Some members of the multi-confessional meeting held on Aug. 8 in Aley district. (Credit: NNA)
BEIRUT — A significant multi-confessional meeting was held in Aley district's Bater village on Friday at the invitation of sheikh Kamel Daher of the Zreigate Arab tribe, in an occasion meant to mark the strength of the relationships between the region's diverse residents.
Attendees included Mount Lebanon Governor Mohammed Mekkaoui, Druze Sheikh Aql Sami Abi al-Mona; Druze leaders Teymour Joumblatt and Talal Arslan; as well as representatives from the Lebanese Forces; representative Youssef Deaibes from the Interior Ministry; a representative of the mufti of the Republic, Abdellatif Deriane; as well as mayors from various Aley municipalities; and local, security and religious figures.
Daher emphasized unity between the region's residents, particularly among members of the Arab tribes, Druze, Sunnis and Christians. "We were and will remain one and the same family, whatever the difficulties," he said during the meeting. "And our homes will remain open to all Lebanese."
In light of last month's deadly clashes between Druze and Bedouin fighters, and then later Syrian state forces, in southern Syria, Daher praised the "wisdom of political and religious dignitaries, especially Druze leader Walid Joumblatt, Dar al-Fatwa [the highest Sunni authority], and Druze Sheikh Aql, in facing the painful events in Sweida, Syria."
Sunni and Druze authorities in Lebanon have ardently emphasized cooperation and unity, nervous that the sectarian violence — in which more than 1,300 people were killed — might spill over into Lebanon. But on the ground, the community's positions with regards to the brutal fighting in Sweida are much more complicated.
Within the Lebanese Druze community, the political rivalry between the two Druze leaders Walid Joumblatt and Talal Arslan — enemy cousins whose family names are steeped in history —h as worsened since the May 2018 parliamentary elections, after which Emir Arslan, allied with the Free Patriotic Movement and Hezbollah, received a ministerial portfolio, much to the dismay of the PSP leader, who hoped to appoint all three Druze ministers in the government himself.
These tensions were compounded in 2021 by those between the Arab tribes, known for their closeness to former Sunni leader Saad Hariri, and Hezbollah.
