Word: jumblatts
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There is a certain irony in that statement, since Jumblatt first came to power as the hereditary feudal chieftain of Lebanon's 300,000 Druzes, an esoteric branch of Islam that emerged in the 11th century. Other curious paradoxes mark his career. He is both a dedicated socialist and a millionaire. Despite his fidelity to Druze beliefs, he was educated at Roman Catholic schools, and studied law and philosophy at the Sorbonne. He knew and was deeply influenced by Jesuit Theologian-Anthropologist Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, quotes Thomas Aquinas frequently, and is respected as an authority on the mysticism...
...Jumblatt is widely regarded as the "Mr. Clean" of Lebanon's tainted politics and a longtime influential kingmaker. The founder of Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party, he backed Camille Chamoun for the presidency in a bloodless coup in 1952. Jumblatt soon turned on his protege for failing to enact economic and social reforms; in 1958 he was among the leaders of an anti-Chamoun uprising that disintegrated after U.S. Marines landed on Lebanon's beaches to restore order. Jumblatt has generally taken a strong socialist and pro-Palestinian line. Although he is nobody's man by any means, Jumblatt...
...campaign for secularization, Jumblatt sees the Maronite Christians as the principal enemies. He complains that "they want to dominate the country. Instead of displaying the great values of Christianity?love, charity, justice?they act like the petty old Christian sects of the Byzantine era, who quarreled about the sex of angels or whether Christ was of one or two natures and executed those who lost the argument." At the same time, he points to his home region as an example of how the country's religions can live together. In the mountainous Chouf, where in more peaceful times he ruled...
...National Movement that Jumblatt heads also cuts across sectarian lines. It includes his own Progressive Socialists, as well as Communists, several groups of Nasserites and followers of the new renegade "Lebanese Arab Army." It also has the backing of the leftist Syrian Popular Party, headed by Inam Raad, a Christian, and including a sizable number of other Christians...
...Despite Jumblatt's acceptance of the ten-day "freeze," he clearly intends to carry on his struggle against the obsolete sectarian political system that led to the civil war. "A false compromise is a bad compromise," he told Correspondent Wynn. "Somebody must win, and somebody must lose. We must go ahead to a real evolution of the country...