Walid Kamal Jumblatt (; born 7 August 1949) is a Lebanese politician who was the leader of the

Progressive Socialist Party The Progressive Socialist Party () is a Lebanese political party. Its confessional base is in the Druze sect and its regional base is in Mount Lebanon Governorate, especially the Chouf District. Founded by Kamal Jumblatt in 1949, the party ...

from 1977 until 2023. A

Druze The Druze ( ; , ' or ', , '), who Endonym and exonym, call themselves al-Muwaḥḥidūn (), are an Arabs, Arab Eastern esotericism, esoteric Religious denomination, religious group from West Asia who adhere to the Druze faith, an Abrahamic ...

and former

militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

, Jumblatt led the

Lebanese National Resistance Front The Lebanese National Resistance Front (LNRF; ), best known by its Arabic acronym, ‘Jammoul’ (جمول), was a leftist alliance led by Walid Jumblatt’s Progressive Socialist Party, active in Lebanon from the 1982-1990 phase of the Civil ...

, allying with Amal, the

Palestine Liberation Organisation The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ) is a Palestinian nationalist coalition that is internationally recognized as the official representative of the Palestinian people in both the occupied Palestinian territories and the diaspora. ...

, and

Marada Brigade The Zgharta Liberation Army – ZLA (), also known as Zghartawi Liberation Army, was the paramilitary branch of the Lebanese Marada Movement during the Lebanese Civil War. The militia was formed in the late 1960s by the future President of Lebano ...

during the 1983-1990 phase of

Lebanese Civil War The Lebanese Civil War ( ) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 150,000 fatalities and led to the exodus of almost one million people from Lebanon. The religious diversity of the ...

. He worked closely with

Suleiman Frangieh Suleiman Kabalan Frangieh (15 June 1910 – 23 July 1992) was a Lebanese politician who served as the 5th president of Lebanon from 1970 to 1976. Early life and education Suleiman Frangieh was a scion of one of the leading Maronites, Maronite f ...

to oppose Amine Gemayel's rule as president during the

Mountain War The Mountain War ( , ''Harb al-Jabal)'', also known as the War of the Mountain, was a subconflict between the Lebanese Civil War#Second phase of the war.2C 1982-1983, 1982–83 and the Lebanese Civil War#Third phase of the war.2C 1984-1989, 19 ...

, consolidating his control of the

Chouf Chouf (also spelled Shouf, Shuf or Chuf; ) is a historic region of Lebanon, as well as an administrative district in the governorate ( muhafazat) of Mount Lebanon. Geography Located south-east of Beirut, the region comprises a narrow coastal stri ...

. After the civil war, he initially supported Syria but later led an anti-Assad stance during the start of the Syrian Civil War. He is still active in politics, most recently leading his party, the

(PSP) in the

2022 Lebanese general election General elections were held in Lebanon on 15 May 2022 (one week earlier for overseas voters and one day earlier for ballot workers) to elect all 128 members of the Parliament of Lebanon, Lebanese Parliament. The country has for several years be ...

Early life and education

Jumblatt was born in August 1949, the son of the

Lebanese Druze The Lebanese Druze () are an ethnoreligious group constituting about 5.2 percentKamal Jumblatt Kamal Fouad Jumblatt (; 6 December 1917 – 16 March 1977) was a Lebanese politician who founded the Progressive Socialist Party. He led the National Movement during the Lebanese Civil War. He was a major ally of the Palestine Liberation Organ ...

. He is the maternal grandson of Emir Shakib Arslan. Walid Jumblatt graduated from the

American University of Beirut The American University of Beirut (AUB; ) is a private, non-sectarian, and independent university chartered in New York with its main campus in Beirut, Lebanon. AUB is governed by a private, autonomous board of trustees and offers programs le ...

with a bachelor's degree in political science and public administration in 1972.

