Jumblat to Taimur: Carry Your Grandfather's Heritage and the Banners of Palestine and Lebanon

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat on Sunday called on his son Taimur to “carry the heritage” of his grandfather and PSP founder Kamal Jumblat, while stressing the importance of “reconciliation and dialogue.”

“Raise your head high and carry the heritage of your great grandfather Kamal Jumblat. Raise high the banner of Arab occupied Palestine, the progressive banner of Lebanon, the banner of free men and revolutionaries, the banner of those resisting Israel wherever they may be, the banner of reconciliation and dialogue, the banner of modesty and generosity, the banner of the Mukhtara palace,” said Jumblat addressing Taimur during a mass rally in Mukhtara marking the 40th anniversary of Kamal Jumblat's assassination.

He then decorated Taimur with the traditional Palestinian keffiyeh, which has become a symbol of the Palestinian cause.

“Had it not been for Kamal Jumblat's Popular Liberation Army, we would not have been here in Mukhtara 40 years later,” Jumblat told the Mukhtara rally, which was attended by Prime Minister Saad Hariri and thousands of PSP supporters.

“Throughout 40 years, we have unashamedly and unhesitatingly gone through proud junctures. Together with all of our national and Islamic comrades, and with the Syrians, we offered our blood to topple the May 17 agreement, to confront the Israeli aggression and to defend Lebanon's Arab identity,” Jumblat added.

Referring to Kamal Jumblat's assassination, which he blamed on Damascus, Jumblat added: “Forty years ago, a great rift happened and a major crime was committed against partnership and national unity.”

Turning to the 2001 Mount Lebanon reconciliation between Druze and Christians, Jumblat said: “We waited for the hour of reconciliation for decades and we later achieved Lebanon's reconciliation in Mount Lebanon. Forty years later, I tell you that no matter how big the sacrifices might be for the sake of peace and dialogue, they remain small compared to the adventures of violence, blood and war.”

Jumblat has repeatedly rejected the proportional representation electoral system in recent months, warning that it would “marginalize” his minority Druze community, whose presence is concentrated in the Chouf and Aley districts.

In a recent conference for his Progressive Socialist Party, Jumblat called for implementing the reforms stipulated by the 1989 Taef Accord or holding the elections under an “amended” version of the controversial 1960 electoral law.

The Druze later announced that he might accept a so-called hybrid electoral law that mixes proportional representation with the winner-takes-all system.