MENA Minorities

Past weekend marked the 42nd anniversary of the assassination of Lebanese Druze leader and leftist icon Kamal Junblat, who was murdered on March 16 1977. On this occasion I came across two pieces worth checking out: A nice article by Chris Solomon on Syria Comment and an episode of the Lebanese Politics Podcast (which is generally worth listening). Both, the article and the podcast, shine light on some aspects of the legacy of Walid Junblat's father. Kamal Junblat was not just a leader of the Lebanese Druze, rather his political stature can be  c ompared to late PM Rafiq Hariri's in the 90's, as Nizar Hassan argues in the podcast. Junblat was an extremely complex and also contradictory historical figure who was  described with diverse attributes such as  socialist leader,  intellectual,  feudal lord,  Arab nationalist and  even Francophile - all at the same time. Chart featured in the rather commendatory Kamal Junblat exhibition at Beiteddine palace I j