"Jumblatt to Leave March 14 through Arabism Gateway"
Source: Al-Manar TV, 28-7-2008
Once again, the head of the Democratic Gathering MP Walid Jumblatt is the center of attention, stealing lights from all allies and rivals through surprising and fickle statements.
Indeed, Jumblatt took everybody by surprise as he established his "difference" with the so-called "March 14 coalition" and demonstrated flexibility when referring to Hizbullah during a TV interview with New TV, in addition to a series of overt and covert criticisms against the "March 14 forces".
Commenting on Jumblatt's new stands, Lebanese daily As-Safir predicted that the PSP leader was just preparing to "leave" the March 14 coalition through the gateway of "Arabism and Palestine." His interview, sparking confusion within his allies before rivals, was seen as the first step in another conversion in Jumblatt's politics.
Jumblatt said one cannot be Lebanese "without Arabism and without Palestine," stressing that "divorce" with Hizbullah was impossible, although he denied at the same time that his reception of released Lebanese prisoner Samir Kintar in Abey - Mount Lebanon indicated that he had entered into an alliance with Hizbullah.
Jumblatt said that President Michel Suleiman's inauguration speech was very clear about the Resistance and noted the possibility of joining the Resistance and the state as long as the latter is the side to make decisions. "There is no relation between the existence of the Resistance's weapons and the legislative elections," Jumblatt affirmed, while some of his allies were threatening during the past few hours that elections wouldn't be held if the resistance is not disarmed.
He spoke of the need for all parties in Lebanon to remain committed to Arabism and to the Palestinian cause, noting that "the pressures of the past phase...made us depart from the concepts (to which we are committed) and forget Palestine and Arabism."
"Over the past three years, we have disregarded sometimes our Arab principles and have purposefully forgotten the Palestinian cause," Jumblatt said, emphasizing the need to return to these principles "so that we do not become isolationists, which is what the Zionists, who are striving to fragment the region, want."
"I am frustrated by the US policy in Lebanon," Jumblatt said, adding that the US and France "have given us a major boost on the issue of the government."
"The only successful US intervention in Lebanon was in 1958," Jumblatt said. "We called on Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to work for the "Israeli" withdrawal from the Shebaa Farms, not to have Syrian FM Walid Mouallem say that putting the territory under UN supervision will not bring it back under Lebanese control."
Commenting on the recurring violence in Tripoli, Jumblatt said he hopes that a reconstruction project has been planned for the city, rather than letting militias get funded by "the owners of private jets."
Earlier, Jumblatt said that it wasn't acceptable to use the North to retaliate what happened in Beirut, in an obvious critique to the Future Movement.
FUTURE MOVEMENT SOURCES EXPRESS RESENTMENT
Jumblatt's statements created chaos within the loyalty bloc, mainly the Future
Movement. Its sources expressed strong resentment towards the "substance of its statements." Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar quoted the sources as saying that Jumblatt "was holding us responsible of Tripoli clashes, which is an unacceptable false accusation."
Future Movement MP Mustafa Allouch also denounced the statement and sought to lessen its impact by saying that it might be a "non-intentional expression mistake." Allouch also said that some of Jumblatt's statement was not based on reality, "with all my respect to Jumblatt."
Once again, the head of the Democratic Gathering MP Walid Jumblatt is the center of attention, stealing lights from all allies and rivals through surprising and fickle statements.
Indeed, Jumblatt took everybody by surprise as he established his "difference" with the so-called "March 14 coalition" and demonstrated flexibility when referring to Hizbullah during a TV interview with New TV, in addition to a series of overt and covert criticisms against the "March 14 forces".
Commenting on Jumblatt's new stands, Lebanese daily As-Safir predicted that the PSP leader was just preparing to "leave" the March 14 coalition through the gateway of "Arabism and Palestine." His interview, sparking confusion within his allies before rivals, was seen as the first step in another conversion in Jumblatt's politics.
Jumblatt said one cannot be Lebanese "without Arabism and without Palestine," stressing that "divorce" with Hizbullah was impossible, although he denied at the same time that his reception of released Lebanese prisoner Samir Kintar in Abey - Mount Lebanon indicated that he had entered into an alliance with Hizbullah.
Jumblatt said that President Michel Suleiman's inauguration speech was very clear about the Resistance and noted the possibility of joining the Resistance and the state as long as the latter is the side to make decisions. "There is no relation between the existence of the Resistance's weapons and the legislative elections," Jumblatt affirmed, while some of his allies were threatening during the past few hours that elections wouldn't be held if the resistance is not disarmed.
He spoke of the need for all parties in Lebanon to remain committed to Arabism and to the Palestinian cause, noting that "the pressures of the past phase...made us depart from the concepts (to which we are committed) and forget Palestine and Arabism."
"Over the past three years, we have disregarded sometimes our Arab principles and have purposefully forgotten the Palestinian cause," Jumblatt said, emphasizing the need to return to these principles "so that we do not become isolationists, which is what the Zionists, who are striving to fragment the region, want."
"I am frustrated by the US policy in Lebanon," Jumblatt said, adding that the US and France "have given us a major boost on the issue of the government."
"The only successful US intervention in Lebanon was in 1958," Jumblatt said. "We called on Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to work for the "Israeli" withdrawal from the Shebaa Farms, not to have Syrian FM Walid Mouallem say that putting the territory under UN supervision will not bring it back under Lebanese control."
Commenting on the recurring violence in Tripoli, Jumblatt said he hopes that a reconstruction project has been planned for the city, rather than letting militias get funded by "the owners of private jets."
Earlier, Jumblatt said that it wasn't acceptable to use the North to retaliate what happened in Beirut, in an obvious critique to the Future Movement.
FUTURE MOVEMENT SOURCES EXPRESS RESENTMENT
Jumblatt's statements created chaos within the loyalty bloc, mainly the Future
Movement. Its sources expressed strong resentment towards the "substance of its statements." Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar quoted the sources as saying that Jumblatt "was holding us responsible of Tripoli clashes, which is an unacceptable false accusation."
Future Movement MP Mustafa Allouch also denounced the statement and sought to lessen its impact by saying that it might be a "non-intentional expression mistake." Allouch also said that some of Jumblatt's statement was not based on reality, "with all my respect to Jumblatt."
