Jumblatt warns the Syrian Druze

In his weekly statement to Al Anbaa newspaper, published by the Progressive Socialist Party (PSP), the Head of the Lebanese National Struggle Front (NFS) Walid Jumblatt made a long and powerful statement. "Here is the Syrian regime inventing new methods to sustain and lengthen the crisis and shed more blood," Jumblatt began, "After killing dozens, if not hundreds of thousands of Syrians, destroying the country and its ancient landmarks, its economic institutions and its political and economic abilities through intelligence officials, who are spread over all the Syrian territory, the regime starts arming minorities against their will in most cases. The goal is clear — to create strife between regions and sects. To make them fight each other in order to distract their efforts, waste the great sacrifices of the Syrian people to this day and cause failure of the revolution. The government explicitly tries to use the sects and separate them in terms of security and military to make them obedient to its orders, plans and projects. However, the Syrian revolution did not fail and will not fail because of the determination, stubbornness, and struggle of the Syrian people.” He continued: "I renew the warning to Arab Druze in Syria and in particular to some religious men of weak souls, not to stain the shinning past of the struggle in which they rejected the injustice and bravely confronted the tyranny through the Great Syrian Revolution. I warn them not to be the fuel to ignite interior strife and fight with their Syrian brothers and not distort their future, which is supposed to establish free democratic Syria. They led the revolution in the past with the rebels and strugglers from all over Syria and refused the projects of dividing Syria — as they believed in the importance of maintaining national unity. They should not be deceived by the government and its suspicious projects. The Arab Druze in Syria, I tell you, was never a minority in the past, but was always leading the liberation movements. Today you cannot accept that some of you exploit work that is unsuitable with your history of struggle to turn you into guards for tyrannical criminals that will drag you and Syria to more devastation and destruction. All the sons of the revolution should be alert and aware of the regime plans, projects and conspiracies to destroy the Syrian people, waste all the efforts to get rid of the ruling group and move towards a new stage of freedom, democracy, pluralism and diversity. The ongoing struggle and revolution will not stop to return to pre-revolution stage; it will be extremely costly in spite of their ferocity and severity. Finally, we say that we are surprised from what was stated in the electoral program of the U.S. Democratic Party about the recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, which reflects the strange submission to Israeli interests and destroys the unseen possibility of any future settlement. The U.S. and western refrain from practicing the necessary pressure on Israel to stop its unfair policies and lack of recognition of the rights of the Palestinians people raises contempt” he concluded.