Lebanese Druze MP Taymour Joumblatt alongside his father, Walid Joumblatt. (Credit: AFP)
The Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) condemned on Tuesday "the unacceptable offense made to the Prophet Muhammad through a suspicious audio recording broadcast in the region of Jaramana,” a Druze-majority suburb in Syria. It warned against "the trap of discord."
In a statement, the party led by Lebanese Druze MP Taymour Joumblatt "reiterates its call for respecting the sanctity of religious symbols, within the broader framework of respecting the right and freedom of belief," and warns against "the trap of discord, which only serves the Israeli enemy and its agenda of division and stoking conflicts."
The PSP also emphasizes "the importance of preserving the unity of Syria as well as its social fabric." It calls for "a transparent investigation into the facts and their motivations," insists on "the necessity of ensuring peace in Jaramana as in all regions of Syria," and urges the Syrian state to take "the necessary measures to guarantee security and prevent any drift."
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), "security forces launched an assault" on Jaramana, a suburb southeast of Damascus, after the spread on social media of a voice message, attributed to a Druze, deemed blasphemous towards Islam. Fourteen people were killed in the clashes, according to the SOHR. These violences revive the specter of sectarian clashes, a month after the massacres targeting the Alawite minority from which former President Bashar al-Assad hailed, overthrown in December by the ruling Islamist coalition.
The Syrian Interior Ministry indicated that it was investigating the "blasphemous message against the prophet" Muhammad to identify the author and bring them to justice.
Local Druze religious authorities "strongly condemned the unjustified armed attack on Jaramana" while simultaneously denouncing "any affront to the prophet." The highest dignitaries have called for calm, one of them, the influential Sheikh Hikmat al-Hajri, denouncing "the terrorist attacks" against the "innocents." He simultaneously accused the new authorities of seeking to "marginalize" the Druze, akin to the previous regime.
The Druze, an esoteric minority originating from Islam, is primarily spread across Lebanon, Syria and Israel. Since the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime on Dec. 8, after over 13 years of civil war in Syria, Israel has multiplied gestures of goodwill towards this community. In early March, following skirmishes in Jaramana, Israel had threatened military intervention if the new Syrian authorities targeted the Druze. The Druze dignitaries immediately rejected these comments, reaffirming their commitment to Syria's unity. Their representatives are negotiating with the new central power in Damascus an agreement that would allow the integration of their armed groups into the future national army.
