Modernity Is Impossible within This Sectarian State
As the leader of the Druze community and head of the Progessive Socialist Party, Walid Jumblatt has a decisive influence on Lebanon s complicated sectarian political system. In this interview with Naomi Conrad, the controversial politician talks about his country s ails from his point of view
Switching alliances: During the 2009 parliamentary elections, Walid Jumblatt and his party were part of the Hariri alliance. Jumblatt is now siding with Hezbollah
Walid Jumblatt, the leader of Lebanon s Druze community, receives visitors in his Beirut palace, hidden away behind two armed checkpoints and iron gates. Offering his visitors Arabic coffee in his sumptuous reception room, he drinks mate, which he claims his Druze ancestors brought back from Argentina at the beginning of the 19th century. The politician and former militia leader during Lebanon s Civil War belongs to an aristocratic family has been ruling the Druze community