Career

Upon graduation, Jumblatt worked as a reporter for ''

An Nahar ''An-Nahar'' () is a leading Arabic-language daily newspaper published in Lebanon. In the 1980s, ''An-Nahar'' was described by ''The'' ''New York Times'' and ''Time Magazine'' as the newspaper of record for the entire Arab world. History and pr ...

'' in Beirut. The

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

describes Jumblatt as "leader of Lebanon's most powerful

clan and heir to a leftist political dynasty based around the Progressive Socialist Party".

Assem Qanso Assem Muhammad Qanso (, born 1937) is a Lebanese politician. He is a former leader of the Lebanese Ba'ath Party. Political career Qanso joined the Lebanese Ba'ath in 1953. During the Lebanese war, the Lebanese Ba'ath was divided into two host ...

of the

Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party of Lebanon Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

accused Jumblatt of abandoning his father's beliefs. On 12 January 1982, he survived a car bomb explosion near his house in Beirut during the

. In an Al Jazeera interview decades later, Jumblatt said that

Elie Hobeika Elie Hobeika (also transliterated as Hubayqa; ; 22 September 1956 – 24 January 2002) was a Lebanese militia commander in the Lebanese Forces militia during the Lebanese Civil War and one of Bachir Gemayel's close confidants. He became infa ...

was responsible for the attack and said that Hobeika told him in a meeting in Damascus that he wanted to kill him. In June 1982, Israel invaded Lebanon, occupying its entire southern half and dismantling the PLO stronghold in the country. After the evacuation of remaining PLO militias from Beirut in September 1982, Walid’s Progressive Socialist Party saw a resurgence following the Lebanese Army’s attempt to return to formerly occupied areas. In July 1983, after

Amine Gemayel Amine Pierre Gemayel (, ; born 22 January 1942) is a Lebanese politician who served as the eighth president of Lebanon from 1982 to 1988. Gemayel was born in Bikfaya to Pierre Gemayel, the founder of the Christianity in Lebanon, Christian Kat ...

became president, Suleiman Frangieh,

Rashid Karami Rashid Karami (; 30 December 1921 – 1 June 1987) was a Lebanese statesman. He is considered one of the most important political figures in Lebanon for more than 30 years, including during much of the Lebanese Civil War (1975–1990), and serve ...

and Walid Jumblatt formed a coalition of armed factions led by his party, known as the

, informally known as “Jammoul” to challenge Gemayel's rule and the pact between Lebanon and

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

that was financially supported by the US. Jumblatt served as minister of public works, transport and tourism in the National Unity cabinet led by then prime minister Rashid Karami, which was formed in May 1984. His main ally during the war was

Amal Movement The Amal Movement () is a Lebanese political party and militia affiliated mainly with the Shia community of Lebanon. It was founded by Musa al-Sadr and Hussein el-Husseini in 1974 as the "Movement of the Deprived." The party has been led by ...

's leader,

Nabih Berri Nabih Mustafa Berri ( ; born 28 January 1938) is a Lebanese politician who has been serving as Speaker of the Parliament of Lebanon since 1992. He heads the Amal Movement and its parliamentary wing, Development and Liberation Bloc. Early lif ...

Nabih Berri and Walid Jumblatt in conferece for Afghan issues-Iran-Tehran

In the 1996

Rafic Hariri Rafic Bahaa El Deen al-Hariri (; 1 November 1944 – 14 February 2005) was a Lebanese businessman and politician who served as Prime Minister of Lebanon, prime minister of Lebanon from 1992 to 1998 and again from 2000 to 2004. Hariri headed fi ...

cabinet, Walid Jumblatt was appointed Minister for Refugees. He was a supporter of

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

, but following the death of Syrian President

Hafez al-Assad Hafez al-Assad (6 October 193010 June 2000) was a Syrian politician and military officer who was the president of Syria from 1971 until Death and state funeral of Hafez al-Assad, his death in 2000. He was previously the Prime Minister of Syria ...

in 2000, he campaigned for Damascus to relinquish control. Jumblatt's close links with the Syrian old guard alienated him from the new presidency of

Bashar al-Assad Bashar al-Assad (born 11September 1965) is a Syrian politician, military officer and former dictator Sources characterising Assad as a dictator: who served as the president of Syria from 2000 until fall of the Assad regime, his government ...

