Walid Joumblatt speaking after a politico-religious meeting of the community in Verdun, on July 18, 2025. Photo provided by the Progressive Socialist Party.
“We are at the beginning of a serious crisis and of sectarian partition.” With those words Friday, former Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Joumblatt summed up the recent bloody clashes in Syria’s southern province of Sweida between Druze fighters, Bedouin tribes (mostly Sunni) and Syrian government forces, who ultimately withdrew from the area on Wednesday.Joumblatt made the remarks amid a wave of anger within the Druze community over images emerging from the sectarian clashes in Sweida. Still, he continues to place his trust in Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa and his government to calm tensions in Syria and the wider region.But in a moment of heightened volatility, observers question whether Joumblatt can maintain his role as a unifying figure — or if he will be overtaken by public anger this time.For many close to the...
“We are at the beginning of a serious crisis and of sectarian partition.” With those words Friday, former Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Joumblatt summed up the recent bloody clashes in Syria’s southern province of Sweida between Druze fighters, Bedouin tribes (mostly Sunni) and Syrian government forces, who ultimately withdrew from the area on Wednesday.Joumblatt made the remarks amid a wave of anger within the Druze community over images emerging from the sectarian clashes in Sweida. Still, he continues to place his trust in Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa and his government to calm tensions in Syria and the wider region.But in a moment of heightened volatility, observers question whether Joumblatt can maintain his role as a unifying figure — or if he will be overtaken by public anger this time.For many close to...
