— in order to return later by force— instead of arming them to stay and defend their homeland. He also criticized Arab leaders by saying: “It is criminal that the Arab financial might is not used to further the Arab cause, to promote liberation and to serve the needy nations of the world.”
In regards to Marxism-Leninism, he criticized the traditional method of Marxism since he believed “in the Arab world, no single dialectic can be correctly applied,” and that “every dialectic must be adapted to the period and the peoples concerned…it must be relative to a particular time, place and set of circumstances.” Furthermore, he launches an attack against the Ba’athist government in Syria and the so-called “Arab Socialist regimes,” stating: “Most of these ‘progressive’ regimes are a clumsy, distorted and ugly copy of communist regimes… Socialism without freedom is not socialism: it is blighted by an alienation of the spirit.” Jumblatt concluded that the principles of social democracy based on social justice and equality was the only cure for the Arab disease.
In regards to Islam, Jumblatt believed that “by rejecting their Greek inheritance [that is its philosophical and scientific dimension], present-day Islam seems to have regressed, just as early Christianity did in Europe, when the barbarian spirit penetrated the Church,” and corrupted it from within. Therefore, he called for the purification of Islam from the ‘‘Turkification’ that still dominated the Arab world and to reestablish the democracy that was once enjoyed under Abbassid Caliphate.
Jumblatt was definitely an idealist, yet his visions may have been difficult to adopt in Lebanon at the time. However, had he survived the civil war, the outcome may have been different; maybe part of his dream would have become a reality. But at least he dreamed and lived for his vision; a free, secular and independent Lebanon. It’s not surprising that his followers used to call him “Moallem,” the teacher. Jumblatt was definitely a teacher of philosophy, spirituality, and political idealism and realism. His teachings still shine in the hearts of many Lebanese youth who still dream of seeing the Lebanon the great teacher once dreamed of.
Yeghia Tashjian the founder of New Eastern Politics blog/forum. Currently he is the regional officer of Women in War and research assistant at Armenian Diaspora Research Center at Haigazian University.
Original source: NOW Lebanon, April 14, 2015