. This pitted him against then president

Émile Lahoud Émile Jamil Lahoud (born 12 January 1936) is a Lebanese politician who served as the 11th president of Lebanon from 1998 to 2007. During his presidency, the Israeli occupation of Southern Lebanon, that had lasted since 1982, ended in May 2000. ...

and the Lebanese Shiite party

Hezbollah Hezbollah ( ; , , ) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese Parliament. I ...

of which he said: "Their fighters have done a good job defying and defeating the Israeli army, OK, but the question we ask is where their allegiance goes: to a Lebanese strong central authority or somewhere else?" In the 2009 general elections, Jumblatt won a seat from

Shouf Chouf (also spelled Shouf, Shuf or Chuf; ) is a historic region of Lebanon, as well as an administrative district in the governorate ( muhafazat) of Mount Lebanon. Geography Located south-east of Beirut, the region comprises a narrow coastal stri ...

as part of the

14 March Alliance The March 14 Alliance (), named after the date of the Cedar Revolution, was a coalition of political parties and independents in Lebanon formed in 2005 that were united by their anti- Assad stance and by their opposition to the March 8 Alliance. ...

list. Following issues with Hezbollah's community, his son Taymour Jumblatt fled to France with his family after multiple death threats which prevented him from joining the local political scene. With the onset of the Syrian civil war, Jumblatt and the PSP moved towards an anti-Assad stance. Jumblatt has been crucial in negotiations regarding the Syrian Druze during the Syrian Civil War, and has stated about

al-Nusra Front Al-Nusra Front or Jabhat al-Nusra or Jabhat Nusrat Ahl al-Sham, also known as Front for the Conquest of the Levant, and also later known as Jabhat Fatah al-Sham was a Salafi-jihadist organization that fought against Ba'athist Syria, Ba'athist ...

"I cannot classify, like Western countries, Nusra as terrorist because most of Nusra are Syrians. The regime of Bashar obliged the Syrians to join Nusra". After

allegedly killed 20 Druze villagers in Qalb Loze on 10 June 2015, Jumblatt responded that "Any inciting rhetoric will not be beneficial, and you should remember that Bashar Assad's policies pushed Syria into this chaos". Jumblatt believes that the order to kill his father came from

. He said he would rather "commit a political suicide" than reconcile with his son

. In 2014, Jumblatt declared himself in favor of the legalisation of

cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae that is widely accepted as being indigenous to and originating from the continent of Asia. However, the number of species is disputed, with as many as three species be ...

in Lebanon. In 2015, he admitted hiding the Swedish spy

Stig Bergling Stig Svante Eugén Bergling, later Stig Svante ''Eugén'' Sandberg and ''Stig'' Svante Eugén Sydholt, (1 March 1937 – 24 January 2015) was a Swedish Security Service officer who spied for the Soviet Union. The Stig Bergling-affair, one of Swed ...

during the early 1990s in a remote place in Lebanon upon the request of Russian authorities. On 4–7 May 2015, Jumblatt testified at the

Special Tribunal for Lebanon The Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), also referred to as the Lebanon Tribunal or the Hariri Tribunal, was a tribunal of international character that was active between 2009 and 2023. It applied Lebanese criminal law under the authority of ...

related to the investigations of the

assassination of Rafic Hariri On 14 February 2005, former Prime Minister of Lebanon Rafic Hariri was assassinated along with 21 others in an explosion in Beirut, Lebanon. Explosives equivalent to around 1,000 kilograms (2,200 pounds) of TNT were detonated as his motorcad ...

