Taymoor Jumblatt and the "Great Arab Leader" Bashar Assad
Note: I'm keeping this post on the site as an example of the misinformation that floats around Lebanon, but please read the note at the bottom before taking it at face value.
The only opinion I've heard in Beirut regarding Taymoor Jumblatt, the son of Walid, is that he's a soft-spoken guy with little interest in politics, or inheriting the role of his father. That's why I was surprised to see him making some surprisingly strong pro-Syrian comments in a California-based, Arabic-language newspaper called Al-Watan(translation courtesy Mideast Wire):
Q: Do you think [Walid Jumblatt] could ever restore his role as Syria's ally or at least as one of the Lebanese political leaders?A: Unfortunately, Walid Bek went too far this time in playing the role of the American dummy. He carried the banner of the elimination of the Lebanese resistance and planted hatred in the hearts of the Syrian officials and people. Today, he is considered to be one of the most hated men by the pro-opposition Lebanese Maronites, Shi'is and Sunnis. What I fear the most is to see the Druze paying the price for the mistakes of Walid Junblatt.
...
Q: Will we see you in Damascus soon?
A: I hope so and I would be glad to see the mountain of Kamal Junblatt regain its historical and strategic relations with the den of the lions in Syria. Damascus is a strategic city for the Druze and Syria is our natural ally. I hope I will be able to fix things and apologize to all the Syrians, especially to the great Arab leader Dr. Bashar al-Assad.
Yikes. Taymoor isn't walking the thin line between March 8 and March 14 here -- he's moving himself explicitly into the opposition camp. This is qualitatively different from the current Druze strategy of moderating their political image, and opening up contacts with the opposition.
Two possible explanations: the conventional wisdom that Taymoor is politically apathetic is incorrect, and he legitimately holds strongly pro-Syrian beliefs and believes that his father's stances have endangered the Druze community. Second, Walid Jumblatt sees that the political winds are shifting and realizes that he can only credibly walk back his pro-American stances so far. Therefore, he encouraged his son to establish a stronger rapport with the Syrians. In case they return to Lebanon, the Druze will need a leader with believable pro-Syrian bona fides to escape the inevitable vengeance that the Syrians will mete out to those who opposed them. My entirely unsubstantiated guess is that the latter is true; the Druze are a fairly united political group, and it seems unlikely that Taymoor would stray from the reservation on his own.
UPDATE: It appears that this is a story that was "too good to check." I've received information that Progressive Socialist Party officials are claiming that this interview was fabricated by Syrian or Iranian sources. It doesn't appear that Taymoor ever said what was attributed to him in the article, or in my post. Kudos to commenter "MK" and "John" for catching this before I did, and apologies for misleading people.
Comments (11)
Yikes is right...
...but I would stick with the second interpretation, its spot on.
Posted by Blacksmith Jade | December 7, 2007 11:41 AM
Posted on December 7, 2007 11:41
I don't think these statements are true.
I think I saw them in Cham Press. And you know how 'reliable' Cham Press is.
Posted by MK | December 7, 2007 1:40 PM
Posted on December 7, 2007 13:40
MK --
All I know about the interview is that it showed up in my e-mail inbox as part of Mideast Wire's daily briefing. They described it as appearing in an issue of Al-Watan, a California-based Arabic-language newspaper. They say the interview was conducted by a correspondent of the Canadian Montreal News Agency. I can vouch that Mideast Wire is a credible service that wouldn't purposely disseminate Syrian propaganda, but I know nothing about al-Watan and wasn't aware that the interview appeared in Cham Press.
Posted by David K. | December 7, 2007 2:16 PM
Posted on December 7, 2007 14:16
I think Mideast wire did a good translation job.
But I doubt these statements are Taymour's.
According to these statements, Taymour is not only criticizing his dad, he's insulting him!
"playing the role of the American dummy"!!!
This article reminds me of another article that was issued in some Syrian press about Baha' Hariri (Saad's brother) criticizing Saad and saying that he was sold out to the Americans etc.
I doubt that Tamymour is giving out any interviews. Even if he did, he wouldn't give out his first one to an unknown Syrian newspaper.
Posted by Johnny | December 7, 2007 3:47 PM
Posted on December 7, 2007 15:47
No idea if this is Taymoor or not. With regards to his apolitical habits, rumor is Walid was also the same before his father's assassination. Even if he isn't being properly groomed for the job (which he could be), he will take over the job when the time comes. That's the way we roll in Lebanon.
Posted by M. | December 7, 2007 6:19 PM
Posted on December 7, 2007 18:19
Yes, I'm sure Mideast Wire is credible.
I think I saw it in Cham Press though. And its very similar to the Bahaa Al Hariri statement also published on Cham Press that insulted his brother Saad.
Cham Press is amazingly ridiculous.
Posted by MK | December 7, 2007 6:21 PM
Posted on December 7, 2007 18:21
Checking Mideastwire website most, if not all, their links relating to Lebanon are 'al-akhbar' and taayar.org links... very objective and credible source indeed!!!
Posted by J. | December 7, 2007 6:41 PM
Posted on December 7, 2007 18:41
I took this more as a threat to Jumblatt. Close observers would note that this same tactic was applied by one of the Syrian regime's many flack dogs, Khodr Awarkeh, in the regime's online propaganda outlet, Cham press, against several Lebanese figures, but in particular, against Saad Hariri using alleged statements (false of course) by his brother Bahaa. It's a standard tactic by the Syrian mukhabarat.
Posted by Tony | December 7, 2007 7:09 PM
Posted on December 7, 2007 19:09
I doubt that Taymoor would say such a thing, but considering the winds of change in Lebanon, I wouldn't be surprised if something to that effect could surface in the near future considering the return of the syrians to Lebanon, through one way or another, via the election of suleiman
Posted by EV | December 8, 2007 4:52 PM
Posted on December 8, 2007 16:52
So might this be your W. Tyler Smith, Jr. moment?
Relatively speaking....
Posted by Barry Meislin | December 10, 2007 8:46 AM
Posted on December 10, 2007 08:46
LOL, As wildly unlikely as this interview is, knowing Jumblat for the political chameleon that he is, would it really be a surprise if it were not only true but actually organised by Walid himself as a way of hedging his sons bets dependent on which way the cookie crumbles in the homeland?
Posted by mo | December 11, 2007 11:19 AM
Posted on December 11, 2007 11:19