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I think that I recall Jumblatt writing in Monthly Review back in the 1970s? On Sun, Jun 21, 2015 at 6:16 AM, Michael Karadjis via Marxism < marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu> wrote: > ******************** POSTING RULES & NOTES ******************** > #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. > #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. > #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. > ***************************************************************** > > Amith, Al Akhbar is a cesspit and I would tend, as a rule, to discount > approximately 90 percent of any article you find there, and this one is no > exception. > > That said, it is certainly true that Nusra in a part of Idlib has imposed > a regime of religious conversion on local Druze communities, as I wrote in > my article last week on the Druze, the situation in the south, the massacre > of 20 Druze by a Nusra unit in Idlib etc. Not sure you saw my article which > I sent here, because you say the events around the massacre and the > reactions from other Syrian rebels are blurry. My article documented all > the condemnations from the Syrian revolutionary forces, and much else on > the issue: > > Revolutionary Forces Throughout Syria condemn Nusra’s massacre of Druze > Villagers: > https://mkaradjis.wordpress.com/2015/06/15/revolutionary-forces-throughout-syria-condemn-nusras-massacre-of-druze-villagers/ > > By the way, the Tunisian Nusra commander referred to in the Al Akhbar > article, Tunisi, as involved in the forced conversion stuff, was the same > commander involved in the massacre. Nusra has now removed him and is > allegedly interrogating him and promise justice; about that we will see. > But it's too early to know whether his removal will affect the oppression > of the Druze in that region. It is significant that Druze commander > participated with the revolutionary forces in the liberation of Idlib city > several months ago. It is significant that reports say the Druze are not > oppressed by any of the other militia in other parts of Idlib, whether FSA > (of course) or non-Nusra Islamist. > > On the role of Jumblatt, that's all a little difficult to make out. I see > no reason why a national Druze leader in Lebanon would willingly seel his > fellow Druze to oppression and the Akhbar article's claim that he called on > Idlib's Druze to "return to Islam", ie become Sunni, would seem > self-evidently absurd. My impression is that following Nusra's defeats of > the main larger FSA coalitions in Idlib over November 2014-January 2015, > the relationship of forces is bad in certain parts of Idlib where Nusra > dominates, and Jumblatt keeps negotiating with Nusra from the point of view > that Nusra is strong and the Druze community in that region is tiny and > therefore he tries to get the best rotten deal he can fro the time being. > > As you say, Jumblatt has been alternatively enemy and ally of the Assad > regimes fro decades (his father was murdered by Assad senior back in 1977, > when he was prominent in the Lebanese left which the Assad regime invaded > Lebanon to fight against the previous year). > > In recent years he has been back to enemy, and from 2011 has solidly > supported the uprising. He believes, not wrongly, that an alliance between > a tiny minority (Druze 3% of Syrians) and either the Assad regime or Israel > (now angling to be the "minority defender") would be suicidal for the Druze > and so calls on the militant anti-Assad forces among the Syrian Druze > (again, see my article) to go the whole way, quit their current armed > 'neutrality' and declare solidly for the revolution. This is much more > politically feasible in the south where the secular FSA Southern Front is > dominant in Daraa (which adjoins the Druze province Suweida) and Nusra is > weak; yet ironically it has been in the north where Druze have more openly > fought with the revolution (perhaps their smaller numbers make the option > of neutrality less possible), which makes Nusra'a actions there all the > more criminal and counterrevolutionary. > > Meanwhile, this article gives yet another version of current Jumblatt > activities, depicting him secretly collaborating with both Hezbollah and > Israel to arm the Druze in Hermon in the south against Nusra; in the > machiavellian world of daily shifts in "alliances" and interests in that > region, anything is impossible. Eyes on Israel seeing the opportunity to > create a new "buffer" in south Syria to defend the current Golan "buffer" > it stole 50 years ago: > http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Israel-Druse-Syria-alliance-gets-murkier-406067 > > > > -----Original Message----- From: A.R. G via Marxism > > http://english.al-akhbar.com/node/24027 > > I was hoping some on the list (particularly Michael Karadjis and others who > have been following the Syrian Resistance on the ground more closely) could > give some background/commentary/clarification on what to make of this. > > From what I know, Jumblatt is a member of powerful Lebanese political > family and the head of the Lebanese Druze PSP, and he has had a mixed > relationship with the Hezbollah-Assad axis in the past. As we saw in that > Al Jazeera clip a few months ago, there are some caricatures that are > against Assad who have called for all sorts of terrible crimes to happen on > an ethnic/cultural basis against those groups alleged to be insufficiently > rebellious against Assad, such as the Alawites. We also saw Al Nusra > fighters carrying out a massacre of Druze last week, although the details, > motives, and response from both Nusra and the other factions has been > blurry. > > What should we make of this? Is it true that Jumblatt is okay with Al Nusra > killing/forcibly converting Druze, or is that fabricated/propaganda? > > Any analysis would be appreciated! > > > > - Amith > _________________________________________________________ > Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm > Set your options at: > http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/mkaradjis%40gmail.com > _________________________________________________________ > Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm > Set your options at: > http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/michael.perelman3%40gmail.com -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 530 898 5321 fax 530 898 5901 http://michaelperelman.wordpress.com _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