. In May 2017, the trial of four men accused of conspiring to assassinate Walid Jumblatt began. In late May 2023, Walid Jumblatt declared his resignation as leader of the Progressive Socialist Party after a 46-year tenure. Around 2,000 supporters gathered in

Ain Zhalta Ain Zhalta (Arabic: عين زحلتا) is a village in the Chouf District of Mount Lebanon Governorate in southwestern Lebanon. The majority of its inhabitants are Druze. The Battle of Ain Zhalta was held here in June 1982 with Syria. Masser A ...

, a Druze town in the

Chouf mountains Chouf (also spelled Shouf, Shuf or Chuf; ) is a historic region of Lebanon, as well as an administrative district in the governorate (muhafazat) of Mount Lebanon. Geography Located south-east of Beirut, the region comprises a narrow coastal strip ...

, where members of the Progressive Socialist Party named political heir, Taymour Jumblatt, as their new leader. Taymour was the sole contender. On 22 December 2024, Jumblatt and his delegation met with

Ahmed al-Sharaa Ahmed Hussein al-Sharaa (born 29 October 1982) also known by his ''nom de guerre'' Abu Mohammad al-Julani, is a Syrian politician and former rebel commander serving as the president of Syria since January 2025. He previously served as the coun ...

, leader of the

Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) was a Sunni Islamist political organisation and paramilitary group involved in the Syrian civil war. It was formed on 28January 2017 as a merger between several armed groups: Jaysh al-Ahrar (an Ahrar al-Sham facti ...

, in Damascus following the

fall of the Assad regime On 8 December 2024, the Assad regime collapsed during a 2024 Syrian opposition offensives, major offensive by Syrian opposition, opposition forces. The offensive was spearheaded by Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and supported mainly by the Turk ...

Personal life

At the age of 20, Jumblatt married an Iranian actress, ten years his senior. His father did not endorse the marriage and the two became estranged. In 1981, after a divorce and his father's death, Jumblatt married Gervette, a Jordanian of Circassian descent. Together they had three children: Taymour, Aslan, and Dalia. Later he married Nora al-Sharabati, daughter of the former Syrian defense minister Ahmad al-Sharabati. In 2018, his son

Taymur Jumblatt Taymur Walid Jumblatt (; born 1982) is a Lebanese people, Lebanese politician of the Lebanese Druze community and leader of the Progressive Socialist Party since 2023 and its parliamentary bloc, the Democratic Gathering (Lebanon), Democratic Gathe ...

replaced him as a candidate for parliamentary elections.

Arts

Like many political leaders, Jumblatt has been the subject of photography since the late 1970s. The photographer

Ziad Antar Ziad Antar (born 1978 in Saida, Lebanon) is a Lebanese filmmaker and photographer. He studied Agricultural Engineering at the American University of Beirut before turning to video and arts with a residency at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris and a po ...

made a portrait of him using an old expired film, which produced a ghostly effect. The image is said to evoke the danger the

Lebanese Druze The Lebanese Druze () are an ethnoreligious group constituting about 5.2 percentHezbollah Hezbollah ( ; , , ) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese Parliament. I ...

and the Syrian government.

Honours

* Medal of the

Order of Friendship The Order of Friendship (, ') is a state decoration of the Russian Federation established by Boris Yeltsin by presidential decree 442 of 2 March 1994 to reward Russian and foreign nationals whose work, deeds and efforts have been aimed at ...

(Russia)

References

External links

* * * * *
Walid Jumblatt
by Gary C. Gambill and Daniel Nassif, Middle East Intelligence Bulletin, Vol 3, No 5, May 2001

quoted in ''Beirut's Berlin Wall'', by David Ignatius, Washington Post, 23 February 2005 {{DEFAULTSORT:Jumblatt, Walid 1949 births Living people People from Chouf District Lebanese Druze people Progressive Socialist Party politicians Members of the Parliament of Lebanon Lebanese warlords Lebanese democracy activists Lebanese left-wing activists Walid Lebanese politicians of Kurdish descent 20th-century Lebanese politicians 21st-century Lebanese politicians American University of Beirut alumni Tourism ministers of Lebanon Public works ministers of Lebanon Transport ministers of Lebanon People of the Lebanese Civil War